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.
