163 Fun Facts About Fast Food

The first restaurant built with Stanley Meston's golden-arches design opened in May 1953 in which city?

The first Meston-designed building, with two yellow parabolic arches flanking the stand, opened in Phoenix, Arizona, in May 1953 under franchisee Neil Fox; the arches became the chain's logo in 1962.

McDonald's adopted 'I'm Lovin' It' as its slogan in which year?

McDonald's launched 'I'm Lovin' It' in September 2003, debuting in Germany with a Justin Timberlake jingle, replacing earlier lines such as 'You deserve a break today'.

What day of the week is Chick-fil-A famously closed?

Chick-fil-A has been closed on Sundays since its founding by S. Truett Cathy in 1967. Cathy, a devout Southern Baptist, wanted to give employees a day of rest and worship, a policy that continues today across all locations.

The Big Mac was created in 1967 by franchisee Jim Delligatti, who ran restaurants in which metro area?

Jim Delligatti, who ran McDonald's franchises around Pittsburgh, introduced the Big Mac at his Uniontown, Pennsylvania restaurant in 1967; it went nationwide in 1968.

Which future TV weatherman played the original Ronald McDonald in 1963 local ads?

Scott had just finished a run as Bozo the Clown on a Washington station. The character was gradually retired from marketing in the 2010s.

When co-founder James McLamore introduced the Whopper in 1957, what did it cost?

The Whopper sold for 37 cents when James McLamore introduced it in 1957, built big after he saw an oversized burger drawing crowds at a rival stand in Gainesville, Florida.

How is KFC's Original Recipe chicken cooked?

KFC's Original Recipe is pressure-fried: in 1939 Harland Sanders adapted a pressure cooker into a fryer so his Corbin, Kentucky restaurant could cook chicken in minutes rather than half an hour.

As of 2019, which country outside North America had the most Subway locations?

In 2019 the United Kingdom had about 2,200 Subway shops, ahead of Brazil and Australia; the chain owns no stores itself, with every outlet run by a franchisee.

On In-N-Out's not-so-secret menu, a burger ordered 'Protein Style' drops the bun in favor of a wrap of what?

The 'secret' is public: Protein Style swaps the bun for lettuce, and In-N-Out lists it on its own website alongside the 3x3, the 4x4 and Neapolitan shakes.

Wendy's square hamburgers were modeled on those of which chain from Dave Thomas's home town of Kalamazoo?

Dave Thomas borrowed the square patty from Kewpee, the Kalamazoo, Michigan chain he ate at as a boy; the corners poke past the round bun to suggest plenty of meat.

Which fast food chain is credited as the first hamburger chain in the United States, opening in 1921?

White Castle, opened in Wichita, Kansas in 1921 by cook Walter Anderson and insurance man Billy Ingram, sold five-cent sliders and is counted as America's first hamburger chain.

What businessman bought McDonald's from the McDonald brothers and turned it into a global empire?

Kroc became the brothers' franchise agent in 1955 and opened his own restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois that year. Buying them out in 1961 cost him $2.7 million.

Wendy's Triple Baconator stacks three quarter-pound patties with how many strips of bacon?

Nine strips, four slices of cheese, ketchup, and mayo add up to about 1,360 calories. A breakfast Baconator joined the menu in 2020.

What documentary film about eating only McDonald's for 30 days was released in 2004?

Super Size Me premiered at Sundance in January 2004; Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald's for 30 days in early 2003 and later admitted he drank heavily during filming, muddying his health results.

Which burger chain's 1970s advertising gave us 'Have it your way' and 'It takes two hands to handle a Whopper'?

Burger King's 1970s campaigns produced 'Have it your way' in 1974 and 'It takes two hands to handle a Whopper', along with the 'Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce' jingle.

What is McDonald's famous limited-time pork sandwich called?

The McRib, introduced in 1981, is a restructured patty of ground pork shoulder pressed into the shape of a tiny rib rack, served on a 5.5-inch roll with onions and pickles.

How many herbs and spices are in KFC's secret Original Recipe?

The blend dates to Sanders' Corbin, Kentucky roadside restaurant in the 1930s and remains one of the most famous trade secrets in the food business.

Who voiced Taco Bell's talking Chihuahua of the late 1990s, famous for '¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!'?

Carlos Alazraqui, the voice of Rocko in Rocko's Modern Life, supplied the Chihuahua's lines in the 1997–2000 campaign; the dog on screen was a female named Gidget.

During which period did Harland Sanders begin selling fried chicken in Corbin, Kentucky?

Sanders started serving fried chicken from his Corbin, Kentucky service station in 1930, early in the Great Depression; he did not sell his first franchise until 1952, more than twenty years later.

Which Taco Bell item, created with Frito-Lay in 2012, has a shell flavored like a nacho-cheese corn chip?

