Source: https://top-list.co/top-oldest-fast-food-chains-v2453.html
- A&W
- White Castle
- KFC
- McDonald’s
- Dairy Queen
- In-N-Out Burger
- Dunkin’ Donuts
- Jack in the Box
- Sonic Drive-In
- Burger King
A&W
The first Roy W. Allen root beer stand opened on June 20, 1919, in Lodi, California, and that is where A&W got its start. On a hot summer day that also happened to fall in the middle of a city-wide celebration honoring the return of local World War I heroes, Allen, who had acquired his root beer recipe from a pharmacist, decided to start selling the beverage.
Since Allen’s root beer was well received, he teamed up with a former employee named Frank Wright to open more root beer stands nearby two years later. Around this time, Allen and Wright came up with the moniker A&W, a combination of their last names’ first letters.
In 1925, as their success grew, Allen and Wright decided to sell A&W franchises. This makes A&W the world’s oldest fast-food chain.
A&W expanded its menu over time, adding items such as burgers, hot dogs, cheese curds, and other typical fast food fares.
Year Founded: June 20, 1919
Founder(s): Roy W. Allen and Frank Wright
Year Franchising Started: 1925
Current No. of Locations: 1,100+
Headquarters: Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Website: awrestaurants.com
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White Castle
Many people believe White Castle to be the first authentic fast food restaurant in the world because A&W began as a root beer stand. Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson established White Castle in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921. White Castle is unquestionably the first fast food burger chain in the world because it has always sold hamburgers.
Although Anderson had prior experience running burger stands, when he and Ingram decided to launch White Castle, Americans were not as obsessed with hamburgers as they are today. In fact, many people regarded burgers as dangerous and unappealing. Anderson and Ingram ensured that their first White Castle restaurant was clean and spotless to help change public perception. They also ensured that their employees were well-dressed.
Anderson and Ingram also added the novel touch of grinding the beef right in front of the customers. Within a few years, White Castle started to grow in the region thanks to all of their successful ideas.
Due to the fact that White Castle has never been franchised and all of its locations are still company-owned, the chain is still relatively small in comparison to some of the other chains on this list.
Year Founded: September 13, 1921
Founder(s): Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson
Year Franchising Started: N/A – all locations are company-owned
Current No. of Locations: about 420
Headquarters: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Website: www.whitecastle.com 
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KFC
KFC is the world’s first fast food chicken chain restaurant, founded in 1930 by Harland Sanders, who began selling food to hungry travelers from his gas station at the time. Sanders decided to buy the gas station across the street as his business grew because it was more visible.
Sanders began selling fried chicken after converting the second station into a restaurant, and the rest is history.
Sanders started looking for a way to make fried chicken faster because it took too long to cook. When the first industrial pressure cookers hit the market in 1939, Sanders purchased one and turned it into a pressure fryer.
In order to produce more chicken that was cooked through, stayed juicy, and was crisp on the outside, Sanders innovated the frying process for fried chicken. Sanders refined his renowned Original Recipe, which includes 11 herbs and spices, the following year.
KFC is now the world’s second-largest fast food chain (by sales) after McDonald’s.
Colonel Sanders is not a real military colonel, but he was made an honorary Kentucky Colonel in 1939 by Governor Rudy Laffoon for his contributions to the state’s cuisine.
Year Founded: March 20, 1930
Founder(s): Harland Sanders
Year Franchising Started: September 24, 1952
Current No. of Locations: over 20,925
Headquarters: Louisville, Kentucky
Website: www.kfc.com 
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McDonald’s
While McDonald’s official position is that Ray Kroc invented the company on his own in 1955, this couldn’t be further from the truth and ignores the real founders and namesakes of the chain, Richard and Maurice McDonald. In San Bernadino, California, the McDonald brothers opened their first drive-in restaurant in 1940.
Although McDonald’s is best known for its hamburgers, the brothers originally sold slow-cooked barbecue sandwiches. They eventually began selling hamburgers, and in 1947 they realized that the majority of their profits came from their hamburgers.
