Roadfood

The Texas Pig Stands Drive-in

The Texas Pig Stands Drive-in

People in their cars are so lazy that they don't want to get out of them to eat! The proclamation still rings as true today as it did when candy and tobacco magnate Jessie G. Kirby first uttered the words in 1921. At the time, he was trying to interest Rueben W. Jackson, a Dallas, Texas physician to invest in a new idea for a roadside restaurant—a “fast-food” stand, although at the time he didn't call it that. Kirby’s idea was simple: patrons would drive up in their automobiles and make their food…continue reading →
Birthplace of the Hamburger

Birthplace of the Hamburger

Sure, history books tell of the Tartar's fondness for raw meat and how sailors from Germany loved to order Hamburg Style Steak upon their arrival in the New World. The real question is: Who created America's first all-beef patty, the ancestral prototype of today's Quarter Pounder, Big Mac, and Whopper? Popular food folklore—peppered with a light sprinkling of facts—often gives the top billing to “Hamburger” Charlie Nagreen, an inventive resident of Seymour, Wisconsin. Seems it all started somewhere around 1885 when fifteen-year-old Charlie began peddling his chopped beef to the throng of hungry…continue reading →
American Diner History

American Diner History

What do McDonald's, Wendy’s, Burger King, Denny’s, Arby’s, Roy Rogers, Taco Bell, Jack-in-the-Box, and Kentucky Fried Chicken have in common? All have their distant origins in the diner, that unsung institution of roadside America that began over one hundred years ago, decades before there were automobiles, drive-thru ordering windows, milkshake mixers, and remote-controlled speaker boxes. The Invention of the American Diner The precursor to the fast-food eatery began in 1872 when Walter Scott, a myopic pressman for the Providence Journal (and one-time street vendor), became serious about selling food and refreshments in the…continue reading →
From Fish Brine To Ketchup

From Fish Brine To Ketchup

Ahhh ... that tangy, thick, and sticky condiment known as ketchup—where would American road food be without it? Certainly, drive-ins, diners, coffee shops, and in many cases—fine restaurants—wouldn’t be the same. Burgers would be bland, fries embarrassed by their nakedness, and hot dogs robbed of their bite. In a world devoid of red sauce, Archie Bunker would have starved. Historians trace the ancestry of the zesty mixture as far back as the Roman Empire. Ancient cooks created a sauce from the entrails of dried fish they called “garum,” a highly prized addition to…continue reading →
Heavens to Hamburgers

Heavens to Hamburgers

In the good old days—before the fears of e-Coli and mad cow disease cast doubt on meals made of ground beef—our nation’s hamburgers were mouth-watering works of art! When America’s burgermeisters first slapped the hamburger sandwich onto the public griddle of the drive-in diner, motorists lauded it as the perfect portable snack. Along the roadsides, restaurateurs cooked and served them up with unabashed style. Unfortunately, the heyday of the simple, great-tasting hamburger didn’t last long. The impersonal age of fast food franchising saw its quick demise. After the McDonald brothers perfected their burger-making…continue reading →
The World’s Fair Cornucopia

The World’s Fair Cornucopia

Who serves the best ice cream on Route 66? Is it Foster's Freeze in Barstow? Perhaps Delgadillo's Snow Cap in Seligman? Or maybe, the Dairy Queen in Ludlow? The answer is highly subjective, if not completely elusive ... The only point that ice cream historians agree upon is where the portable, edible container known as the "ice cream cone" originated: the future Route 66 town of St. Louis, Missouri. The place was the 1904 World's Fair, and although Italo Marchiony applied for a patent on a split-cone mold prior to this event, he…continue reading →