Ever wonder where your favorite fast food chain first appeared? Look no further.
1. MCDONALD // 1398 NORTH E STREET, SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA
In 1940, Maurice and Richard McDonald moved their father's food stall "Airport" from Monrovia moved to San Bernardino and renamed it "McDonald's Bar-BQ". It remained a drive-in shop until 1948, when the brothers reorganized the business to focus on burgers and fries and changed the name to McDonald's. While the North E Street location is no longer a functioning Mickey Ds, the building's current owners, Juan Pollo Restaurants, use the space as their corporate headquarters and unofficial McDonald's museum. The oldest McDonald's restaurant is in Downey, California.
2. Pizza Hut // 503 South Bluff Street, Wichita, Kansas
Opened in 1958 by brothers Dan and Frank Carney in their hometown of Wichita, Kansas The first Pizza Hut. The pair knew they wanted to use "Pizza" in the new establishment's name, but it wasn't until they discovered the building's logo could only accommodate eight letters that they decided on "Hut." In 1986, the original cabin was moved to the campus of Wichita State University—the alma mater of the Carney brothers—where it is used as a museum.
3. TGI FRIDAY'S // 1152 1ST AVENUE, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Looking for a place to meet people - especially qualified women he noticed around Manhattan - Alan Stillman took the initiative and started a bar and restaurant. Before it opened in 1965, "singles bars" were rare. Friday's is even considered one of the first bars to use "ladies night" for promotion. The original TGI Friday's closed in 1994.
4. Waffle House // 2719 East College Avenue, Decatur, Georgia
Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner opened the first Waffle House in 1955 Room. The original location is now the Waffle House Museum, where visitors can view memorabilia and see a recreation of the original restaurant.
5. DUNKIN' DONUTS // 543 SOUTHERN ARTERY, Quincy, MA
Before the United States ran on Dunkin', it was located in Quincy, MA. A simple donut shop. The location opened in 1948 as Open Kettle, a year later it became Kettle Donuts, and a year later it finally became Dunkin' Donuts. (It became a Dunkin' in 2018.) While the building has been remodeled over the years, it still maintains its original beauty.
6. STARBUCKS // 2000 WESTERN AVENUE, Seattle, Washington
The original Starbucks store began selling coffee beans and equipment in 1971 from its location at 2000 West Main Street, but by In 1976, their building was to be demolished and they had to find a new location. In 1977, they opened "1st and Pike" Cafe, located at the entrance to the historic Pike Place Market, and the rest is caffeinated history.
7. CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL // 1644 E EVANS AVENUE, DENVER, COLORADO
When founder Steve Ells opened his first restaurant near the University of Denver When he opened Chipotle, he and his father figured it would have to sell 107 burritos a day to make a profit. Over the course of a month, the store sold more than 10 times that amount. You can still get burritos from the original location, which was renovated in 2017.
8. NATHAN'S FAMOUS // 1310 SURF AVENUE, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
What started as a Coney Island Hot Dog Stand in 1916...is still a Coney Island Hot Dog Stand. Of course, Nathan's Famous has become a global grocery chain ever since Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker used a $300 loan to start selling franks made from his wife Ida's recipe to hungry Brooklynites. But for the Surf Avenue stand, little has changed in terms of appearance.
9. WENDY'S // 257 E. BROAD STREET, COLUMBUS, OH
The location of the original Wendy's on its last day of operation.
NICK TAGGART, Columbus Library Digital Collection, via Wiki Commons //Public Domain
Although Wendy's closed the original restaurant in 2007, the The spirit of the company's first restaurant still lives on - in their flagship store in Dublin, Ohio, which features an entire "community space" filled with company history and memorabilia. Some historians, like Yelp user Jeffrey H., still consider the original location's closing to be tragic, calling the day it closed "America's darkest day."
10. OWL // 2800 GULF-TO-BAY BLVD, CLEARWATER, FL
In 1983, six businessmen came together to change the face of chain restaurant history (ahem), they opened a "delightfully kitschy but not sophisticated" restaurant called Hooters. Thanks to "Hooters Six" - as mentioned in the "Saga" section of the restaurant's website - people no longer have to suffer from ordering food and drinks from people wearing real pants. Although it has undergone an extensive renovation project, the original Hooters still serves its wings with the chain's signature hospitality.
11. BLIMPIE // 110 WASHINGTON ST, HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY
In 1964, three former high school classmates opened the first Blimpie Sandwich Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey. One of the founders, Tony Conza, came up with the name after searching the dictionary for alternatives to the names sub and hoagie and came across the word blimp, which, according to ***, "he thought was Sounds like a sandwich.. He added an 'ie' and had his name. Unfortunately, the original Blimpie location has closed.
