No kids meals, Tiffany lamps, and occasional one-on-ones with the owner? Wendy's may be a
pretty conventional burger joint now, but that definitely wasn't the case when it first opened.
Everyone knows burgers are round — with the notable exception of
Wendy's old-fashioned hamburgers, that is.
And, of course, with a notable hat tip to White Castle.
The fast food chain's burger style is ingrained in the brains of modern consumers, with its four
corners spilling over the bun's round edges. But back when Dave Thomas first sold his square-shaped
beef patties to the public, the design was unique enough to grab new customers' attention.
"We don't cut corners in anything we do about food on our menu."
Of course, it wasn't just the shape of its burgers that led folks to patronize the first Wendy's. But
Thomas' choice did allow the restaurant to stand out from the quick-service crowd. Additionally,
CNN says that the choice to prepare square burgers ensured its customers
knew the burgers were handmade from fresh beef. After all, conventional wisdom would
suggest the burgers couldn't be pre-processed or previously frozen if they weren't round.
The aesthetic choice wasn't just about leaving a visual impression,
though, or to demonstrate the restaurant would never cut corners with its food.
As Wendy's vice president of culinary innovation, John Li, told CNN in 2022,
square burgers are a practical thing, too, as they allow for a more efficient use of grill space.
Fast food burger restaurants weren't nearly as ubiquitous in 1969 as they are in the 2020s. But
the marketplace was still fairly crowded when Dave Thomas threw his hat into the ring with Wendy's.
Having essentially devised Wendy's as the antithesis of what people had come to expect
from fast food establishments, Thomas furnished the restaurant
with higher-end decor — hoping to reflect the higher-quality experience Wendy's would offer.
Diners at the first Wendy's were undoubtedly treated to a quick-service burger joint unlike
any other. In a marked contrast from the plastic-molded booths and easy-to-sanitize
surfaces found at similar restaurants, Wendy's was carpeted and featured Tiffany lamps,
hanging beads, and bentwood chairs for customers to sit on.
Additionally, employees wore all-white aprons. It might seem like a small thing,
but as Thomas wrote in his autobiography, "Dave's Way," it was a way to present an
image of cleanliness and tradition that each customer could feel a part
of — and Wendy's has continued to embrace a unique, Wendy's-only look.
There's no one right way for a person to run a business. Frankly,
if you were to ask 100 different people what a successful business owner looks like,
there's a good chance you'd receive 100 different answers.
By all accounts, the hands-on Dave Thomas was very, very hands-on, and that meant if
you ate at his first Wendy's location, there was a good chance you'd have seen him inside.
Ever since he first started working at the age of 12, Thomas possessed a powerful work ethic.
According to the company, his grandmother, Minnie, had taught him the value of hard work,
so he was unfazed by the grueling effort required by the food service industry. Additionally,
having already revived four KFC restaurants in Ohio before opening Wendy's, he was more
than familiar with the difficulties of running a successful restaurant.
Honestly, this may be the least surprising revelation to modern
diners regarding the first Wendy's. After all, since Thomas only owned one
restaurant when he first opened Wendy's, where else would the man have been?
The plethora of available options on modern fast food menus is enough to make your head spin. Of
course, the often-overwhelming assortment of choices wouldn't have been an issue for anyone
eating at the first Wendy's, which had a very simple menu when it opened. In fact, the first
Wendy's menu consisted solely of burgers, fries, chili, soda, and Frosty frozen dairy desserts.
If you're wondering why the original menu lacked some of your modern-day
favorites — like the Baconator or Spicy Chicken Sandwich — it isn't exactly some deep mystery.
Considering that around 60% of restaurants fail within the first year of opening — according
to CNBC — Thomas likely believed that serving a few extremely well-made items,
rather than a surplus of mediocre ones, would decrease the odds of early closure.
"Yes, sir! Ya’ll can't take this one away from me!"
And since he was firmly committed to the use of fresh, higher-quality, but more expensive,
ingredients, fewer menu items meant less food to buy upfront — therefore
lowering those business expenses and freeing money to spend in other areas.
It's sort of startling to even consider a world without drive-thru dining — particularly
after the emergence of COVID-19 amplified the general public's desire to decrease
time spent around strangers. But any introverts looking to patronize the
first Wendy's without leaving their cars would have been out of luck,
as the original restaurant didn't have a drive-thru window when it first opened in 1969.
While the first restaurant opened by Dave Thomas didn't have a drive-thru - or pick-up window,
as the company described it - there was good news on the horizon for any
customers seeking one out. When Thomas expanded his business and
opened the first freestanding location in 1970, that restaurant was able to
incorporate a pick-up window to boost business — and it never looked back.
There's hardly a universal consensus when it comes to what makes a delicious burger.
That's to be expected, of course, given the monumental variation in each individual's tastes,
as well as the varying flavor preferences found in different cultures or regions.
Yet the use of fresh ingredients of impeccable quality can elevate any burger into a succulent,
savory celebration of beef. Dave Thomas recognized this, but didn't feel any restaurants in Columbus,
Ohio met his high personal bar for a truly delicious burger during the 1960s — so,
Biography says that he opened Wendy's to fill that void.
