Industry | Fast food |
---|---|
Founded | Inglewood, California, United States (1946 ) [1] |
Founder | George Foster |
Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 62 (2024) [3] |
Area served | California |
Key people | Neal Dahya (President), Nimesh Dahya (Head of global business development), Sanjay Patel (Chief marketing officer) [4] |
Products | Soft serve, hamburgers, chicken |
Website | www |
Fosters Freeze is a chain of fast-food restaurants in California. Its first location, on La Brea Avenue in Inglewood, California, was opened by George Foster in 1946 and is still operating.
The chain's name refers to its soft-serve ice milk and milkshakes. Its marketing slogan is "California's Original Soft Serve." [5] Its mascot is Little Foster, a smiling ice cream cone. [6]
George Foster moved to California after World War II to open outlets for Dairy Queen, since he owned the development rights in the state. However, state laws protecting the dairy industry prevented the use of “dairy” in restaurant names. So instead, in 1946, Foster opened a restaurant named after himself, Foster’s Old Fashion Freeze. [7] (The apostrophe was later dropped.) [8] In 1951, he sold the chain's 360 locations for $1 million. By 1987, it had been reduced to 189 locations. [9]
El Pollo Loco signed a master franchise contract with Fosters Freeze in 1994, allowing service of Fosters Freeze soft-serve ice cream in El Pollo Loco locations. [10] [11] In 2002, 163 El Pollo Loco locations sold Fosters Freeze products, and their overall sales increased by three to six percent. [10] The contract ended in 2014. [12]
The historical significance of Fosters Freeze restaurants attracts patrons and has united community members to preserve them. In 2006, residents of Menlo Park presented their city council a petition with about 400 signatures to prevent the demolition of their local Fosters, [13] although it finally closed in 2015. [14] The Santa Cruz location is listed in the city's historic building survey. [15]
In 2015, a restaurant franchise investment group bought Fosters Freeze. [12] It modernized the brand [16] and operations; sales have increased every year since then. [17] As of 2021, the company plans to add locations for the first time since 2006. [18]
As of January 2024, there are 62 Fosters Freeze locations, all in California. [3]
Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food colouring is sometimes added in addition to stabilizers. The mixture is cooled below the freezing point of water and stirred to incorporate air spaces and prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. It can also be made by whisking a flavoured cream base and liquid nitrogen together. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures. It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases.
El Pollo Loco (Spanish for "The Crazy Chicken") is the name of two independent restaurant chains that specialize in Mexican-style grilled chicken. Both were founded by Juan Francisco Ochoa. He established the first El Pollo Loco restaurant in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico in 1974. Ochoa then expanded his chain into the United States in 1980. He later sold his U.S. restaurants in 1983 while keeping the ones in Mexico. The two companies have since occupied non-overlapping global territories and have offered different fare.
The cuisine of California reflects the diverse culture of California and is influenced largely by Hispanic American roots, alongside East Asian and Oceanian influences, and Western European influences, as well as the food trends and traditions of larger American cuisine.
International Dairy Queen, Inc. (DQ) is an American multinational fast food chain founded in 1940. It is currently headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. The first Dairy Queen was owned and operated by Sherb Noble and first opened on June 22, 1940, in Joliet, Illinois. It serves a variety of hot and fried food, as well as original frozen dairy products that vary from location to location.
Round Table Pizza is a chain and franchise of pizza parlours in the Western United States. The first Round Table Pizza restaurant was opened in 1959, and the company has over 400 restaurants. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Friendly's is a restaurant chain on the East Coast of the United States. The first location, selling ice cream cones, was in Springfield, Massachusetts, opened in 1935. It was founded by brothers S. Prestley Blake and Curtis Blake. It has 10,000 employees. George Michel is the CEO. It offers diner-style cuisine and highlights its 22 ice cream flavors. Many locations offer an ice-cream only take-out window alongside of the table service option. Friendly's restaurants are found in Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Its ice cream is also sold in some East Coast supermarkets.
Carvel is an American ice cream franchise owned by Focus Brands. Carvel is best known for its soft-serve ice cream and ice cream cakes, which feature a layer of distinctive "crunchies". It also sells a variety of novelty ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches. Its slogan is "America's Freshest Ice Cream".
Soft serve, also known as soft ice, is a frozen dessert, similar to ice cream, but softer and less dense due to more air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve has been sold commercially since the late 1930s in the United States.
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
Pizza Nova Take Out Ltd., doing business as Pizza Nova, is a Canadian franchise chain of pizza restaurants headquartered in Scarborough, Ontario. The chain was founded on May 12, 1963, by a young family of Italian immigrants. The first restaurant was located in the eastern Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario, on Kennedy Road near Lawrence Avenue, which currently operates under the name Nova Ristorante. There are more than 150 locations in Canada.
Juan Pollo is a Mexican-style rotisserie chicken restaurant chain headquartered in San Bernardino, California founded in 1984 by Albert Okura. Its restaurants are located mostly in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, with other locations in Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties.
Taco Palenque is a Mexican cuisine restaurant chain in South Texas and northern Tamaulipas, Mexico. The restaurant is headquartered in Laredo, Texas and was established in 1987. The restaurant's main dishes are the flame-grilled beef or chicken fajita plate, parrillada, pirata taco, panchos drizzled with bean and cheese on top of tortilla chips, homemade desserts, and breakfast tacos Taco Palenque's salad bar has more than 7 different homemade salsas.
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.
Albert Okura was an American businessman who was the founder and CEO of the Juan Pollo restaurant chain in Southern California. He was also a philanthropist and was active in the revitalization of Historic Route 66. In 2005, Okura purchased the town of Amboy, California, which is located along Route 66. The corporate headquarters for the Juan Pollo chain now sits on the original location of the first McDonald's restaurant where Okura created and hosted a museum, preserving artifacts and memorabilia about the landmark.
La Salsa is a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Los Angeles, California in 1979, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and is owned by Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, and each restaurant features a self-serve salsa bar.
El Pollo Loco, Inc., is a restaurant chain based in the United States, specializing in Mexican-style grilled chicken. Restaurant service consists of: dine-in, take-out, with some locations offering drive through options. The company is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, and operates about 500 company-owned and franchised restaurants in the Southwestern United States.
El Pollo Loco, S.A. de C.V. is a Mexico-based restaurant chain specializing in Sinaloa-style marinated grilled chicken. It was founded by Juan Francisco Ochoa, whose family still owns the Mexican chain. The El Pollo Loco locations in Mexico are not affiliated with or operated by the American El Pollo Loco, Inc. El Pollo Loco operates in over 50 locations within Mexico City and the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, Michoacán, Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas, of which 28 are located in Nuevo León.