Cool Ranch and Fiery versions followed and were later discontinued. The 2017 Naked Chicken Chalupa flipped the idea, using a shell made of fried chicken.

Subway's full-size 'footlong' sub is nominally how long?

A footlong is nominally 12 inches. In 2013 customers photographing 11-inch subs beside tape measures sued Subway, five years after the $5 footlong promotion of 2008 became a fast-food hit.

Roughly how many restaurants did Subway have worldwide in 2023?

Subway reported roughly 37,000 restaurants worldwide in 2023, all franchised; it had passed McDonald's by store count at the end of 2010 with 33,749 outlets, a lead McDonald's later regained.

The McDonald's Monopoly fraudster sold winning pieces through a member of which crime family?

Jerome Jacobson met Gennaro Colombo by chance at the Atlanta airport; Colombo recruited fake winners for half the prize money and even appeared in a 1995 McDonald's commercial with a 'won' Dodge Viper.

Before founding his Mexican-inspired chain in 1962, Glen Bell got his start in 1948 selling what?

Bell's Drive-In in San Bernardino sat across from a Mexican restaurant whose hard-shell tacos he studied and copied, first at Taco-Tia and then at the Downey, California restaurant that became Taco Bell.

Beyond selling food, what does McDonald's rely on as its main revenue engine, collecting a share of each franchisee's sales in return?

McDonald's is a landlord: by owning the land and buildings it collects rent as a share of sales. At the end of 2025 it owned about 56 percent of the land and 80 percent of the buildings in its consolidated markets.

Which chain briefly rebranded as "IHOB" (International House of Burgers) in 2018?

The 'flip' was a stunt to sell burgers to a chain seen as breakfast-only. A year later IHOP parodied itself, promoting a burger with a pancake inside and vowing to call its burgers 'pancakes'.

What is the Chick-fil-A cow mascot campaign's famous misspelled slogan?

The cows are saving their own skins: "Eat Mor Chikin" has been the chain's most prominent slogan since The Richards Group created the campaign in 1995.

Roughly what share of McDonald's restaurants are run by independent operators, not the company?

About 95 percent of McDonald's restaurants are franchised; the corporation directly employs around 150,000 people, while more than two million work for the independent operators who run the rest.

Which country's McDonald's serves a "Teriyaki McBurger" as a regular menu item?

Den Fujita opened the first Asian McDonald's in Tokyo in July 1971 and built the business on local items like the Teriyaki McBurger and Chicken Tatsuta. Singapore and Japan also sell a prawn Ebi Burger.

A Taco Bell Cantina in Pacifica, California, beside Highway 1, has a reputation as the chain's most what?

It is routinely called 'the most beautiful Taco Bell in the world': the Cantina sits on the sand at Pacifica State Beach with a walk-up window for surfers and a fireplace facing the Pacific.

The McDonald brothers' 1948 Speedee Service System cut the menu to how many items?

They also fired all 20 carhops and swapped plates and cutlery for paper so they no longer needed a dishwasher. Their original 1940 stand had been called McDonald's Famous Barbecue.

McDonald's first Indian restaurant opened in 1996 in which city?

The first opened in Vasant Vihar, Delhi, on 13 October 1996, three days before a Mumbai outlet; Indian menus carry no beef, with the Maharaja Mac standing in for the Big Mac.

A 2022 lawsuit alleged the Whopper was advertised to look about what percentage bigger than it really is?

The class action filed in March 2022 claimed Burger King's ads made the Whopper look about 35 percent larger, with more than double the meat, than what was served; similar suits soon targeted McDonald's and Wendy's.

What goes on top of In-N-Out's 'Animal Style' fries?

Animal Style fries come topped with melted cheese, spread and grilled onions; on a burger, Animal Style means a mustard-cooked patty with pickles, grilled onions and extra spread.

Which company owns Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut?

Yum! Brands, spun off from PepsiCo in 1997 as Tricon Global Restaurants, took its current name in 2002; Pepsi had bought Pizza Hut in 1977, Taco Bell in 1978 and KFC in 1986.

What was the name of McDonald's short-lived pizza product that was tested in the 1990s?

McPizza, tested from 1989 into the 1990s, took about 11 minutes to cook, far too slow for the service model; two holdouts in Pomeroy, Ohio and Spencer, West Virginia served it until 2017.

At the end of 2025, roughly how many McDonald's restaurants were there worldwide?

McDonald's had about 43,500 restaurants at the end of 2024 and was opening well over a thousand a year toward a stated 50,000 by 2027, so the end-2025 count stood near 45,000.

How did drivers order at In-N-Out's original 1948 Baldwin Park drive-thru stand?

Harry and Esther Snyder's speaker system let customers order without leaving the car, decades before most chains caught up. The site later became a distribution centre.

