6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e. Despite itscontroversial political affiliations, there's no denying Chick-fil-A is seriously popular among a large portion of the population. Krystal today operates around 300 restaurants across 10 states and has 3,500 employees, bringing SPB's total workforce to 18,500. Although younger generations may know of Howard Johnson's thanks to Mad Men, '70s kids will remember actually visiting the orange-roofed restaurant chain. For the record, for our purposes, we're using the founding date of the original location of each restaurant, not the date the current franchised company was founded. Another major player in the fast food industry during this time was Burger King. 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Today, given their lack of presence in some regions, some people might not know that A&W is a restaurant chain at all. Another favorite at drive-ins where teenagers hang out is the double-deck burger two thin patties in a bun with a third slice of bun in the middle a hearty mouthful indeed. When she's not writing you'll find her organizing a closet, buying more bins she doesn't need or bingeing her latest TV show obsession. Indeed, your great- and even great-great-grandparents may well have dined at many of the restaurants you enjoy today, and while the menus have grown and the orders may now be placed via app and delivered via Uber, the essence of American fast food remains the same even all these generations later: It's fast, it's affordable, and it's deliciousif not always healthy. The timeline includes the major fast food companies, such as McDonalds and Burger King. 1953 was a big year for now venerable fast-food chains. While the restaurants may look more modern now, the chain's mascot "Jack" goes to show that if it isn't broken, don't fix it. Fast food refers to food that is swiftly cooked and served in establishments referred to as fast-food restaurants. Who could be mad at that? Remembering the old Next Door Restaurant chain from the '70s, See these 40 vintage diners from the '40s (and try the blue-plate special!). The stuffed crust you know and love today made Pizza Hut the most popular fast food chain from 1995 to 1997, when the excitement over the new innovation eventually wore down. Sign up for our newsletter for breaking food news and healthy eating tips. Get the best food tips and diet advice A brilliant red roof tops the colonial-style, white-walled Next Door restaurant, and the red front doors feature leaded glass windows in red, white and blue. The fast food industry began in the 1920s with the advent of drive-in restaurants. The well-known finger lickin good slogan came about by accident, though. To stay competitive, fast-food chains across America have to revamp their menus and redesign their stores almost as quickly as they prepare their food. 2023 Galvanized Media. You can obtain a whole dinner at a fast food restaurant in a matter of minutes rather than having to spend time in your home and at the grocery store making a meal. Originally founded in 1954, Burger Chef had 1,050 different locations at its peak in the 1970s, and it was eventually purchased by Hardees. Hardees is hot again todaythanks to trendy new menu items like these. America Runs on Dunkin', but that wasnt always the case. The company quickly grew in popularity, thanks to its efficient assembly-line style of service. Five other Next Door units were under construction or development by PHI on March 31, 1970, with an additional one under construction or development by a franchisee. If you liked this article, please share it! McDonald's may be the heaviest of hitters in the fast-food world, with more than 39,000 restaurants spread around the globe, but it's not the oldest, having been founded in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald. 1948: Dunkin' Donuts and In-N-Out. According to KFC, Harland Sanders first started cooking for hungry travelers at a gas station in 1930. Next Door was a concept restaurant chain from the early 1970s that was owned by Pizza Hut International. This innovation made it possible for customers to get their food without ever having to leave their cars, which greatly increased the convenience factor associated with fast food. PS: If you liked this article, please share it! Sarah Crow is a senior editor at Eat This, Not That!, where she focuses on celebrity news and health coverage. Hosted by Michael Barbaro. } Edited by John Ketchum and Mike Benoist. According to the KFC website, it started "in a Kentucky gas station way back in 1930 when Harland Sanders first started cooking for hungry travelers." Learn more surprising facts about McDs. McDonalds first opened its doors in 1940, serving hamburgers, fries, and shakes. Remember when Mexican food seemed new and exciting & we thought Chi Chi's was the real deal? WebHenry's Hamburgers is a former American fast-food restaurant chain of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Despite all the other fast food chains of the times not really making the effort to advertise themselves as being healthy, Subway did just that and found plenty of success along the way. advice every day. Recipes many spirited away from famous drive-ins and coffee shops for the hefty hamburgers, tacos, tostadas, hot dogs, dips and drinks that on-the-go Californians have made a way of life, Article by Ruth Conrad Bateman in Womans Day (September 1972). By the late '70s, though, the company had been sold. Erica is a cleaning and home dcor expert. However, the Colonel had been perfecting his chicken recipe for years before he opened his first restaurant. Some, like this McDonald's restaurant in the Netherlands, underwent a more drastic redesign to work more effectively in a post-coronavirus world. Mix this exaggerated bounty, which is available year-round, with the exotic traditions of the ethnic cuisines, add a little homey Yankee or Southern or Middle America cooking, then stir it up with the casual, rather unorthodox freshness that seems to come with living here and you have an idea of what cooking in the California style is all about. As HuffPost reports, one of the chain's most popular menu items ever launched in 1970 and had people obsessed