12. TACO BELL // 7112 FIRESTONE BOULEVARD, DOWNEY, CALIFORNIA
The first Taco Bell (aka "Numero Uno") opened in 1962 in Downey, California .
It closed in 1986, and in 2015 the restaurant chain uprooted the building that was slated for demolition and moved it to corporate headquarters in Irving.
13. Burger King // 7146 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, Florida
According to food historian Andrew F. Smith, Matthew Burns and his stepson Keith G. Cramer in Opened their first Insta-Burger King in 1953 in Jacksonville, Florida. Inspired by McDonald's in California, they purchased a machine called the Insta-Broiler. It can cook 400 burgers per hour. Soon after, they acquired the franchise from James McLamore and David R. Edgerton, who ditched the Insta-Broiler in favor of flame grilling and changed the name to Burger King. Eventually, McLamore and Edgerton would control the national rights and take Burger King nationwide. The original location eventually closed.
14. SBARRO'S // 1701 65TH STREET, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
It may be hard to imagine that Sbarro's is not far from Spencer's Gifts in the mall food court, but the pizza chain began in 1956 At a Salumeria (or Italian grocery store) in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. The original Sbarro's was opened here by Gennaro and "Mama" Carmela after they immigrated from Naples and is now a Japanese restaurant. You can still test the old adage about no bad pizza at Kings Plaza Shopping Center, where they opened their first mall-based location in 1970.
15. White Castle // 201 North Main Street, Wichita, Kansas
The first White Castle opened in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas; the site is now a The location of the bank is also the closest place to this original location where a box of sliders can be grabbed after a few hours. White Castle hasn't forgotten its origins, however: In 2011, the company celebrated its 90th birthday with a special return to Wichita to grill burgers as a fundraiser for the Kansas Food Bank.
16. SONIC // 215 NORTH MAIN STREET, STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA
Top Hat Drive-In owner Troy Smith Sr. discovered that the name of his burger joint had been trademarked. and his partner Charlie Pappe renamed the Oklahoma chain "Sonic Drive-In" in 1959, inspired by Top Hat's slogan "Service at the speed of sound." ” Although it was not the original Top Hat location (in Shawnee), the first Sonic logo arrived at the Stillwater restaurant, and it still exists today.
17. KFC // 3890 South State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah No.
In 1930, Harland Sanders started selling fried chicken from his gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. It became so popular that he soon opened a restaurant. , experimented with herbs, spices, and cooking methods, and was appointed a Kentucky Colonel (a civilian title, not a military one). However, it wasn't until 1952 that Kentucky Fried Chicken became popular—and it was a long way from Kentucky. To go. Sanders had met Utah restaurateur Pete Harman at a meeting earlier, the Deseret News reported.
In 1952, he visited Harman, where the two struck a deal to sell the Colonel's fried chicken at Harman's. It is said that while advertising the new product, Harman and logo writer Don Anderson decided to choose Kentucky Fried Chicken because it was fried chicken and Sanders was from Kentucky. The original site was demolished in 2004 and rebuilt to be larger and display memorabilia; it also has a statue of Sanders and Harman.
18. PANDA EXPRESS // 3214 GLENDALE GALLERIA, GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA
Opened in 1973 by Chinese immigrants Andrew Cherng and his father Ming Tsai Cherng in Pasadena, California Panda Inn Restaurant. After 10 years of serving the Los Angeles area with upscale dining, Glendale Plaza management asked the Cherngs to consider creating a quick-service version of their restaurant. They agreed, and now no trip to the mall is complete without free samples of tasty treats that can't be identified.
19. Metro // North End, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Looking for a way to pay for college, 17-year-old Fred DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from Dr. Peter Buck , and opened Pete's Super Submarines in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The next year, they opened a second location, and in 1968, three years after the restaurant opened, they shortened the name to Subway. The first franchise opened in 1974. DeLuca never became the doctor he originally intended to be, but he did receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Bridgeport in 2002. The original Subway no longer exists, but those who want to "eat fresh" have more than 40,000 other locations to choose from.
20. Little Caesars // Cherry Hill Road, Garden City, MI 32594 No.
Mike and Marian Ilitch opened the first Little Caesars - then known as Little Caesar's Pizza Treat - in 1959 in a strip mall in Garden City, Michigan. (Little Caesar was apparently Marianne's nickname for Mike.) It was the beginning of great things: the first franchise opened in 1962, and the "Pizza! Pizza!" slogan debuted in 1979. Unfortunately, you can no longer get Hot-N-Ready pizza at the original location: it closed in 2018.
