Bertrand met Gladys Nemmer in the early 1930s when both were working at the Palace of Sweets in downtown Waco. Despite company rules that employees should not date one another, the two fell in love and were married in 1932, just a few years before Bertrand opened his first restaurant. Following their marriage, Gladys served as the manager of Woolworth’s luncheonette until the birth of the couple’s first son. She later helped Bertrand a great deal with both the B-K Coffee Shop and Bertrand’s Restaurant.