Most of us are familiar with the national fast food burger chains like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Dairy Queen, Five Guys, Sonic, and Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. But, there are many local, regional, and semi-national burger chains that dot the map and serve tasty sandwiches. In fact, my favorite burgers are produced by regional chains – Braum’s and Whataburger. The list provided below identifies these chains and their geographic location(s). It does not include national chains nor those burger restaurants that provide fast-casual service such as Red Robin or Shake Shack.
From the list, one can see there were specific spans of history where fast food burger chains were founded. These time clusters include:
1919-1926: A&W, Halo Burger, Stewart’s, White Castle, and White Tower (now defunct) (5)
1930-1935: Krystal, Steak ‘n Shake, and Swenson’s (3)
1940-1941: B&K Root Beer (largely defunct), Carl’s Jr., Dairy Queen, and McDonald’s (4)
1946-1956: Arctic Circle, Baker’s, Blake’s Lotaburger, Burger Chef (now part of Hardee’s), Burger King, Dick’s, Fatburger, In-N-Out Burger, Jack-in-the-Box, Nation’s Giant Hamburgers, Original Tommy’s, Pal’s, Sonic, Tom Wahl’s, Whataburger, and Zip’s (16)
1960-1969: Bob’s, Braum’s, Burgerville, Hardee’s, Jack’s, and Wendy’s (6)
1981-1987: Back Yard, Burger Time, Checker’s, Culver’s, Farmer Boys, Five Guys, Hot n’ Now (defunct), and Rally’s (8)
2000-2003: Freddy’s and Wild Willy’s (2)
Those burger chain shown above in italics, the author has eaten at.
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A&W (1919 in Lodi, CA) – AZ, CA, CO, FL, IA, IN, KS, KY, MI, NV, NY, OH, PA, RI, SD, TN, WI, and WV
Arctic Circle (1950 in Salt Lake City, UT) – UT, ID, OR, NV, AZ, WA, and WY
Back Yard Burgers (1987 in Cleveland, MS)- AR, FL, IL, KY, MO, MS, NC, and TN
Baker’s (1952 in Southern California) – Southern California
Blake’s Lotaburger (1952 in Albuquerque, NM) – NM, TX, and AZ
Bob’s Burgers (1963 in Albuquerque, NM) – 11 locations in the Albuquerque area
Braum’s (1961 in Emporia, KS) – OK, TX, KS, AR, and MO
Burger Time (1987 in West Fargo, ND) – ND, MN, and SD
Burgerville (1961 in Vancouver, WA) – WA and OR – Thank you, Dan (added 4/2/22)
Checker’s (1986 in Mobile, AL) – Coast to coast in 25 states
Culver’s (1984 in Sauk City, WI) – 25 states
Dick’s Drive-in (1954 in Seattle, WA) – Puget Sound area of WA
Farmer Boys (1981 in Perris, CA) – Southern California
Fatburger (1947 in Los Angeles, CA) – Southern California
Freddy’s Steakburgers & Frozen Custard (2002 in Wichita, KS) – Coast to coast in 35 states
Halo Burger (1923 in Flint, MI) – Michigan
In-N-Out Burger (1948 in Baldwin Park, CA) – AZ, CA, CO, ID, NV, OR, TX, and UT
Jack in the Box (1951 in San Diego, CA) – Primarily the Western USA
Jack’s (1960 in Homewood, AL) – AL, GA, MS, and TN
Krystal (1932 in Chattanooga, TN) Southeastern USA
Nation’s Giant Hamburgers (1952 in San Pablo, CA) – SF Bay area of CA
Original Tommy’s (1946 in Los Angeles, CA) – Southern California
Pal’s (1956 in Kingsport, TN) – TN and VA
Rally’s (1985 in Louisville, KY) – 16 states
Steak ‘n Shake (1934 in Normal, IL) – Coast to coast in 32 states, but primarily in the Midwest and Southeast
Stewart’s (1924 in Mansfield, OH) – OH, NJ, NY, PA, and WV
Swenson’s (1934 in Akron, OH) – Ohio
Tom Wahl’s (1955 in Rochester, NY) – Six locations in the Rochester area.
Whataburger (1950 in Corpus Christi, TX) – Southeastern and Southwestern USA
White Castle (1921 in Wichita, KS) Midwest, NY, FL, NV, and AZ
Wild Willy’s (2001 in York, ME) – MA, ME, and NH
Zip’s (1953 in Kennewick, WA) – WA and ID
SOURCES:
- https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/largest-burger-chains-us
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hamburger_restaurants
- https://www.bobsburgersnewmexico.com/about/
- https://freddysusa.com/?gclsrc=aw.ds
- https://locations.checkers.com/index.html
- https://locations.rallys.com/index.html
- https://acburger.com/menu/
- https://locations.fatburger.com
- https://www.backyardburgers.com/store-locator/
- www, maps.google.com
problogic
Panethos 
Burgerville (1961 in Vancouver WA) — OR and WA
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Burgerville has been Added. Thank you.
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Burgerville has been Added. Thank you.
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