Before he became the “Colonel,” Harlan Sanders sold his famous fried chicken out of a Kentucky gas station on Hell’s Half-Acre.
The stretch of road was known for its bootleggers and lawlessness, so he was careful to keep a gun under his register...
...and in 1930, the hot-tempered Sanders threatened to shoot a rival, Matt Stewart, who was tampering with his signs.
Details are murky as to who fired first, but Sanders eventually ended up in a gun fight with Stewart after catching him in the act.
Stewart shot and killed Robert Gibson, a Shell Oil official who was with Sanders, before Sanders grabbed the dead man’s gun.
Sanders then blasted Stewart in the shoulder as the man shouted, “Don’t shoot, Sanders! You’ve killed me!”
Although Stewart didn’t die then, he spent 2 years behind bars before being killed by a deputy in a rumored assassination...
Often credited as the founder of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc actually purchased the then small chain from Dick and Mac McDonald...
...and as part of the handshake agreement, Kroc promised $1M for each brother plus a 0.5% annual royalty on McDonald’s sales.
Kroc insisted that he could not show the contract to his investors and assured the brothers it didn’t need to be in writing.
After closing the deal, however, Kroc refused to acknowledge the royalty and opened a rival franchise near the original.
The generous brothers intended to give their restaurant to their founding employees, but Kroc instead forced it out of business.
Kroc reportedly said he “hated their guts,” and the treachery cut them out of hundreds of millions of dollars a year...
In 2001, a $100M lawsuit against the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain alleged black customers were seated in segregated areas.
The plaintiffs presented evidence of systematic discrimination in which African Americans were placed in smoking sections...
...often being forced to wait while white customers were served first and in some cases never being seated at all.
An executive coordinator at Cracker Barrel’s headquarters appeared to suggest the company ignored hundreds of phone call complaints.
The lawsuit failed to gain class-action status, but led to a Department of Justice investigation of Civil Rights violations.
New suits brought against the chain were settled in 2004 without admitting wrongdoing and included a $8.7M payment to the NAACP...
Pyongyang is a chain of 130 North Korean restaurants named after the country’s capital that is known for serving dog meat.
It is staffed by young North Korean women who are rumored to be held against their will to perform traditional song routines.
All workers are said to be screened for political loyalty and must live in the restaurant to prevent defections.
North Korean security agents are also believed to be on site to carefully monitor operations and launder money.
The chain is thought to be a part of North Korea’s Room 39, an illegal foreign currency slush fund run for Kim Jong-Un.
Despite the intense security around Pyongyang, the escape of staff has forced the closure of several over the last decade...
India’s Hotel Saravana Bhavan is one of the largest vegetarian restaurant chains in the world with nearly 100 global outlets...
...and it continues to grow despite the 2009 murder conviction of its founder and owner, P. Rajagopal.
In 2001, Rajagopal became determined to marry the wife of one of his assistant managers on the advice of an astrologer.
After the young woman refused his advances, Rajagopal allegedly ordered his henchmen to kidnap and strangle her husband.
Rajagopal was sentenced to life in prison but his influence means is likely to remain free on bail indefinitely “pending appeal.”