The chain now known as BK was founded in Jacksonville, Florida in 1953 under what name?

Keith Kramer and Matthew Burns opened Insta-Burger King in Jacksonville in 1953, named for the Insta-Broiler oven they licensed; Miami franchisees James McLamore and David Edgerton bought the faltering company in 1959 and dropped the 'Insta'.

In what year did the first McDonald's drive-through window open?

The first opened in 1975 in Sierra Vista, Arizona, so soldiers from nearby Fort Huachuca, barred from leaving their cars in uniform, could buy food; in many countries the format is branded McDrive.

Which fast food chain's chicken sandwich sparked a viral "chicken sandwich war" in 2019?

Popeyes' 12 August 2019 launch drew a snippy tweet from Chick-fil-A, and the online feud helped lift Popeyes' sales 38 percent by year end. Rivals rushed out sandwiches of their own.

Outside the United States, which country had the most McDonald's restaurants in 2025?

Mainland China became McDonald's largest market outside the US after a 2017 deal handed control to a CITIC-led consortium; its store count more than doubled by 2025, far ahead of Japan's roughly 3,000.

How many free toppings can a Five Guys customer choose from?

Five Guys lists 15 free toppings, from grilled mushrooms and jalapeños to A.1. sauce; staff are also told to throw an extra scoop of fries into every bag, and boxes of free peanuts sit in the lobby.

What is the "Big Mac Index," published by The Economist magazine?

Pam Woodall introduced it in September 1986 as a semi-humorous illustration of PPP, and the paper has published it every year since. Switzerland usually has the priciest burger.

Wendy's is named for founder Dave Thomas's fourth child, whose given first name was actually what?

Melinda Lou Thomas got her nickname from a childhood struggle to pronounce her own name. Her father opened the first restaurant in Columbus, Ohio in 1969.

Which Taco Bell item, a limited-time offer in 2005, went permanent in 2006?

The Crunchwrap Supreme, a hexagonal grilled tortilla parcel, debuted as a limited offer in 2005 and became permanent in 2006; a vegan version was tested in Los Angeles, New York and Orlando in 2023.

Where did the 'Colonel' in Colonel Sanders' name come from?

Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935. His only real service was as a teenage army wagoner in Cuba; after being recommissioned in 1950 he grew the goatee and started dressing the part.

McDonald's has sold the Happy Meal, with a toy in the box, since which year?

The red box with the yellow smile arrived in June 1979, and its toys are usually a tie-in with a film, TV series, or toy line.

Which chain's 1956 slogan came from defending a franchisee seen licking his fingers on TV?

'Well, it's finger lickin' good' was Ken Harbough's reply to a viewer's complaint; earlier slogans included 'We fix Sunday dinner seven nights a week'.

Which chain's 1995 ads brought back its ping-pong-ball-headed mascot as company CEO?

Jack in the Box relaunched its mascot Jack in 1995 as a fictional CEO who blew up the old boardroom in his first ad, two years after the 1993 E. coli outbreak battered the chain.

'Pizza! Pizza!', introduced in 1979, is the catchphrase of which chain?

Little Caesars can't say it in Canada, where Pizza Pizza owns the trademark, so ads there say 'Two Pizzas!'. The 1979 catchphrase meant two pizzas for a rival's price of one.

Which chain promised 30-minute delivery or free pizza from 1973 until 1993?

Domino's dropped its 30-minutes-or-free guarantee in 1993 after a $79 million jury award to a woman hit by a speeding delivery driver; its 2007 line 'You Got 30 Minutes' only winked at the old promise.

Which national landmark did Taco Bell claim to have bought in a 1996 April Fools' ad?

On 1 April 1996 Taco Bell ran full-page newspaper ads claiming it had bought the Liberty Bell and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell to help cut the national debt; thousands of angry calls followed.

Since 2014, Ving Rhames has growled which chain's slogan, 'We Have The Meats'?

The roast-beef chain's earlier signage promised 'Different is good'.

Which 1996 McDonald's burger, pitched at adults, became a famous marketing flop?

The Arch Deluxe launched in 1996 behind a campaign costing well over $100 million, pitching a 'grown-up' burger with peppered bacon on a potato-flour bun; it was gone from most menus by 2000.

'Eat Fresh' and 'Sandwich Artists' are the marketing language of which chain?

Subway adopted 'Eat Fresh' around 2000 and trademarked 'Sandwich Artist' for its counter staff; its 2021 menu overhaul was marketed as the 'Eat Fresh Refresh'.

'Hot Eats, Cool Treats' was the 1990s slogan of which chain?

Dairy Queen ran 'Hot Eats, Cool Treats' in the 1990s; its longer-running line was 'We Treat You Right', and Texas franchisees adopted the regional sign-off 'Eat Like a Texan'.