McDonald’s ultimately decided to close their drive-in restaurant in order to open a new location with a simplified menu consisting only of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, potato chips, coffee, soft drinks, and apple pie. The following year, milkshakes and french fries replaced chips and pies. Their idea was a hit, and by the start of the 1950s, southern California was home to a number of McDonald’s eateries.
Ray Kroc became a McDonald’s franchisee in 1955 and eventually drove the McDonald brothers out of the company and out of the restaurant business entirely. So, while Kroc was not the original founder of McDonald’s, he was instrumental in transforming it into the global powerhouse that it is today.
The iconic Golden Arches of McDonald’s were created by the architects Stanley Clark Meston and Charles Fish, and the first McDonald’s with the new logo opened in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953.
Year Founded: May 15, 1940
Founder(s): Richard and Maurice McDonald
Year Franchising Started: 1955
Current No. of Locations: over 37,241
Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Website: www.mcdonalds.com
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Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen is most famous for its frozen treats, particularly its signature Blizzard, but the company also sells hot foods such as chicken strips, fries, and burgers. Dairy Queen, on the other hand, originally only sold soft-serve ice cream, which was invented in 1938 by Dairy Queen’s founder, John Fremont McCullough, and his son Alex.
McCullough initially conducted business out of his friend Sherb Noble’s ice cream parlor. The first Dairy Queen was established by the McCulloughs and Noble in Joliet, Illinois, in 1940. Dairy Queen introduced many of its enduring menu items during the 1950s, including the Dilly Bar. Thousands of Dairy Queen locations can be found worldwide today.
The company owns the trademark for the small curl on top of Dairy Queen’s soft-serve ice cream cones.
Year Founded: June 22, 1940
Founder(s): John Fremont McCullough
Year Franchising Started: 1940
Current No. of Locations: over 6,800
Headquarters: Edina, Minnesota, USA
Website: https://www.dairyqueen.com
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In-N-Out Burger
None of the fast food restaurants on this list has a larger cult following than In-N-Out Burger. The popularity of the chain can be attributed to its regional availability, In-N-Out does not franchise and does not open locations outside of the Western half of the United States (California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Oregon).
The West Coast chain is known for its simple, high-quality food that is adored by almost everyone who has tried it, as well as its emphasis on family values.
Harry and Esther Snyder established In-N-Out in Baldwin Park, California, in 1948. The Snyders opened the first drive-thru hamburger joint of its kind in California when they founded In-N-Out. Family members have owned In-N-Out for the majority of its existence.
Following the death of Esther Snyder in 2006, In-N-Out had its first non-family president for a few years. However, Snyder, Lynsi Martinez, Ester, and Harry’s granddaughter have retaken control of In-N-Out.
The Snyder family’s Christian beliefs are reflected in the packaging of In-N-Out Burger, which includes Bible citations such as John 3:16. Rich Snyder, Harry and Esther’s son, started this when he took over the company in the 1980s.
Year Founded: October 22, 1948
Founder(s): Harry and Esther Snyder
Year Franchising Started: N/A – all locations are company-owned
Current No. of Locations: over 342
Headquarters: Irvine, California
Website: https://www.in-n-out.com
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Dunkin’ Donuts
When William Rosenberg opened the Open Kettle donut and coffee shop in Qunicy, Massachusetts in 1948, it was the beginning of Dunkin’ Donuts. After consulting with business leaders, Rosenberg made the decision to rename the restaurant Dunkin’ Donuts two years later. It is the world’s first and oldest fast food donut chain.
“Make and serve the freshest, most delicious coffee and donuts quickly and courteously in modern, well-stocked stores,” was Rosenberg’s mission statement. Due to the quick success of Dunkin’ Donuts, Rosenberg started establishing franchised locations in 1955. Dunkin’ Donuts expanded to 100 locations in just 10 years and hasn’t stopped since.
Dunkin’ Donuts eventually began selling other foods, such as breakfast sandwiches. Dunkin’ Donuts is currently rebranding itself as simply Dunkin’ to reflect its expanded menu.
There are now over 12,400 Dunkin’ Donuts locations in 46 countries.
