A hamburger, or simply a burger, is a dish consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a "meat-sweet diet", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away, though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.
Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1960 in North Carolina.
White Castle is an American regional hamburger restaurant chain with about 345 locations across 13 states, with its greatest presence in the Midwest and New York metropolitan area. Founded on September 13, 1921, in Wichita, Kansas, White Castle has been generally credited as the world's first fast-food hamburger chain. It is known for its small, square hamburgers commonly referred to as "sliders". The burgers were initially priced at five cents until 1929 and remained at 10 cents until 1949. In the 1940s, White Castle periodically ran promotional ads in local newspapers which contained coupons offering five burgers for ten cents, takeout only. In 2014, Time named the White Castle slider "The Most Influential Burger of All Time".
Culver Franchising System, LLC, doing business as Culver's, is an American fast-casual restaurant chain. The company was founded in 1984 by George, Ruth, Craig, and Lea Culver. The first location opened in Sauk City, Wisconsin, on July 18, 1984, under the name "Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers." The privately held company is headquartered in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The chain operates primarily in the Midwestern United States, and has a total of 965 restaurants in 26 states as of July 2024.
Back Yard Burgers, Inc., is an American regional franchise chain of quick serve restaurants. As of March 2022, there are 38 restaurants in the Southern and Midwestern United States. Back Yard Burgers is a subsidiary of private equity firm Axum Capital Partners, and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
Harvey's is a fast food restaurant chain operating in Canada, with locations in every province except British Columbia. It serves hamburgers, poutine, hot dogs, french fries, onion rings, and other traditional Canadian fast-food fare. The chain is owned by Recipe Unlimited.
Five Guys Enterprises, LLC is an American fast food chain focused on hamburgers, hot dogs, and french fries. It is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.
Fuddruckers is an American fast casual, franchised restaurant chain that specializes in hamburgers. The Fuddruckers concept is to offer large hamburgers in which the meat is ground on-site and buns are baked on the premises. As of 2019, Fuddruckers had 49 company-operated restaurants and 107 franchises across the United States and around the world. The company headquarters is in Houston, Texas. On September 8, 2020, Fuddruckers owner Luby's, Inc. announced that they planned to liquidate existing assets, including Fuddruckers' assets, distributing the proceeds to investors after the proposed sale of the chains. On June 21, 2021, Black Titan Franchise Systems announced a deal to acquire Fuddruckers for $18.5 million.
Jack's Family Restaurants, LP is an American fast food restaurant chain, headquartered and based in Birmingham. Restaurants feature sit-down dining, drive-thrus and takeout service. The menu features primarily burgers, fried chicken, breakfast and various other fast food items including french fries and soft drinks.
A&W is a fast-food restaurant chain in Canada, franchised by A&W Food Services of Canada, Inc.
IHOP Restaurants LLC is an American multinational pancake house restaurant chain that specializes in American breakfast foods. It is owned by Dine Brands—a company formed after IHOP's purchase of Applebee's, with 99% of the restaurants run by independent franchisees.
Smashburger IP Holder LLC, doing business as Smashburger and stylized as SmasHBURGER, is an American fast-casual hamburger restaurant chain founded in Denver, Colorado. As of 2022, it has more than 227 corporate and franchise-owned restaurants in 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia and 2 Canadian provinces.
Elevation Burger is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in organic hamburgers. The company originated in Falls Church, Virginia, within the Washington Metropolitan Area. They have over 40 locations operating in the United States, Bahrain, Kuwait & Qatar.
Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries is a fast casual restaurant chain that operates primarily in the state of North Carolina and other neighboring states on the east coast of the United States. Founded by Kenney Moore as Andy's Cheesesteaks and Cheeseburgers, the first location opened in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in 1991. In 2012, seeking to expand beyond North Carolina, the company changed their name to Hwy 55 and opened their first out-of-state restaurant in May of that year. As of February, 2022, the chain has a total of 108 locations in the United States, primarily in North Carolina (81) and South Carolina (12), with 15 other locations in the states of Florida, Georgia, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The restaurant serves hamburgers, cheesesteaks, sandwiches, salads, hand-dipped ice cream and milkshakes.
Burger Lounge is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in hamburgers made from American grass-fed beef, salads, shakes, French fries and onion rings. Burger Lounge is headquartered in San Diego, California. In 2007, J. Dean Loring and Michael Gilligan founded the company in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego. J. Dean Loring is the President and CEO of Burger Lounge.
The Habit Burger Grill is a California-based fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in chargrilled hamburgers. The company also sells other typical fast-casual fare. It was founded in 1969 at Santa Barbara, California, and its headquarters are in Irvine, California.
BurgerFi International, Inc. is an American hamburger restaurant chain aimed at the "better burger" sector of the market. The first location was opened in February 2011 in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida.
Hero Certified Burgers is a Canadian restaurant chain franchise that sells hamburgers and other quick service restaurant fare. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was founded in 2004. It had almost 60 locations as of March 2017, and opened its first store in the United States in 2015 in Elmwood Village, Buffalo, New York. The Buffalo location closed at the end of 2016.
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