Which chain trademarked the slogan 'We Didn't Invent the Chicken, Just the Chicken Sandwich'?

Chick-fil-A trademarked the line; Truett Cathy had perfected his pressure-fried chicken sandwich in 1961, cooked as fast as a burger, and the cow campaign followed in 1995.

Which chain's name, trademarked in 1950, is what its founder hoped you'd say after a bite?

Harmon Dobson trademarked Whataburger in 1950, hoping customers would exclaim 'What a burger!' after a bite; the orange-and-white A-frame buildings arrived in 1961.

Which chain's slogan since 1970 has been 'Quality Is Our Recipe'?

Wendy's has kept 'Quality Is Our Recipe' on its signs since 1970, practically its whole life. Its shorter-lived lines include 'Hot-N-Juicy', 'Parts is parts' and 'You can eat great, even late'.

'Love That Chicken from Popeyes' is the jingle of a chain named after which fictional character?

Founder Al Copeland said he named Popeyes after Detective Popeye Doyle, Gene Hackman's character in The French Connection (1971), though the chain later licensed Popeye the Sailor for its ads.

In which city was Jack in the Box founded by Robert O. Peterson in 1951?

Robert O. Peterson opened the first Jack in the Box in San Diego in 1951 with a drive-thru intercom and a clown on the roof; the company kept its headquarters in San Diego.

How many children died in the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak?

Four children died and 732 people were infected across four western states after eating undercooked patties in early 1993; the outbreak reshaped US meat-safety rules.

Which parent company owns both Carl's Jr. and Hardee's?

CKE Restaurants, the Carl's Jr. parent, bought Hardee's from Imasco for $327 million in 1997 and has run the two as regional twins, Carl's Jr. in the West and Hardee's in the Southeast and Midwest.

In which state was Hardee's established in 1960?

Wilber Hardee opened the first Hardee's in Greenville, North Carolina, in 1960; the chain grew strongest across the South and Midwest.

Under what name did Sonic open its first location in 1953?

Troy N. Smith Sr. opened the Top Hat Drive-In in Shawnee, Oklahoma, in 1953 and renamed it Sonic in 1959 after learning 'Top Hat' was already trademarked.

Sonic is known for carhops who serve customers how?

Sonic's carhops famously deliver orders on roller skates, and the chain has staged a national skate-off competition to crown its best skating carhop.

In which Wisconsin town did the first Culver's open in 1984?

Craig and Lea Culver, with Craig's parents, opened Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers in Sauk City, Wisconsin, on 18 July 1984.

Where in New York did Shake Shack begin as a hot dog cart in 2001?

The cart in Madison Square Park began in 2001 to support the park's restoration; it won a permit for a permanent kiosk there in 2004, and the company went public in 2015 at $21 a share.

Which restaurateur behind Union Square Hospitality Group founded Shake Shack?

Danny Meyer, founder of Union Square Hospitality Group (Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern), grew Shake Shack from a 2001 hot dog cart into a chain that went public in 2015.

Who founded Chipotle Mexican Grill in 1993?

Steve Ells, a Culinary Institute of America graduate, opened the first Chipotle in Denver in 1993 in a former Dolly Madison ice cream shop with an $85,000 loan from his father.

Which burger giant became a major investor in Chipotle in 1998?

It fully divested in 2006, by which time Chipotle had grown to over 500 locations.

The word chipotle comes from the Nahuatl name for what?

Chipotle comes from the Nahuatl chilpoctli, 'smoked chili': a ripe red jalapeño dried over smoke, which gives the pepper its earthy heat.

Panda Express was launched in 1983 in the food court of which California mall?

Andrew and Peggy Cherng opened the first Panda Express in the Glendale Galleria food court in 1983, a fast-food version of their Pasadena restaurant Panda Inn.

In which Massachusetts city did Bill Rosenberg found Dunkin' Donuts in 1950?

Bill Rosenberg opened the first Dunkin' Donuts in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1950, renaming his Open Kettle shop; the chain absorbed Mister Donut in 1990 and dropped 'Donuts' from its name in 2019.

Krispy Kreme founder Vernon Rudolph bought his yeast-raised recipe from a chef in which city?

He began selling to grocery stores from a rented building in Winston-Salem in 1937.

Tim Hortons was founded in 1964 in which Ontario city?

The first Tim Hortons opened in Hamilton, Ontario, in May 1964; the Maple Leafs defenceman co-founded it with Jim Charade after an earlier hamburger venture failed.

Which investor took control of Tim Hortons after Tim Horton's death in 1974?

Ron Joyce, a former Hamilton policeman who became Horton's partner in 1967, bought out Horton's widow for $1 million in 1975 and drove the chain's expansion across Canada.

