The company name was taken from the initials of their last names – Allen and Wright. The company became famous in the United States for its "frosty mugs" – the mugs were kept in a freezer and filled with A&W Root Beer just before being served to customers. A&W Restaurants, Inc. An A&W restaurant in Page, Arizona.
Allen partnered with former Lodi employee Frank Wright. They leased their first two Root Beer stands to other operators so they could expand into the larger city of Sacramento. This was around the same time the partners coined the new name A&W®, “A” for Allen & “W” for Wright.
By 1966, A&W Food Services had opened over 200 drive-in restaurants and was a hit with baby boomers and their families. In 1972, A&W Food Services was acquired by Unilever Canada Limited. Since that time, A&W has always been owned and operated in Canada independently from A&W operations in the United States.
Established in 1919, A&W has been a pioneer in the fast-food industry. It all started when Roy W. Allen opened a roadside root beer stand in Lodi, CA. From there, Allen partnered with Frank Wright, and together they coined the name A&W, which has become synonymous with root beer ever since.
DEFINITION. The water activity (a w) of a food is the ratio between the vapor pressure of the food itself, when in a completely undisturbed balance with the surrounding air media, and the vapor pressure of distilled water under identical conditions.
opened its first restaurant in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1956. The initials “A&W” stand for A&W's founders: Allen and Wright. At January 1, 2023, there were 1,046 A&W restaurants in operation in Canada, of which 1,036 are owned and operated by franchisees and 10 are owned and operated by A&W Food Services.
Yum! operates the brands KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, except in China, where the brands are operated by a separate company, Yum China. Yum! previously also owned Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants.
In October 1993, A&W Beverages became part of Cadbury Beverages. That company would spin off its U.S. beverages business as Dr Pepper Snapple Group in 2008. In March 2005, A&W began to appear in the Vintage Bottle, a 20-ounce bottle with graphics reminiscent of an old-fashioned root beer barrel.
There are 482 A&W Restaurants locations in the United States as of November 09, 2023. The state and territory with the most number of A&W Restaurants locations in the US is California, with 59 locations, which is about 12% of all A&W Restaurants locations in the US.
“Co-branding is a trend that is evolving daily in the quick service restaurant business,” explained A&W President Kevin Bazner. “We believe this is a good fit for KFC, since our All American Menu of hamburgers, hot dogs, our signature A&W Draft Root Beer and A&W Root Beer Floats will compliment the KFC menu.”
Yum Brands Inc., is a restaurant company that owns quick-service chains Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, as well as fast-casual brand The Habit Burger Grill. It is headquartered in Louisville, Ky. Yum Brands was initially part of PepsiCo, which entered the restaurant business in 1977 with the acquisition of Pizza Hut.
People who bought an A&W root beer or cream soda product with a "Made With Aged Vanilla" label between February 2016 and June 2023 may be eligible for a cut of a $15 million settlement the beverage maker must pay after a court decision. The rebate results from a class-action lawsuit claiming A&W Concentrate Co.
Arguably, fast-food restaurants originated in the United States with White Castle in 1921. Today, American-founded fast-food chains such as McDonald's (est. 1940) and KFC (est. 1952) are multinational corporations with outlets across the globe.
Made fresh in our restaurants. Our signature item since the opening of our first tiny Root Beer stand in 1919. It's still made fresh on site with real cane sugar and a proprietary blend of herbs, bark, spices and berries. This frosty mug deserves a celebration.
7 Up (stylized as 7up outside the United States) or Seven Up is an American brand of lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up Retro (outside of the U.S.)
Inter Mark acquired the franchise from KUB back in 2019, George Ang the man behind the company vowed to revive the oldest fast-food brand in the country and open more outlets within the next few years. The new owner is part of MUI Group and also operates Network Food which produces chocolate food products.
On May 30, 1997, PepsiCo spun off Pizza Hut, along with Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken, into a new company named Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. The company assumed the name of Yum! Brands on May 22, 2002.
Yum! Brands, based in Louisville, Kentucky, owns and operates Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants in the United States. Yum China operates fast-food subsidiaries in China.
By then, A&W was facing stiff competition and eventually closed down in Singapore in 2003. There were also other fast-food chains that wanted a piece of the pie.
What is the oldest restaurant chain in the United States?
This makes sense, as the restaurant chain proliferated throughout the 20th century. A&W Restaurants started in 1919 as a roadside stand selling (fittingly) root beer. As such, while it didn't sell food in those early days, it is technically the oldest restaurant chain in the United States.
