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

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White Castle

Name: White Castle

Type of Food: Hamburgers

Interesting Fact: White Castle was the first fast-food hamburger chain ever.

History: The company was founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas, when entrepreneur Billy Ingram partnered with cook Walter Anderson, who had developed an efficient way of cooking hamburgers quickly. Anderson’s original method used freshly ground beef and fresh onions. In 1933, Ingram bought out Anderson, and the following year the company moved corporate headquarters to Columbus, Ohio. The company remains privately held and its restaurants are company-owned; they are not franchised in the United States. Today there are more than 380 restaurants which are strictly limited to the eastern/southeastern sections of the Midwest, with the major exception of the greater New York area.

Website: www.whitecastle.com

View the menu: here

Find your local White Castle: here

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Wendy’s

Name: Wendy’s

Type of Food: Hamburgers, Chicken Burgers, Chili

Interesting Fact: Wendy’s hamburgers are square, because founder Dave Thomas claimed he didn’t want to “cut corners”.

History: Wendy’s was founded by Dave Thomas and Robert Barney in 1969 and named after Dave’s 8-year old daughter, Melinda, who had the nickname of “Wendy” (originally “Winda”, stemming from the child’s initial difficulty saying her own name). The corporate headquarters is located in Dublin, Ohio. The first Wendy’s restaurant was opened in Columbus, Ohio on November 15, 1969, and grew rapidly. Today there are over 6700 locations in 33 countries.

Website: www.wendys.com

View the menu: here

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Sonic: America’s Drive-In

Name: Sonic- America’s Drive-In

Type of Food: Hamburgers, Hot Dogs and Wraps

Interesting Fact: When required by lawyers to change their name from the Top Hat Drive-In, Sonic was chosen to reflect the first slogan “Service With the Speed of Sound”. (A nod to the intercom system used by patrons to order food to their cars.)

History: Originally named Top Hat Drive-In, Sonic was founded in 1953 by Troy Smith in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The name was changed to Sonic in 1959. One of the unique features of Sonic is the Carhop, a member of the Sonic crew who delivers food directly to customers’ cars. Today’s Sonic Drive-In menu harkens back to its beginning, featuring made-to-order favorites such as hamburgers, french fries, malts and shakes. Today, SONIC has more than 3,000 SONIC® Drive-Ins from coast to coast and in Mexico, SONIC is the nation’s largest drive-in chain.

Website: www.sonicdrivein.com

View the menu: here

Find your local Sonic: here

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McDonald’s

Name: McDonald’s

Type of Food: Burgers, Fries

Interesting Fact: McDonald’s operates over 31,000 restaurants in more than 119 countries on six continents, employing more than 1.5 million people.

History: Ray Kroc, at 52 years old, invested his entire life savings to become the exclusive distributor of a milk shake maker called the Multimixer. Hearing about the McDonald’s hamburger stand in California owned by Dick & Mac McDonald running eight Multimixers at a time, he packed up his car and headed West. It was 1954. Ray Kroc had never seen so many people served so quickly. He pitched the idea of opening up several restaurants to the McDonald brothers, convinced that he could sell eight of his Multimixers to each and every one. “Who could we get to open them for us?” Dick McDonald said. Well,” Kroc answered, “what about me?”

Ray Kroc opened the Des Plaines, Illinois restaurant in 1955 and never looked back. In 1965 McDonald’s went public with the company’s first offering on the stock exchange. In 1967, the first McDonald’s restaurant outside the United States opened in Richmond, British Columbia. In 1968, the Big Mac® sandwich was introduced, followed by the Egg McMuffin® breakfast sandwich in 1973. Milestones and accomplishments have followed ever since.

Website: www.mcdonalds.com

View the menu: here

Find your local McDonald’s: here

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