Nando's logo depicts which Portuguese symbol?

The Rooster of Barcelos is a Portuguese folk emblem from a legend of a roasted cockerel that crowed to prove a pilgrim's innocence; it reflects the Portuguese roots of co-founder Fernando Duarte.

The peri-peri chicken chain Nando's was founded in 1987 in which country?

Fernando Duarte and Robbie Brozin bought a chicken takeaway in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1987 and named it Nando's after Duarte's nickname; the peri-peri style came from Portuguese Mozambique.

Jollibee, the Philippines' top fast-food chain, was established in 1978 by whom?

Tony Tan Caktiong converted his Magnolia ice cream parlors into Jollibee in 1978; its bee mascot and Chickenjoy fried chicken made it the Philippines' biggest fast-food chain.

In which Texas city did Whataburger open its first restaurant in 1950?

Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton opened the first Whataburger in Corpus Christi on 8 August 1950; the Dobson family sold a majority stake to BDT Capital in 2019.

Raising Cane's is named after what?

The original 'Mothership' opened near LSU's north gate in Baton Rouge in 1996.

Bojangles, known for Cajun-seasoned chicken and biscuits, was founded in 1977 in which city?

Jack Fulk and Richard Thomas opened the first Bojangles' in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1977; the chain dropped the apostrophe from its name in 2020.

Church's Chicken was founded in 1952 across the street from which landmark?

George W. Church Sr., a retired chicken-incubator salesman, opened Church's Fried Chicken To Go across the street from the Alamo in San Antonio in 1952.

Long John Silver's takes its name from a character in which novel?

Long John Silver is the one-legged pirate of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island; the seafood chain, founded in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1969, borrowed his name.

Which chain did Arby's Restaurant Group buy in 2018 just before renaming itself Inspire Brands?

Arby's Restaurant Group closed its $2.9 billion purchase of Buffalo Wild Wings in February 2018 and renamed itself Inspire Brands; Sonic, Jimmy John's and Dunkin' followed by 2020.

A&W's origins go back to a 1919 root beer stand at a parade in which California town?

Roy Allen sold his first mugs of root beer at a Lodi parade for returning First World War veterans in June 1919; he partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, and their initials named the chain.

The first Dairy Queen opened on June 22, 1940, in which Illinois city?

Sherb Noble opened the first Dairy Queen in Joliet, Illinois, on 22 June 1940, using the soft-serve formula developed by J. F. McCullough and his son Alex.

Which conglomerate has owned Dairy Queen since 1998?

The company is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota.

In what year did Dairy Queen introduce the Blizzard, selling more than 100 million that first year?

The Blizzard launched nationally in 1985 and sold roughly 175 million in its first year; the frozen-yogurt Breeze followed in 1990.

What is the corporate slogan of Steak 'n Shake?

Gus Belt's chain, founded in Normal, Illinois, in 1934, has used 'Famous for Steakburgers' alongside 'In Sight It Must Be Right', a promise that the beef was ground in view of customers.

Checkers and Rally's, which merged in 1999, are known for what restaurant format?

Checkers dominates the Southeast while the Rally's name survives in the Midwest.

The first Del Taco opened in 1964 in which California desert town?

Ed Hackbarth and David Jameson opened Casa Del Taco in Yermo, a desert town near Barstow, in September 1964 and took in $169 on the first day.

The first El Pollo Loco opened in 1974 in which Mexican state?

Juan Francisco Ochoa opened the first El Pollo Loco in Guasave, Sinaloa, in 1974, expanded into Los Angeles in 1980 and sold the American stores to Denny's parent in 1983.

Nathan's Famous began in 1916 as a nickel hot dog stand in which neighbourhood?

Nathan and Ida Handwerker spent their $300 savings on a Coney Island stand in 1916, undercutting Feltman's ten-cent hot dogs with nickel ones.

Papa John's began in 1984 with an oven installed where?

Schnatter knocked out a broom closet at the back of his father's tavern, Mick's Lounge in Jeffersonville, Indiana, to fit a pizza oven in 1984 and sold pies to the bar's customers.

What did John Schnatter sell to fund his first pizza equipment?

Schnatter sold his 1971 Camaro Z28 to buy $1,600 of used pizza equipment in 1984; in 2009 Papa John's offered a $250,000 reward and he got the car back from a Kentucky owner.

Which married couple founded Little Caesars in 1959?

Mike and Marian Ilitch opened the first Little Caesars in a Garden City, Michigan strip mall in 1959; the family later bought the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers.

What did Little Caesars' 'Hot-N-Ready' promotion, launched in 1997, offer for $5?

Hot-N-Ready offered a large pepperoni pizza for $5 with no wait, advertised by roadside 'shaker boards'; it was tested in 1997 and rolled out nationally in 2004.

