Fast Food Restaurants
Fast food restaurants provide fast service when you order food. There is usually minimal space to sit and eat as these locations generally deal in wrapped food that the customers take with them. The food is cooked in bulk and then served when the customer places an order. Some fast food restaurants provide home delivery so that you can place your order by telephone and have it delivered to your door.
White Castle was the first fast food restaurant, which opened its doors in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. This is the oldest fast food chain in America, specializing in hamburgers. The cook, Walter Anderson, is credited with inventing the assembly line in a restaurant setting, giving rise to the name “fast food”. Automats also became popular around this time bringing the idea of take-out food to consumers.
The first MacDonald’s fast food restaurant opened in San Bernadino, California, in 1940 selling barbequed hamburgers. Once they discovered the money they could make from such business, they closed for a short period of time in 1948 to make renovations and reopened as a walk in business where customers could walk up to a wicket and order burgers, fries, milkshakes, coffee and Coca Cola, all served in disposable wrappings. The first MacDonald’s franchise opened in Illinois in 1954 and has since spread all over the world.
Burger King is another big name fast food restaurant. This restaurant was started by two brothers in Miami, Florida in the mid-1950’s after they were inspired by the success of the MacDonald’s business in California. Although they used the same assembly line system, instead of frying the burgers, they used a different piece of equipment to broil the patties.
The type of food served in fast food restaurants has grown from the first days of only burgers and fries. Today you can get chicken, fish, sandwiches of all sorts, salads, Chinese cuisine and much more at one of these locations. Fish and chips became popular as a take out food in the United Kingdom in the second half of the 19th century with the abundance of fish in the ports where the trawlers docked and sold their catches. It became the staple food of the working class and gradually spread all over the country. In the UK, such franchises are called chippies or takeaways.
Along with serving meals at fast food restaurants, another trend has developed with the Tim Horton’s chain, which is popular in Canada and the Crispy Crème chain in the US. These outlets are essentially coffee shops that serve coffee, donuts, muffins and sandwiches. There is seating in most locations, but for the most part, the food and drink are served in disposable cups and boxes for the baked goods.