with the meal in itself. From Fun Meals to fast Mexican to pizza, you could find just about anything you wanted with a little elbow grease and ingenuity. It was founded in 1940 but really began to take off in the early 1950s. Note: ClickAmericana.com features authentic historical information, and is not intended to represent current best practices on any topic, particularly with regard to health and safety, but also in terms of outdated cultural depictions and social values. } No matter what your opinion is, theres no denying that the fast food industry is here to stay. The Next Door concept designed by three Oklahoma City men was acquired during the first quarter of the fiscal period with the trio receiving a percentage of initial fees and royalty fees on franchises. as well as other partner offers and accept our, Will Mcintyre/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images, Marvin Lichtner/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images, Wendy Maeda/The Boston Globe/Getty Images, Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images, McDonald's restaurants look drastically different now, founded in Jacksonville, Florida, by Keith Kramer and Matthew Burns, still broils and flame-grills its burgers, one infamous commercial that shows a Whopper decomposing over time, visited KFC restaurants around the world up until his death, the family-owned business sold its 5-cent sliders by the stack, THEN AND NOW: 35 photos that show how famous fast-food company logos have changed over time, THEN AND NOW: Photos show how McDonald's has changed through the years, from its menu to its mascot, THEN AND NOW: How the McDonald's menu has changed through the years. The company took off in the 1950s with the involvement of Ray Kroc, who opened thefirst McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955. Oldest fast food establishments KFC. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer) as we strive to provide site experiences for browsers that support new web standards and security practices. (Businessman Ray Kroc would grow the chain into a powerhouse starting in the 1950s.) It probably shouldn't be too surprising that McDonald's has long been the most popular fast food chain out there, and its reign has dragged on for years. Chick-fil-A was actually only in mall food courts for a while, until it opened its first stand-alone establishment in 1986. Required fields are marked *. Note: ClickAmericana.com features authentic historical information, and is not intended to represent current best practices on any topic, particularly with regard to health and safety, but also in terms of outdated cultural depictions and social values. Get Fresh at Wuvs, the restaurant winked. Some Hardees burger patties were also hexagonal. According to Britannica, Subway actually became the biggest fast food chain restaurant in all of the United States in 2002. The company soon became known for its Whopper sandwich, which remains one of its most popular menu items today. 15 / 21 Burger King hired former McDonalds exec Donald N. Smith in 1978. Another Ohio city, Columbus, was christened a test market for new fast-fooderies while Junction City KS, bordering Fort Riley, looked like a franchisers fast food heaven. Today, Dominos has 100,000 pizza delivery drivers that drive 10 million miles a week to deliver 400 million pizzas a year! And 1980, in particular, was a big year for the establishment. Thanks largely to its delivery service, Dominos was the fastest-growing pizza restaurant in the United States by 1985. navigator.sendBeacon('https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', payload); In-N-Out was one of the first restaurants to use the two-way speaker system for ordering. This is what it looked like in 1955, complete with its old mascot, Speedee, a chef with a burger for a head. Plus, even today the chain will bring back original favorites from that timelike the Big New Yorker. } else { var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); Fast food is a part of American culture, with the industrys history dating back to the early 1900s. The chain has a brand new logo, and the official brand colors are now orange and white. But when it first opened, it was a small operation. While it often seems as though there's a Starbucks or McDonald's on every corner these days, these eateries weren't always as ubiquitous as they seem today. Next Door was a concept restaurant chain from the early 1970s that was owned by, 14 retro hamburger recipes for some differently delicious dinners, Vintage McDonald's menus & food: See 5 decades of the famous fast food chain's history, Look back at these vintage Pizza Hut restaurants & foods from the '70s. We've rounded up the most popular fast food chains in every decade, so you can take a trip down memory lane with these famous foods. It was originally marketed as a take-out joint, but later had some seating. The first fast food chain was White Castle, which was founded in 1921. See where Nathan's hot dogs fared in our hot dog taste test. The Sonic Drive-In you know and love, was once a root beer stand named The Top Hat. Today, Burger King has approximately 18,000 locations worldwideand is regarded as a leader in plant-based fast food due to its introduction of the Impossible Whopper, a meatless version of its signature burger. To describe it in a few words, as many eastern writers attempt to do after a few days of observing our ways with foods, clothes, houses, gardens, and year-round recreation, is, to say the least, gross simplification. But the chain's early days really saw a ton of growth, and for a year at least, it was the most popular joint around. The Next Door restaurant with a red, white and blue Revolutionary War decor features a variety of high-quality, quarter-pound hamburgers. The Hardee's website reported that there were already Hardee's in international cities such as Heidelberg, Germany. Nonetheless, Bell had a taste for Mexican food, having already opened a taco-centric restaurant, Taco Tia, in the 1950s. if( 'moc.sihttae.www' !== location.hostname.split('').reverse().join('') ) { Rather than pizza, though, the restaurant served steaks, seafood, hamburgers, sandwiches, salads and desserts.