What was the Ypsilanti pizzeria Tom Monaghan and his brother bought in 1960 called?

Domino's began as DomiNick's, and the original owner, Dominick DeVarti, refused to let Monaghan keep the name once he expanded, forcing the rename.

Where are Domino's global headquarters?

The Domino's Farms office park sits in Ann Arbor Township.

How much did the Carney brothers borrow from their mother to start Pizza Hut in 1958?

Dan and Frank Carney, Wichita State students, borrowed $600 from their mother in 1958 to open the first Pizza Hut in a small brick building in Wichita, Kansas; the first franchise followed in Topeka in 1959.

Who designed Pizza Hut's distinctive building style in 1963?

Chicago architect George Lindstrom designed the hut-shaped building with its distinctive roof in 1963, and the chain used it as the template for new restaurants through the 1960s and 1970s.

Auntie Anne's began in 1988 as a pretzel stand at a farmers' market in which state?

Anne Beiler started selling hand-rolled soft pretzels from a stand at the Downingtown Farmers Market in Pennsylvania in 1988; she and her husband Jonas grew it into a mall-pretzel chain.

Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's and Carvel are co-owned by which company, formerly Focus Brands?

Focus Brands renamed itself GoTo Foods in 2024; the Sandy Springs, Georgia company, backed by Roark Capital, also owns Jamba, Moe's Southwest Grill and Schlotzsky's.

What is the idea behind Baskin-Robbins' '31 flavors' slogan?

The pitch was a different flavor every day of the month, 31 covering even the longest one. The chain's logo hides a stylized 31 in the letters B and R.

In which California city was Baskin-Robbins founded in 1945?

Irv Robbins opened his Snowbird Ice Cream shop in Glendale in 1945 and merged with brother-in-law Burt Baskin's parlors in 1948 to form Baskin-Robbins.

Why did Dave Thomas blend two flavours for the original Frosty?

He based it on milkshakes he drank in Detroit and made it thick enough to need a spoon.

The Egg McMuffin was invented in 1972 to resemble which dish?

Franchisee Herb Peterson devised it in Santa Barbara in 1972 as a handheld eggs Benedict, swapping hollandaise for a slice of American cheese on a toasted English muffin.

The Filet-O-Fish was created in 1962 in a Catholic neighbourhood of which city?

Franchisee Lou Groen's Cincinnati restaurant sat in a heavily Catholic area that shunned meat on Fridays, so in 1962 he devised a halibut sandwich that became the Filet-O-Fish.

What was Ray Kroc's rival meatless sandwich that lost a sales contest to the Filet-O-Fish?

Kroc's Hula Burger was a slice of grilled pineapple with cheese on a cold bun; in the 1962 Good Friday sales contest it sold six against the Filet-O-Fish's 350.

Which supplier conceived Chicken McNuggets in the late 1970s?

Keystone Foods, run by Herb Lotman, devised the nugget process with McDonald's chef René Arend in 1979; supply shortfalls delayed the national rollout until 1983.

The McFlurry was invented in 1995 by a franchisee in which Canadian province?

Franchisee Ron McLellan created the McFlurry in Bathurst, New Brunswick, in 1995, with Oreo among the first flavours; it reached the United States in 1997.

In France and much of Europe, the Quarter Pounder is sold under which name?

Across much of Europe the sandwich is sold as the Royal or Royal Cheese, the naming joked about in Pulp Fiction; the patty grew from 4 oz to 4.25 oz precooked in 2015.

The Quarter Pounder was introduced in 1971 by a franchisee in which California city?

Franchisee Al Bernardin, a former McDonald's vice-president, introduced it at his Fremont, California restaurant in 1971 for customers who wanted more meat; it went nationwide in 1973.

What flavour was the original 1967 Shamrock Shake?

Connecticut operator Hal Rosen's 1967 original was a lemon-lime sherbet shake for St. Patrick's Day; the mint flavour replaced it years later.

In which city was McCafé launched in 1993?

The first McCafé opened in Melbourne in 1993; the format reached the United States in 2001, and by 2003 McCafé was the largest coffee-shop brand in Australia and New Zealand.

How many people were in Hamburger University's first class in 1961?

The class met in the basement of a restaurant; the school moved to Chicago's West Loop in 2018.

The first Ronald McDonald House opened in 1974 in which city?

Eagles general manager Jim Murray was raising money for player Fred Hill's daughter Kim, who had leukaemia, when the first house opened near Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in October 1974.

What did Grimace originally do in McDonaldland before becoming a good guy?

The purple monster debuted as an antagonist alongside the Hamburglar.

McDonald's opened its first restaurant outside the United States in 1967 in which country?

McDonald's opened its first restaurant outside the United States in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, in June 1967; Costa Rica followed in 1970 as the first in Latin America.

