12 California chains that made fast food history
Southern California changed the way people eat hamburgers, hot dogs and tacos after World War II.
The rise of car culture in the 1940s and ’50s brought about several fast food chains that are still around today.
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A couple of them, Jack in the Box and Hot Dog on a Stick, are hitting major milestones this year.
Here are 12 notable quick-service brands and when they came about.
1940: Richard and Maurice McDonald open a drive-in in San Bernardino. In 1948, they overhaul it to serve rapidly prepared hamburgers and McDonald’s is born.
1941: Carl Karcher opens a hot dog stand at a corner of Florence and Central avenues in Los Angeles, a forerunner to Carl’s Jr., which would grow up in Anaheim.
1946: Dave Barham opens the first Hot Dog on a Stick on Muscle Beach near the Santa Monica Pier.
1946: Oklahoma native Tom Koulax opens a chili burger stand at Beverly and Rampart boulevards in Los Angeles. It becomes Original Tommy’s.
1948: Harry and Esther Snyder open the first In-N-Out Burger in Baldwin Park.
1951: Robert O. Peterson opens the first Jack In The Box in San Diego.
1961: John Galardi opens the first Der Wienerschnitzel on Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington. The hot dog chain later drops “Der” from its name.
1961: Ed Hackbarth opens the first Del Taco in Yermo.
1962: Glen Bell opens the first Taco Bell, a 400-square-foot walkup stand, at 7112 Firestone Blvd., Downey. In 2015, the building would be loaded on a trailer and hauled to Taco Bell’s current headquarters in Irvine.
1980: El Pollo Loco, which started in Sinaloa, opens its first U.S. restaurant at 503 S. Alvarado St., Los Angeles, near MacArthur Park. The chain is now based in Costa Mesa.
1981: The Havadjias Brothers from Cyprus open the first Farmer Boys restaurant in Perris.
1983: Andrew and Peggy Cherng open the first Panda Express in the Glendale Galleria.