Fast Food, an American Tradition
In 1940, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a small hot dog restaurant in downtown San Bernardino designed to target busy workers looking for a quick meal in their car. Could the brothers have imagined any of what was to come? Today, McDonald’s is worth billions of dollars, a blockbuster movie has been made featuring the brothers’ story, and the company just introduced hamburgers made without meat. The growth of the fast-food industry has been a defining trend of not only the restaurant industry but American culture as a whole. In honor of National Fast Food day on November 16th, we’ll be giving you a brief run-through of how the industry started, where it’s at today, and what it’s most likely going to be in the future.
Even though fast food wouldn’t be the same without them, it would be a mistake to credit solely the McDonald brothers for coming up with the concept. Its actual origins are up for debate. While some food historians trace fast food all the way back to thermopolium public kitchens found in Ancient Rome, it’s more common for people to look back to the start of the 20th century. Back then, “Automats” were all the rage. They resembled today’s vending machines but with cooked meals instead of snacks, and these machines were massively popular in cities.
Recognizing the potential in eateries that served speedy and convenient meals at a low price, numerous restaurant developers took the Automat concept one step further and created the first wave of fast-food chains. You’ll likely recognize many of these names: White Castle, McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box, Carl Jr.’s, and more were all opened and fully committed to the fast food concept by the early fifties.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, fast food was a massively successfully industry, and for a long time it looked like its strength was unbreakable. However, recent years have seen a rise in customers conscious of the healthiness and sustainability of their food, and because of them the industry has been forced to massively revamp itself. Mcdonald’s has exchanged its classic yellow-and-red colors for sleek and modern-casual decor, Burger King has ushered in a wave of vegetarian-friendly burgers with their Impossible Whopper; trends that would have been unimaginable at the height of fast food’s success are now essential to a brand’s survival.
Still, fast-food chains have been able to update themselves and renovate their image for modern times, and although the road at times has been rocky, the ultimate durability of these companies proves fast food in America is here to stay. Current industry trends show that, in addition to healthier meals and ecologically conscious production, many fast-food diners are attracted to these restaurants for the same reason they were 100 years ago: convenience. Mobile ordering and a focus on new service technologies that emphasize speed are merely the first steps in getting food to the customer more quickly than ever before.
Looking ahead, the industry is sure to continue growing with the times. We’ve ingrained the temptation of a quickly prepared and undeniably tasty hamburger into the American conscious, and even if those burgers are made without meat, or created by machines, fast food is here to stay.