21. JAMB // 17 CHORRO STREET, SUITE C, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA
Jamba began in 1990 as a senior project called Juice Club when Kirk Perron He got a loan from his mother and opened his first store in San Luis Obispo, California. Later, the name was changed to Jamba Juice, and in 1999, the company acquired Zuka Juice, Inc. (The company has been under the Jamba name since 2019.) The first Jamba is still running, in case you feel like a next time Smoothies and some history while you're in San Luis Obispo.
22. IN-N-OUT // Interstate 10 and Franciscoto Boulevard, Baldwin Park, California
The first In-N-Out opened in 1948 , when Harry and Esther Snyder set out to "provide customers with the freshest, highest quality food you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment." The original location has been demolished so it can Build Interstate 10 so you have to do the "Animal Style" restoration in another location.
23. TIM HORTONS // 65 OTTAWA STREET N., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
In 1964, the first Tim Hortons opened with Tim Hortons Donuts established in the name of Horton was a professional hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Former Hamilton police officer Ron Joyce became co-owner after internal drama that led to the departure of Holden's original business partner. (Joyce purchased Horton's stake in the hockey player after his death in 1974, becoming a full owner from his widow for C$1 million.) Tim Horton Donuts was eventually shortened to "Tim Horton Donuts" Horton's", which was eventually further shortened to "Tim Hortons" to keep the name uniform across all its locations while also complying with Quebec's language laws. The original location still operates as Tim Hortons, but now Ottawa Street N is honorably named "Tim Hortons" Way".
24. FIVE PEOPLE // 3235 COLUMBIA PIKE, ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
In 1986, Jerry and Janie Murrell and four others (Jerry's sons - three from his One marriage, one with Janie (although a fifth son was born later), founded Five Guys. The couple had advised the boys to "start a business or go to college." The first restaurant was located in the Westmont Mall, which is also home to Brenner's Bakery, where the Murrells originally bought their rolls. Five Guys no longer calls the mall in Arlington, Virginia, home, but they maintain a strong presence in Northern Virginia, where the first Five Guys opened.
25. DAIRY QUEEN // 501 N. CHICAGO STREET, JOLIET, ILLINOIS
In 1938, father and son duo John Fremont "Grandpa" and Alex McCullough were among their friends and customers Sherb Noble's ice cream shop tests a revolutionary soft-serve ice cream recipe. The trio knew they were onto something when the ice cream shop sold more than 1,600 servings of ice cream in less than two hours. Two years later, Noble opened the first Dairy Queen in Joliet.
26. JACK IN THE BOX // 6270 EL CAJON BOULEVARD, SAN DIEGO, CA
Robert O. Peterson opened the first Jack in the Box in 1951; Talk about pick-up windows, and Jack in the Box makes fast food faster. The place where the first Jack in the Box once stood is now Pratt Institute in San Diego.
27. BENIHANA // 61 W. 56TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
In 1964, 25-year-old Hiroaki “Rocky” Aoki opened a car in Harlem with his The money earned from the ice cream truck opened the first Benihana. New Yorkers were initially wary of dining at the restaurant, but after positive reviews, people became more open to the idea of ??sitting near a hot surface with strangers while their chef tossed food around. As the concept became more popular, the location (then known as Benihana West) was moved to 47 W. 56th Street in 1973; it still exists today.
28. CARRABBA'S ITALIAN GRILL // 3115 KIRBY DRIVE, HOUSTON, TEXAS
Johnny Carrabba and his uncle Damian Mandola opened the first Carrabba's Italian Grill in 1986. Their restaurant was so successful that they opened another location in Houston soon after. By 1993, Carrabba and Mandola partnered with Outback Steakhouse, Inc., which soon took the chain nationwide. The first (and second) Carrabba's are still owned and operated by the Carrabba family.
29. CHICK-FIL-A // 2841 GREENBRIAR PARKWAY SW, Atlanta, GA)
The first Chick-fil-A opened in 1967 at Atlanta's Greenbriar Mall Six years after it opened, the chain's chairman and CEO, S. Truett Cathy, began experimenting with boneless chicken breasts while working at the Dwarf House restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia. Initially, Cathy called his burger replacement a "chicken steak" sandwich, but was told it couldn't be trademarked, so he replaced "steak" with "fillet," then misspelled it for trademark reasons. The original Chick-fil-A and Dwarf House restaurants are still open — unless it's Sunday, of course.
30. FUDDRUCKERS // 8602 BOTTS LANE, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
Philip J. Romano—the father of Romano's Macaroni Grill—founded Fuddruckers in 1979 because he believed "the world Need a better burger". The restaurant originally opened as Freddie Fuddruckers in a former bank. The location is still serving customers today.