Johnny Rockets

Name: Johnny Rockets

Type of Food: Burgers, fries and milkshakes

Interesting Fact: Each year, Johnny Rockets serves more than 13 million hamburgers.

History: Johnny Rockets was founded on June 6, 1986, by Ronn Teitelbaum of Los Angeles, California. The first restaurant was established in the Melrose District of L.A. Every  Johnny Rockets restaurant core menu has classic items including  hamburgers, sandwiches, and milkshakes. Guests also enjoy an all-American look and feel, tabletop jukeboxes and authentic décor. To date, Johnny Rockets has 274 corporate and franchise-owned restaurants in 29 states and 11 countries, including locations found in Six Flags amusement parks and aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships.

Website: www.johnnyrockets.com

View the menu: here

Find your local Johnny Rockets: here

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Fuddruckers

Name: Fuddruckers

Type of Food: Burgers

Interesting Fact: What is a Fuddruckers? Apparently it was a made up word by Fuddruckers’ founder Philip J. Romano. On the Fuddruckers website, the definition of Fuddruckers is ” 1: an uncommonly fresh burger of grand proportions. 2: the world’s greatest burger. 3: the standard by which all other burgers are measured”

History: Philip J. Romano founded Fuddruckers in 1980 on Botts Lane in San Antonio, Texas. The first location was an old bank converted to a restaurant. Today Fuddruckers has over 260 locations around the world, most of which have a 1950s and 1960s rock and roll theme. The current owner, Michael Cannon, purchased the chain in November 1998, and it is based in Austin, Texas. Fuddruckers still remains focused on Philip J. Romano’s original concept: upscale burgers that are cooked to order with guests encouraged to create their own burgers with fresh, neverfrozen beef, baked-daily buns and fresh produce.

Website: www.fuddruckers.com

View the menu: here

Find your local Fuddruckers: here

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Zaxby’s

Name: Zaxby’s

Type of Food: Chicken, chicken fingers, buffalo wings, salads.

Interesting Fact: At Zaxby’s, they love the letter Z. On their menu, for example, appetizers and salads become Zappetizers and Zalads at Zaxby’s.

History: Zaxby’s founders Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley looked around their community and saw plenty of fast food or sit-down dining options, but felt something was missing. They decided to provide the most delicious chicken fingers and Buffalo wings in town. That hatched a simple idea to create a fun atmosphere where food quality is of the utmost importance. In March 1990, they opened the first Zaxby’s in Statesboro, Georgia. Its menu is built around buffalo wings and chicken fingers, including them on platters, in sandwiches, and on salads (called Zalads on their menu).

McLeroy and Townley opened four more restaurants, and in 1994, they began to franchise the brand. The food and service was so popular, the Athens, Ga.-based chain has boomed to more than 470 units in 11 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia) and is still expanding.

Website: www.zaxbys.com

View the menu: here

Find your local Zaxby’s: here

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Chipotle

Name: Chipotle

Type of Food: Tacos, Burritos, Fajitas

Interesting Facts: In 2001, Chipotle released a mission statement called “Food With Integrity”, which highlighted Chipotle’s commitment to naturally raised meat, organic produce, and dairy without added hormones. All of Chipotle’s chicken and pork are naturally raised (i.e., open-range, antibiotic free, and with a vegetarian diet), as well as 50% of the beef. Also, approximately 30% of the beans are organically grown.

History: In 1993, Steve Ells opened the first Chipotle in Denver, Colorado in a former Dolly Madison Ice Cream Store near the University of Denver campus using an $85,000 loan from his father.

In 1998, McDonald’s made an initial minority investment in the company. By 2001, they had grown to be Chipotle’s largest investor.McDonald’s investment allowed the firm to quickly expand, from 16 restaurants in 1998 to over 500 by 2005. On January 26, 2006, Chipotle made its IPO, after increasing the share price twice due to high pre-IPO demand. In its first day as a public company, the stock rose exactly 100%, resulting in the best U.S.-based IPO in six years, and the second-best IPO for a restaurant after Boston Chicken (now Boston Market). The money from the offering was then used to fund new store growth.

In October 2006, McDonald’s fully divested its investment in Chipotle, part of a larger initiative to divest all of its non-core business restaurants

As of March 2009, 830 restaurants have since opened throughout the United States and Canada.All are company-owned, rather than franchised. Founder Steve Ells still serves as chairman and CEO of the company.

Website: www.chipotle.com

View the menu: here

Find your local Chipotle: here

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Whataburger

Name: Whataburger

Type of Food: Burgers

Interesting Facts: Whataburger is not to be confused with What-A-Burger, a chain of restaurants in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina that predated the first Texas Whataburger restaurant. The Texas Whataburger sued the Virginia What-A-Burger in 2003 over trademark infringement. The decision was they would coexist as Whataburger was not interested in the same regional locations as What-A-Burger.

History: In 1950, an entrepreneur named Harmon Dobson opened up the world’s first Whataburger on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, Texas. The small, wooden kiosk sold the enormous 5-inch burgers for 25 cents each. On August 8, 1950, company founder Harmon Dobson opened his first Whataburger restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas. The small, wooden kiosk sold the enormous 5-inch burgers for 25 cents each, and before the first week was out, lines stretched down the street.

In 1952, Joe Andrews, Sr. brought his family to the newly opened Whataburger in Kingsville, Texas. After one bite, he knew Whataburger was something he wanted to be a part of. Joe was awarded the first franchise location shortly thereafter (the fifth Whataburger restaurant) which opened in Alice, Texas in 1953. The company began expansion outside of Texas in 1959, when Whataburger #21 opened in Pensacola, Florida.

By 1960, there were over 17 Whataburger locations in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. The familiar orange- and white-striped Whataburger A-frame started as a back-of-the-napkin sketch for Harmon Dobson. That sketch led to the opening of the very first A-frame Whataburger at the twenty-fourth Whataburger location in Odessa, Texas in 1961. In 1962, the menu grew with the addition of hot fried pies and French fries. In 1966, Whataburger added inside dining rooms to the A-frames establishment and in 1967, the official company logo, the familiar “Flying W,” was commissioned.

Later in 1967, an airplane crash took the life of company founder Harmon Dobson. Dobson’s wife, Grace, took control of the business. By the end of the decade, there would be 60 Whataburgers completely finished and six more under construction. Whataburger doubled its number of restaurants from 1971 to 1979. The first drive-through was installed in 1971, and in 1972 the company opened its 100th restaurant. Whataburger kept expanding. In the 1990′s Tom Dobson, Harmon’s son, oversaw expansion to over 500 units (and beyond), making Whataburger the country’s eighth largest hamburger chain. Today, there are more than 700 locations in 10 states.

Website: www.whataburger.com

View the menu: here

Find your local Whataburger: here

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