Fast Food

The Automat was a fast food-like restaurant with no wait staff. Patrons would put coins into a machine in order to unlock a box with food. The world's first automat was named Quisisana, which opened at 13 Leipziger strasse, Berlin, Germany in 1895.

Frank Hardart and Joe Horn opened the first US Automat on June 9, 1902 at 818 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Horn & Hardart became the most prominent American automat chain. and at its peak it was one of the largest restaurant chains in the world, serving 800,000 people daily.

White Castle is the oldest burger chain in America. It was started in 1921 by Walter A. Anderson and E.W. Ingram who sold their burgers for 5 cents a piece.

In-N-Out Burger is credited as the first fast food chain to have a two-way speaker system for drive-thru ordering. The original In-N Out Burger opened in 1948 in the Los Angeles area. Until that point, drive-ins with carhops who took your order and delivered your food were the norm.

A Fred DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from his friend Peter Buck to start "Pete's Super Submarines" in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He sold his first sandwich on August 28, 1965. In 1968, the sandwich shop was renamed "Subway" and it is now the largest single-brand restaurant chain and the largest restaurant operator in the world.

Subway restaurant in Pittsfield Township, Michigan (2011). By Dwight Burdette - Wikipedia

Chicken Licken's secret fried chicken recipe was purchased from the owner of a fast food outlet in Waco, Texas in 1972, for US$1,000.

Chicken Licken had an 80% share of South Africa's fast food market in 2010, tying with McDonald's. According to a case study published by the Henny Penny Corporation in 2011, Chicken Licken is the "largest non-American-owned fried chicken franchise in the world".

In an effort to “preserve decorum and traditions” in Venice, local authorities banned new kebab shops and other fast-food outlets from opening. The law passed on May 4, 2017 also limits shops selling pizza by the slice.

Thirteen-year-old Jaequan Faulkner started a little business in the summer of 2018 selling $2 hot dogs with $1 sodas and chips from a stand in front of his house in Minnesota. But his self-made job was in jeopardy after someone sent an e-mail complaint to the Minneapolis Health Department. Instead of shutting him down, the inspectors helped him bring his stand up to code and paid the $87 fee for his permit out of their own pockets.

McDonalds and Burger King sugar-coat their fries so they will turn golden-brown.

Warm colors such as yellow, orange and red make you hungry - Which is why many fast food restaurants are yellow, orange and red.

American fast food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A is the largest buyer of U.S. peanut oil, since it's what their chicken is fried in.

The average American visits a fast food restaurant six times a month.

About 25% of Americans eat fast food daily in the US.

American fast food restaurants frequently use Columbus, Ohio to test out new products because the demographics of the city closely resemble those of the country as a whole. 

American fast food companies are banned from Iran, so the country is home to many knock-off fast food joints with similar branding and food, such as "Pizza Hot" and "Mash Donalds". Lawsuits from major corporations are rare due to the American/Iranian relationship and Iranian trademark law.