Which Burger King breakfast sandwich debuted in 1983 as its answer to the Egg McMuffin?

Burger King introduced the Croissan'wich in 1983, stacking egg, cheese and sausage, bacon or ham inside a croissant to compete with McDonald's Egg McMuffin.

Which company supplies the plant-based patty for Burger King's meatless Whopper?

Burger King considered Beyond Meat before choosing Impossible in 2019.

The first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened in 1952 in which state?

Pete Harman of South Salt Lake also introduced the bucket meal in 1957.

KFC's Double Down, launched nationally in 2010, replaced the bun with what?

The Double Down, launched nationally in April 2010, sandwiched bacon, cheese and sauce between two fried chicken fillets in place of a bun; it returned for a limited run in 2023.

In which year did Harland Sanders sell KFC to John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack Massey?

Sanders, then in his seventies, sold Kentucky Fried Chicken to John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack Massey for $2 million in 1964, keeping a lifetime salary and the role of brand ambassador.

KFC is headquartered in which Texas city?

Yum Brands announced in 2025 that KFC's US headquarters would move from Louisville, Kentucky, to Plano, Texas, joining sister chain Pizza Hut in the Dallas suburb.

Subway was founded in 1965 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, under what name?

Fred DeLuca and physicist Peter Buck opened Pete's Super Submarines in Bridgeport in August 1965; the name became Subway in 1968 after radio ads made 'Pete's Submarines' sound like 'Pizza Marines'.

How much did 17-year-old Fred DeLuca borrow from Peter Buck to start Subway?

Peter Buck, a nuclear physicist and family friend, lent 17-year-old Fred DeLuca $1,000 in 1965 to open a sandwich shop meant to pay his way through college; the chain passed 1,000 stores in 1987.

What was the name of the Hapeville, Georgia restaurant where Chick-fil-A began in 1946?

S. Truett Cathy and his brother Ben opened the Dwarf Grill, named for its tiny size, in Hapeville near Atlanta's airport in 1946; it was later renamed the Dwarf House.

Where did the first dedicated Chick-fil-A restaurant open in 1967?

The first stand-alone Chick-fil-A opened in Atlanta's Greenbriar Mall in 1967; before that Cathy had licensed the sandwich to dozens of other restaurants, Waffle House among them.

Why did an Atlanta Chick-fil-A break its Sunday rule on December 17, 2017?

When a power outage shut Hartsfield-Jackson airport on Sunday 17 December 2017, a nearby Chick-fil-A made sandwiches that the city handed to thousands of stranded travellers. A Mobile, Alabama store opened one Sunday in 2019 for a 14-year-old's birthday wish.

What is generally identified as the first drive-through restaurant, opened in 1947?

Sheldon 'Red' Chaney's Red's Giant Hamburg on Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri, let drivers order and collect at a window from 1947; it closed in 1984.

In the restaurant industry, what does the abbreviation QSR stand for?

QSR, for quick-service restaurant, is the industry's own term for fast food, covering counter-service chains from McDonald's to Subway as opposed to fast-casual or full-service restaurants.

The world's first automat, Quisisana, opened in 1895 in which city?

The Quisisana automat opened in Berlin in 1895, selling food from coin-operated compartments; the format reached Philadelphia in 1902.

Which company operated the first US automats and was once the world's largest restaurant chain?

Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart opened their first Philadelphia lunchroom in 1888.

Under what name did Al Copeland open the restaurant that became Popeyes in 1972?

Al Copeland opened Chicken on the Run in Arabi, a New Orleans suburb, in June 1972; it flopped within months, so he reopened with spicier chicken as Popeyes Mighty Good Chicken.

In which year did Wendy's introduce the Baconator?

Wendy's launched the Baconator in 2007: two quarter-pound patties, six strips of bacon and two slices of cheese with no lettuce or tomato; a smaller Son of Baconator followed later.

Roughly how many TV commercials did Dave Thomas appear in for Wendy's from 1989 to 2002?

That is more than any other company founder in television history.

Before Wendy's, Dave Thomas worked closely with which fried-chicken founder?

Thomas ran four struggling KFC restaurants in Columbus for Harland Sanders in the 1960s, suggesting the Colonel trim the menu, appear in his own commercials and use a rotating bucket sign.

The first Five Guys opened in 1986 in which Virginia county?

Jerry Murrell and his sons opened the first Five Guys in Arlington, Virginia, in 1986; franchising began in 2003 and more than 300 permits sold within eighteen months.

Zaxby's was founded in 1990 near which university campus?

Childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley opened the first Zaxby's in Statesboro, Georgia, home of Georgia Southern University, in 1990.

Wingstop restaurants are decorated with what theme?