Year Founded: 1948
Founder(s): William Rosenberg
Current No. of Locations: over 12,400
Headquarters: Canton, Massachusetts, USA
Website: www.dunkindonuts.com
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Jack in the Box
Robert O. Peterson founded Jack in the Box in San Diego in 1951. Topsy’s Drive-In, a small chain of eateries, was already owned by Peterson. Peterson’s restaurants had a circus theme by the end of the 1940s, which he continued when he opened the first Jack in the Box.
Jack in the Box was one of the first drive-thru restaurants to use the intercom system, which Peterson purchased from George Manos in 1947. Peterson improved on the intercom system and created the first two-way intercom system, which is still used by every fast food drive-thru today.
Over the next few decades, Peterson grew Jack in the Box until he sold it to Ralston Purina Co. in 1968. Jack in the Box began franchising under Ralston Purina, and by the end of the 1970s, the chain had 1,000 locations.
Currently owned by Apollo Global Management, Jack in the Box is well-known for its eccentric mascot and wide selection of foods designed to satiate any craving.
Although Jack had always been a trademark of Jack in the Box (as the clown perched atop the drive-through intercom and the top of the store’s roof), he first appeared as the company’s fictitious founder, CEO, and ad pitchman in 1995.
Year Founded: February 21, 1951
Founder(s): Robert Oscar Peterson
Year Franchising Started: early 1970s
Current No. of Locations: 2,200
Headquarters: San Diego, California, USA
Website: https://www.jackinthebox.com
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Sonic Drive-In
Sonic Drive-In was founded in 1953 by Troy Smith, who was attempting to return to his life in Seminole, Oklahoma after serving in the United States Army during WWII. Smith worked as a milk and bread deliveryman before purchasing a small diner. Soon after, Smith sold the diner to open Troy’s Pan Full of Chicken, a fast food restaurant. Smith shifted gears once more in 1953, taking over a walk-up root beer stand called the Top Hat, the original name of Sonic.
Customers had to initially approach the Top Hat stand to place their orders, but after observing drive-in speakers in Louisiana, Smith decided to install them. Smith later hired carhops to deliver the food, resulting in the creation of the modern Sonic.
Following a meeting with businessman Charles Woodrow Pappe, who was impressed by Smith’s drive-in restaurant, Smith started franchising the Top Hat in 1956. The name of the chain was changed to Sonic by Smith and Pappe in 1959 after they discovered that Top Hat had already been trademarked. Over 3,600 locations now exist for Sonic across 45 states.
Instead of a traditional franchise fee, Troy Smith and Charles Pappe charged two cents per hamburger, resulting in a penny profit per bag imprinted with Sonic’s logo.
Year Founded: June 18, 1953
Founder(s): Troy Smith
Year Franchising Started: 1956
Current No. of Locations: over 3,606
Headquarters: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Website: www.sonicdrivein.com
Sonic Drive-In
Burger King
Keith J. Kramer and Matthew Burns founded Burger King in 1953 as Insta-Burger King in Jacksonville, Florida. After the Insta-Broiler grills that Kramer and Burns used to cook their burgers, they gave their new eatery the name Insta-Burger King. Since the broiled burgers were such a success, Kramer and Burns immediately began franchising and mandated that all franchises utilize the Insta-Broiler device.
Despite its success, Insta-Burger King experienced financial difficulties within two years. As the company struggled, Miami-based franchisees David Edgerton and James McLamore bought it and renamed it Burger King in 1959.
Many of Burger King’s distinguishing features are the work of Edgerton and McLamore. They developed the flame broiler machine used today after discovering that the Insta-Broilers would deteriorate due to the meat drippings. Edgerton and McLamore also created Burger King, the chain’s mascot, in 1955, and McLamore invented the Whopper in 1957.
With more than 15,000 locations worldwide, Burger King is currently one of the biggest fast food burger chains.
Because a food store in Adelaide had already registered the name Burger King as a trademark when the company decided to enter the country, all Burger King locations there are now referred to as Hungry Jack’s. Jack Cowin, an Australian master franchisee, picked the name Hungry Jack’s from a list Burger King gave him.
Year Founded: 1953
Founder(s): Keith J. Kramer and Matthew Burns
Year Franchising Started: 1953
Current No. of Locations: over 15,200
Headquarters: Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA
Website: www.bk.com 
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