How fast food got its start in Southern California — and why it's still the fast food capital of the world

Mary MeisenzahlNov 23, 2022, 19:15 IST

Taco Bell's original menu, with its first franchisee, Kermit Becky.Taco Bell

Some of the biggest fast food brands in the world started in Southern California in the 20th century.
Car-centered growth of communities around highways and suburbs made fast food and drive-thrus a perfect business model.

Fast food has been deeply intertwined with Southern California since its inception.

The logo of McDonalds is seen outside a shop in ViennaThomson Reuters

McDonald's, Taco Bell, In-N-Out, Del Taco, Jack in the Box, and many other chains all have their roots in the area.

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Taco Bell, Chipotle, and others are still headquartered there.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Bob Wian opened the first Bob's Big Boy in Glendale, California in 1936.

Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Source: Orange County Register

Wian was also credited with creating the double burger, now a fast food staple.

AP Photo/Chris Carlson

Wian had some experience with serving customers in their cars from his time at Kirby's Pig Stand, which had carhops, in Texas.

Margolies, John, photographer, Library of Congress

Source: Houston Historic Retail

Bob's Big Boy had drive-ins for customers in cars, a precursors to drive-thrus.

Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images

In 1940, the McDonald's brother first opened McDonald's Bar-B-Q drive-in in San Bernardino in 1940.

Chicken on a barbecue grill.Getty Images

Source: LA Times

Later that decade, the first In-N-Out opened in Baldwin Park.

In-N-Out

Source: Orange County Register

That same year, McDonald's became up a walk-up burger restaurant.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

By 1955, Ray Kroc was involved as the franchising agent, and he started the McDonald's System, the predecessor to the McDonald's Corporation.

McDonald's

Source: McDonald's

Del Taco and Taco Bell, still competitors today, opened within a year of each other in 1960 and 1961.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The two restaurants broke from the hamburgers and french fries mold of fast food at the time to sell burritos and tacos.

Taco Bell's original menu from the 1960s.Courtesy of Taco Bell

At the same time, these restaurants were growing and expanding, the US was building its massive highway system.

Shutterstock

Source: Federal Highway Administration

American life was redesigned around car culture, and Americans wanted convenient food stops that fit into that life, according to author and journalist Adam Chandler.

Getty Images

Source: Smithsonian Magazine

Southern California in particular grew based on cars, which enabled suburban housing tracts, malls, and fast-food restaurants to emerge.

adamkaz/Getty Images

Source: LA Conservancy

Southern California boomed with money as a national leader in aircraft and automobile production and other defense spending.

Photo by Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Source: California Capitol Museum

A car-centered culture, spending money for leisure, and a growing demand for fast and efficient food made a perfect storm for fast food to start, poising the industry to grow through the rest of the world.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.

A car-centered culture, spending money for leisure, and a growing demand for fast and efficient food made a perfect storm for fast food to start, poising the industry to grow through the rest of the world.

Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.

Southern California was primed to develop drive-thrus, which make up about 75% of fast food industry sales today.

Starbucks drive-thru.Photo by Jason Whitman/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Source: Nation's Restaurant News

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How fast food got its start in Southern California &mdash; and why it's still the fast food capital of the world

Fast food has been deeply intertwined with Southern California since its inception.

McDonald's, Taco Bell, In-N-Out, Del Taco, Jack in the Box, and many other chains all have their roots in the area.

Taco Bell, Chipotle, and others are still headquartered there.

Bob Wian opened the first Bob's Big Boy in Glendale, California in 1936.

Wian was also credited with creating the double burger, now a fast food staple.

Wian had some experience with serving customers in their cars from his time at Kirby's Pig Stand, which had carhops, in Texas.

Bob's Big Boy had drive-ins for customers in cars, a precursors to drive-thrus.

In 1940, the McDonald's brother first opened McDonald's Bar-B-Q drive-in in San Bernardino in 1940.

Later that decade, the first In-N-Out opened in Baldwin Park.

That same year, McDonald's became up a walk-up burger restaurant.

By 1955, Ray Kroc was involved as the franchising agent, and he started the McDonald's System, the predecessor to the McDonald's Corporation.

Del Taco and Taco Bell, still competitors today, opened within a year of each other in 1960 and 1961.

The two restaurants broke from the hamburgers and french fries mold of fast food at the time to sell burritos and tacos.

At the same time, these restaurants were growing and expanding, the US was building its massive highway system.

American life was redesigned around car culture, and Americans wanted convenient food stops that fit into that life, according to author and journalist Adam Chandler.

Southern California in particular grew based on cars, which enabled suburban housing tracts, malls, and fast-food restaurants to emerge.

Southern California boomed with money as a national leader in aircraft and automobile production and other defense spending.

A car-centered culture, spending money for leisure, and a growing demand for fast and efficient food made a perfect storm for fast food to start, poising the industry to grow through the rest of the world.

Southern California was primed to develop drive-thrus, which make up about 75% of fast food industry sales today.

How fast food got its start in Southern California — and why it's still the fast food capital of the world