Wingstop, founded in Garland, Texas in 1994, decorates its restaurants with a 1930s–40s pre-jet aviation theme, a nod to the 'wing' in its name.

The first Waffle House opened on Labor Day weekend 1955 in which Georgia community?

Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner opened the first Waffle House in Avondale Estates, a suburb east of Atlanta, on Labor Day weekend 1955; the original building later became the chain's museum.

How many holes does White Castle punch in each slider patty?

White Castle has punched five holes in each patty since 1954 so the thin squares steam-cook through on a bed of onions without being flipped.

Krystal, the Southeast's square-burger chain, was founded in 1932 in which city?

Rody Davenport Jr. and J. Glenn Sherrill opened the first Krystal in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in October 1932, selling small square burgers for a nickel; headquarters moved to Dunwoody, Georgia in 2013.

Bob Wian of Bob's Big Boy is credited with inventing what in the 1930s?

Six months after opening Bob's Pantry in Glendale, California, in 1936, Wian sliced a bun into three and stacked two patties to create the double-decker hamburger that became the Big Boy.

What does the name of British sandwich chain Pret a Manger mean in French?

Prêt à manger is French for 'ready to eat', a play on prêt-à-porter ('ready to wear'); Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham built the London chain from 1986.

The British bakery chain Greggs was founded in 1939 in which city?

John Gregg began delivering eggs and yeast by bicycle in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1939 and opened his first shop in Gosforth in 1951; the chain is famous for sausage rolls.

Wimpy, the burger chain later famous in Britain and southern Africa, was founded in 1934 where?

Edward Gold opened the first Wimpy Grills in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1934, naming it after Popeye's burger-loving J. Wellington Wimpy; he licensed the name to J. Lyons and Co. for British Wimpy Bars in 1954.

Hesburger, which outsold its US rival in Finland and the Baltics in 2008, is based in which city?

Heikki 'Hese' Salmela's chain is based in Turku, where he started with a grill kiosk in 1966; the first restaurant under the Hesburger name opened there in 1980.

Under what name does Burger King operate in Australia?

Burger King trades as Hungry Jack's in Australia because an Adelaide takeaway already held the Burger King name when the chain arrived in 1971; Jack Cowin's Competitive Foods Australia owns the master franchise.

The Irish chain Supermac's opened its first restaurant in 1978 in which County Galway town?

Former teacher Pat McDonagh opened the first Supermac's in Ballinasloe in 1978, taking the name from his schoolboy Gaelic football nickname 'Supermac'.

The East Asian chain Lotteria's name combines Lotte with which word?

Lotteria combines Lotte, the Japanese-Korean confectionery group behind it, with 'cafeteria'; the first restaurant opened in Tokyo in September 1972.

What does MOS in Japan's MOS Burger stand for?

MOS stands for Mountain, Ocean, Sun; founder Satoshi Sakurada opened the first MOS Burger in Tokyo in 1972 after a spell working in Los Angeles.

The Japanese beef-bowl chain Yoshinoya was established in what year?

Eikichi Matsuda opened the first Yoshinoya at Tokyo's Nihonbashi fish market in 1899, serving beef bowls to market workers; its motto is 'Tasty, low-priced, and quick'.

Jimmy John Liautaud's father lent him $25,000 to start his sandwich chain as an alternative to what?

He graduated second to last in his class, planned a hot dog stand, then opened his first sandwich shop in Charleston, Illinois, in 1983.

At 17, Peter Cancro bought the Point Pleasant sub shop that grew into Mike's Subs with whose help?

His high-school football coach Rod Smith, a local banker, arranged the $125,000 Cancro pulled together in three days in 1975; in 2024 he sold a majority stake to Blackstone in a deal valuing Jersey Mike's at about $8 billion.

Taco John's trademarked 'Taco Tuesday' in 1989 in every US state except which one?

Gregory's Restaurant & Bar in Somers Point, New Jersey, already held the phrase there; Taco John's abandoned its trademark in July 2023 after Taco Bell petitioned the US trademark office to cancel it.

What are the Olés, the signature side dish at Taco John's?

Potato Olés are bite-sized seasoned fried potato nuggets dusted in a proprietary spice blend; the chain began in 1968 as a Cheyenne, Wyoming taco trailer called Taco House.

Hot-dog chain Wienerschnitzel sponsors a national championship series for what?

Dachshund racing, naturally: the Wiener Nationals are the de facto national championship series for wiener dogs. The chain's mascot is the Delicious One, a talking hot dog.

After its 2014 bankruptcy, sub chain Quiznos shrank from a 2007 high of 4,700 US stores to roughly how many by 2017?

Only about 400 Quiznos remained in the US a decade after its 2007 peak of 4,700, a collapse of more than 90 percent. It had been North America's second-largest sub chain as late as 2013.