| Industry | Soft drink Restaurants |
|---|---|
| Genre | Fast Food Soft drink |
| Founded | 1926 |
| Headquarters | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Products | Soft drinks, Fast food |
| Parent | Frostop Beverages Inc. |
Frostop is the name of an American root beer brand and chain of fast food drive-in restaurants. The restaurants are known for their rotating oversized root beer mugs used as outdoor signage.
The first Frostop root beer stand was opened in 1926 in Springfield, Ohio by L.S. Harvey. A chain of franchise locations was established, with the biggest growth following World War II. [1] [2] The Frostop drive-ins reached their peak in 1958 with locations concentrated mostly in the American midwest and deep south, but found from New York and Florida to California and Washington state. [3]
Frostop brand products—Root Beer, Sarsaparilla, Red Birch Beer, Orange Cream, Black Cherry, and a Vanilla Caramel Cream soda—are still available in supermarkets and convenience stores in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Although not as numerous as they were in the 1950s and 1960s, Frostop drive-in franchises can still be found scattered across America. [4]
Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree Sassafras albidum or the vine of Smilax ornata as the primary flavor. Root beer is typically, but not exclusively, non-alcoholic, caffeine-free, sweet, and carbonated. Like cola, it usually has a thick and foamy head. A common use is to add vanilla ice cream to make a root beer float.
A&W Restaurants, Inc. is an American fast food restaurant chain distinguished by its burgers, draft root beer and root beer floats. The oldest extant restaurant chain in the United States, A&W's origins date back to 1919 when Roy W. Allen set up a roadside drink stand to offer a new thick and creamy drink, root beer, at a parade honoring returning World War I veterans in Lodi, California. Allen's employee Frank Wright partnered with him in 1922 and they founded their first restaurant in Sacramento, California in 1923. 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.
Sonic Corporation, founded as Sonic Drive-In and more commonly known as Sonic, is an American drive-in fast-food chain owned by Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby's, Dunkin' Donuts and Buffalo Wild Wings. Sonic, founded by Troy N. Smith, Sr., opened its first location in 1953, under the name Top Hat Drive-In. Originally a walk-up root beer stand outside a log-cabin steakhouse selling soda, hamburgers, and hotdogs, Sonic currently has 3,545 locations in the United States. Sonic is known for its use of carhops on roller skates, and hosts an annual competition to determine the top skating carhop in the company. The company's core products include the "Chili Cheese Coney", "Sonic Cheeseburger Combo", "Sonic Blasts", "Master Shakes", and "Wacky Pack Kids Meals".
Stewart's Fountain Classics is an American brand of premium soft drinks. Stewart's are nostalgic "old fashioned" fountain sodas, having originated at the Stewart's Restaurants, a chain of root beer stands started in 1924 by Frank Stewart in Mansfield, Ohio. In 1990, the bottling rights to Stewart's were acquired by the Cable Car Beverage Corporation. Cream Soda and Ginger Beer flavors were introduced in 1992. Other flavors have been added since then. In November 1997 Cable Car Beverage Corporation was purchased by Triarc. Cadbury Schweppes PLC acquired the Stewart's brands in 2000 along with Snapple and Mistic Brands for $1.45 billion.
Mug Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was originally produced in 1940 under the name Belfast Root Beer. It is now made by New Century Beverage Company of San Francisco, California, which was acquired by PepsiCo in 1986.
A&W Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen and primarily available in the United States and Canada. Allen partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, creating the A&W brand and inspiring a chain of A&W Restaurants founded that year. Originally, A&W Root Beer sold for five cents.
Sprecher Brewery is a brewery in Glendale, Wisconsin, U.S. It was founded in 1985 in Milwaukee by Randal Sprecher, and is Milwaukee's first craft brewery since Prohibition. Sprecher produces an assortment of beers, flavored malt beverages, and craft sodas, and it is famous for its root beer.
An ice cream float or ice cream soda, also known as a spider in Australia and New Zealand, is a chilled beverage that consists of ice cream in either a soft drink or a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water.
