The Past and Present of Fast Food

By Stephanie Vargas

As of 2021, there are over 30,000 fast food establishments in California alone, according to the Statista Research Department. That’s close to a whopping 100 times more than in Wyoming, the state with the least amount of fast-food restaurants. 

Some are well-known like Carl’s Jr. and Jack in the Box, or slightly more regional like Inglewood-born Fosters Freeze, which came even before McDonald’s. 

Each of those restaurants are a part of a fast-food chain that started with a dream, but how did they come to dominate the food industry?

Here are the surprising histories of four fast-food chains common in Southern California.

Harland Sanders wore many hats during his long endeavor to become the Colonel Sanders we know today. He began working as young as age 10 as a farmhand, then enlisted as a military man, to working as a fireman during the day and studying law by night before owning and selling a ferry boat company, and then, finally, managing a Shell service station in Corbin, Kentucky, with many odd jobs in between. It was at this gas station that Sanders began his chicken restaurant business, beginning as a side venture to the main responsibilities of managing the Shell station.

Eventually, he wanted his food to gain more traction, so Sanders painted a nearby sign on the highway to redirect travelers to his service station. This made his competitor, Matt Stewart, so enraged that he painted over the sign, causing a battle of paint between the two.

The battle became all too weighty when Sanders and two Shell employees caught Stewart painting over Sanders’s sign. The three were armed and chased Stewart who was also armed, eventually leading Stewart to start a shootout. He killed one of the employees before Sanders shot Stewart in the shoulder to stop him.

As a result, Stewart went to prison for murder and Sanders dominated the gas station business in the area, allowing him to evolve into a restaurant business. Soon after, Harland Sanders became Colonel Sanders when Governor Ruby Laffoon named him a real Kentucky Colonel in 1935.

Some 20 years later, Dave Thomas, the head cook of a restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, worked closely with Colonel Sanders. He came to the city to grow his business, KFC. During this time, Thomas offered Colonel Sanders advice such as limiting the menu to signature dishes and making commercials with the Colonel making an appearance on screen. This led to Thomas managing four failing KFCs and making them so profitable that he sold his share back to Colonel Sanders for upwards of $1.5 million in 1968. Today, those shares would be worth more than $13.8 million.

With his excellent skills in business and newfound wealth, Thomas founded and opened the first Wendy’s in Columbus, Ohio. He named the franchise after his daughter Melinda’s nickname, Wenda, which then became Wendy for the restaurant. Thomas’s mission was to serve fresh, high-quality meat, a goal that persists today, according to Eat This, Not That. Wendy’s never freezes their patties and instead opts for thousands of deliveries of filler- and additive-free beef in refrigerated trucks every week. 

Hitting closer to home, Glen Bell, an aspiring restaurateur, learned how to make authentic tacos from the owners of a San Bernardino restaurant called Mitlá Cafe (which is still running today in the same place as it did during its establishment in 1937). With this knowledge, Bell opened a taco stand that he named Taco Bell in 1951. Taco Bell got its first restaurant in 1962 in the city of Downey. The first location to become part of the franchise was sold to Kermit Bekke and located in Torrance. Neither of the two remain in the market today in their original names or locations.

And now, the gem of the West Coast, In-N-Out. The first location opened in 1948 in Baldwin Park. It was the first drive-thru hamburger spot in California and was run by Harry and Esther Snyder. They started it on the principle that ingredients would be hand-picked every morning and served fresh. Much like Wendy’s, In-N-Out still closely follows this philosophy. According to Eat This, Not That, In-N-Out is intimately involved with the selection process of their cows and with the patty-making process, using beef that is free of additives and fillers and then delivered fresh. 

It’s evident that what made these fast-food chains able to grow across the nation is the founders’ passion and commitment to their craft. Ultimately, that’s what allows an establishment to stand the test of time.