Restaurant Beginnings (Part One)

The first Cracker Barrel Old Country Store was opened by Dan Evins on September 19, 1969, in Lebanon, Tennessee, near Interstate 40 on Highway 109. Evins, who worked for Shell Oil, created the combination restaurant, gift shop, and service stop to attract highway travelers

and increase traffic to nearby gas stations. The location was designed to resemble an old-fashioned country store, featuring Southern comfort food, rocking chairs, antiques, and a welcoming atmosphere that evoked rural America. The concept proved highly successful and eventually grew into a nationwide chain with hundreds of locations. Although the original restaurant closed decades ago, the Lebanon site remains an important part of the company’s history and identity.

The first Wendy’s restaurant was opened by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in downtown Columbus at 257 East Broad Street. Named after his daughter, Melinda Lou Thomas, whose nickname was Wendy, the restaurant introduced several innovations that helped distinguish it from competitors, including square hamburger patties, a larger selection of toppings,

and the slogan emphasizing quality over speed. The original location quickly became successful and served as the model for the company’s rapid expansion across the United States and beyond. Although the first restaurant closed on March 2, 2007, after nearly thirty-eight years of operation, it remains an important landmark in the history of one of America’s best-known fast-food chains.

The first Old Hickory House restaurant was opened in 1955 by George Jackson on Piedmont Road in Atlanta, Georgia. Jackson, who had moved to Atlanta from Alabama, built the restaurant around traditional Southern barbecue cooked over hickory wood, creating a style that became a favorite throughout the metropolitan area. The original location quickly gained a loyal following for its barbecue pork, Brunswick stew, and homestyle Southern cooking.

Over the following decades, Old Hickory House expanded to multiple locations and became an Atlanta institution. Although the Piedmont Road restaurant is long gone, it remains the birthplace of one of Georgia’s most beloved barbecue chains.

The first Pizza Hut opened in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, when brothers Dan Carney and Frank Carney borrowed $600 from their mother to start a small pizza restaurant near the campus of Wichita State University. The building was modest, and the sign could accommodate only a few letters, leading to the name

“Pizza Hut.” The restaurant quickly became popular, helping launch what would grow into one of the world’s largest pizza chains. The original building was later moved to the Wichita State University campus, where it has been preserved as a historic landmark celebrating the company’s beginnings and the rise of the modern pizza industry.

The first Fuddruckers restaurant opened in 1979 in San Antonio, Texas, when entrepreneur Philip J. Romano converted an old bank building into a hamburger restaurant originally called Freddie Fuddruckers. Romano believed that “the world needed a better hamburger,” and the restaurant distinguished itself by grinding beef on-site,

baking buns fresh in-house, and offering a large self-serve toppings bar. The concept quickly attracted customers looking for a higher-quality alternative to traditional fast food and grew into a national chain with locations across the United States and abroad. The original San Antonio location is remembered as the birthplace of one of America’s most recognizable burger brands.