Thomas was a man relentlessly driven to give the world what he craved. And he wasn't the
only one who felt the burger market was less than enticing before the first Wendy's entered
the fray. In fact, when a friend of his mentioned the downtown Columbus area was
lacking in worthwhile lunch spots, it inspired Thomas to sell the best burger possible.
As exhausted parents around the U.S. are painfully aware,
fast food advertisements aimed at children are impossible to avoid. From playful,
kid-friendly mascots to kid's meals with toys included, it's clear that fast food
companies often shape marketing campaigns around what kids want.
"I just need a break sometimes, like, I'm completely overwhelmed.
Did you ever feel like that?"
Wendy's may be no different than its competitors in the 21st century,
but when Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy's in 1969, CNN reports that he was more interested in
courting young adults with money to spare than appealing to kids eager for a treat.
Since Wendy's was more expensive than other burger restaurants at the time,
it couldn't rely solely on cash-strapped parents looking for a cheap, quick meal for their
children. But it wasn't necessarily interested in specifically courting those customers, either.
Fresher, better ingredients meant an inevitably higher price point, and Thomas believed he could
appeal to adults who were both willing and able to pay more to eat his superior product.
Children weren't persona non grata at the first Wendy's by any means. But compared to McDonald's
or Burger King - or even Wendy's in 2022 - the original Wendy's clientele was more likely to
consist of young, well-groomed professionals rather than sticky-fingered kids running rampant.
When a company describes a product as old-fashioned, it's not necessarily
meant to convey its product is authentically old school. The phrase is designed to evoke a
feeling of nostalgia within potential customers, stirring a desire for the past in consumers that
will then translate into sales. This seems to be the precise thought process for Dave Thomas when
he founded Wendy's, which was called Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers when it first opened.
Actually, when you consider the evolution of food preservation, the idea that the first Wendy's did,
in fact, serve old-fashioned burgers has a ring of truth. After all, the widespread use and sale
of frozen foods didn't truly blossom until the 1940s and '50s. In other words, just like those
served in his restaurant in 1969, the burgers Dave Thomas consumed as a child in the 1930s were never
frozen, either, so the old-fashioned tagline may have been more accurate than we initially assumed.
To be honest, when it comes to the definition of a Frosty, we're not exactly sure what to
call it. But whether it's straight-up ice cream, or a milkshake, or some combination of the two,
there's no doubting that the Frosty is one of Dave Thomas' more iconic
creations. Luckily for customers at the first Wendy's, the Frosty was available from day one.
According to Wendy's, the famed Frosty was the brainchild of Fred Kappus,
the owner of a local foodservice equipment distributor. Thomas contacted Kappus before
launching the first Wendy's, hoping the purveyor of ice cream machines would have
an idea for a sweet frozen treat to sell. Using the not-so-secret concept of mixing a
little bit of vanilla ice cream with chocolate to increase the maltiness, the Frosty was soon born.
Unsurprisingly, the locally-produced, soft serve-adjacent Frosty was a hit
with customers. More than 50 years later, it's still a fan favorite — though who
would have ever thought it would become one of the best dipping condiments for fries?
"Uh, six frosties."
"Six frosties”
“- chocolate."
"Alright, now what's everyone else drinking?"
Since its inception, Wendy's has never been interested in simply doing what's
expected and has thrived by operating as a square peg in a round hole. While
most fast food burger chains are satisfied with fries, for instance,
the Wendy's menu offers wholly unique choices like baked potatoes and chili.
Customers eating at the very first Wendy's couldn't enjoy a baked potato,
unfortunately — but they could grab themselves a cup of hot, fresh chili.
As founder Dave Thomas noted in his autobiography, "Dave's Way," the concept
of serving chili was obvious, as it allowed him to recycle the leftover hamburger without
wasting it. While the decision was clear, the specific recipe was harder to pin down,
according to Thomas. Not that creating a palatable chili was out of reach for a
man who would come to create some of the most iconic food products the world has ever seen.
It's easy to imagine that customers eating Wendy's chili at the first restaurant weren't
sure what to expect. After all, a fast food burger restaurant with chili as a staple menu
item is somewhat rare. But like everything else Dave Thomas ever cooked and served,
any concerns about Wendy's chili were quickly forgotten after consuming it.
Is it possible that anyone who's lived in the U.S. over the past half-century
is unaware that Wendy's beef is always fresh and never frozen? We'd guess not.
But unlike consumers who've experienced 50-plus years of Wendy's as an American institution,
diners at the very first Wendy's weren't yet accustomed to the chain's preferred practices.
Since Wendy's has served fresh beef since day one, though, that meant customers at the first
location could enjoy made-to-order burgers that weren't previously frozen or prepared.
"Hey! Where's the beef? I don't think there's anybody back there."
According to Wendy's, Thomas believed a burger made with entirely fresh ingredients
led to a product worthy of the old-fashioned moniker. Considering the mind-boggling growth
and expansion of Wendy's after the first location opened in 1969, with more than 1,000 restaurants
before the end of the 1970s, it seems like customers agreed with Thomas' assessment, too.
The use of fresh, never-frozen beef has become a cornerstone of the Wendy's brand. After all,
the company's ability to consistently deliver fresh, square beef is what consumers love and
expect, as Vice President of Culinary Innovation John Li told CNN in 2022.
And that? It's obviously a winning formula.