Kewpee Hamburgers is the second oldest chain of hamburger fast-food restaurants, founded in 1923 in Flint, Michigan under the name "Kewpee Hotel Hamburgs". Kewpee's current headquarters is located in Lima, Ohio. The chain is named after the Kewpie doll. Kewpee was one of the first to institute curbside service, which later morphed into a drive-in service, and then finally was transformed into drive-thru service. The Lima Kewpee locations have locally raised beef delivered daily to each Kewpee restaurant. The Kewpee Restaurant in Lima, Ohio is considered a historic site.
Tastee-Freez is an American franchised fast-food restaurant specializing in soft serve ice cream. Its corporate headquarters is in Newport Beach, California, and it has stores in four states. The first Tastee-Freez was established in Keithsburg, Illinois, and the Tastee Freez products are now available at 4 remaining ice cream stores and approximately 375 locations of quick serve restaurants, Wienerschnitzel and Original Hamburger Stand
Handel's Homemade Ice Cream is an ice cream company franchise founded by Alice Handel in 1945 in Youngstown, Ohio. As of January 2024, the company operates 125 corporate and franchise stores in 12 states. Today, it is owned by Leonard Fisher and maintains a corporate headquarters in Canfield, Ohio. Handel's also has its own neighborhood district located in Youngstown.
Dad's Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was created in Chicago in 1937 by Ely Klapman and Barney Berns. It is currently owned by Hedinger Brands, LLC, and sold and marketed by the Dad's Root Beer Company LLC.
Fitz's Bottling Company is a regional soda brand in the St. Louis area. The flagship brand is its root beer popularized by its microbrewery and restaurant in University City, Missouri, on the historic Delmar Loop.
Frostie Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was originally produced in 1939 by The Frostie Beverage Company of Catonsville, Maryland, owned by George Rackensperger. In 1971, Frostie Enterprises, as the parent company was known, purchased a competing rootbeer brand and drive-in chain, Stewart's Restaurants. Another expansion happened in 1974, when Frostie Enterprises purchased the Dog n Suds Root Beer Drive-in and brand.
B-K Root Beer is an independent chain of drive-in fast-food restaurants, distinguished by their draft root beer and root beer floats. A midwestern chain, B-K restaurants are located in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. B-K stands for "Bergerson & Kenefick". The first one was built in Wabash, Indiana, in 1940.
Stewart's Restaurants are classic 1950s style fast-food restaurants located throughout the United States. Restaurants are branded as Stewart's Root Beer or Stewart's Drive-In or similar variations. Started in 1924 in Mansfield, Ohio by Frank Stewart, the chain became a franchise in 1931.
Planet Smoothie is the third largest American chain of smoothie stores serving smoothies. The company was founded in 1995 by Martin Sprock in Atlanta, Georgia, and currently operates more than 100 locations. In November, 2011, Planet Smoothie was acquired by Tasti D-Lite LLC who also operates Tasti D-Lite stores. In June 2015, Quick-Service Restaurant Franchisor Kahala Brands purchased both Planet Smoothie and Tasti D-Lite in a deal that brings their 128 locations into the portfolio of about a dozen fast food, treat and sandwich chains such as Blimpie and Cold Stone Creamery owned by the Serruya family of Canada. Together, the Tasti D-Lite and Planet Smoothie locations will now be run from the Kahala Brands corporate headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona. In August 2022, Planet Smoothie expanded operations to Australia with 4 locations opening across Victoria within the first 12 months.
Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour was an American ice cream parlor and sandwich chain that was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 1963. The chain became defunct following the closure of its last location in Brea, California, in 2019.
Roy W. Allen was an American entrepreneur who is best known for being a founder and namesake for A&W Root Beer and A&W Restaurants.
Ward's Restaurant, known colloquially simply as Ward's, is a regional fast food restaurant chain based in Mississippi, United States, founded by Richard and Ed Ward in 1978. As of 2023, there are 38 Ward's locations across central and southern Mississippi. The chain is known for its chili burgers, chili dogs, and root beer.
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