Thanks for dining with us! But the truth is, we’re hard to escape.
Chain restaurants have always been a big part of American life, but lately chains are everywhere. And we’re not just talking about Chipotle, and Chili’s, and Starbucks. Chances are high your fun boozy brunch, sad desk lunch, afternoon perk, and splurgy romantic dinner are all now happening via some form of a chain (whether or not the operations consider themselves as such — we’re looking at you, Carbone). Even small local restaurants are expanding into micro-chains, or at the very least launching multiple spin-offs within a single city, or neighborhood, or even street.
This is all bad... right? But then again, the chains today aren’t what they used to be. For diners, they’re offering more culinary variety, not to mention quality, than ever before. For indie restaurant owners, chain-ing is a lifeline, providing a level of stability in what’s still a largely impossible business; for some staff, they foster opportunities for growth. Here, we consider all sides of
to the Chainification of America
We’re Everywhere!
Why every town tastes the same now (and maybe it's okay)
Salad Size Me
Will eating nothing but Sweetgreen for two weeks make you somehoW... better? One man goes on a mission to find out.
Great moments in chain-food history, From Automat mac and cheese to Nashville hot chicken, these are the tastes America loves to duplicate
The Holdout
The Secret
The Up-and-Comer
Pizza legend Anthony Mangieri’s argument for staying small in a world that rewards going big
Psst, your favorite independent restaurant may actually be a chain
How EggHolic aims to bring egg-based Gujarati food to fast-casual diners, without compromising a thing for the mainstream
Meet the superfans who’ve made one chain restaurant their whole personality
The Automat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1902
Horn & Hardart automats were among the country’s first replicated culinary concepts, dispensing hot meals like mac and cheese and full pies.
Bloomin’ Onion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1988
While we’re not sure of its Australian roots, the flower-like whole fried onion was the biggest hit on the Outback Steakhouse’s opening menu.
Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1921
White Castle became America’s first fast-food burger chain with its signature sliders. In-N-Out followed in 1948 and McDonald’s in 1953.
Crunchy Taco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1954
Gustavo Arellano’s Taco USA tells how the hard-shells at Mitla Cafe inspired Glen Bell to open what eventually becomes Taco Bell in San Bernardino, California.
Waffle Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1955
Before hash browns served “scattered, smothered, or covered,” waffles were the star of Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner’s 24-hour Waffle House, outside Atlanta.
The Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise near Salt Lake City starts selling hot and fresh fried chicken in a large paper bucket.
Fried Chicken Bucket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1957
The Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise near Salt Lake City starts selling hot and fresh fried chicken in a large paper bucket.
Big Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1967
McDonald’s steps up its game with a double-patty creation known as the Big Mac, supposedly inspired by the Double Decker served at LA-area favorite Big Boy.
Sizzlin’ Fajitas . . . . . . . . . 1984
Though it didn’t invent fajitas, Chili’s started a sensation when it paraded a sizzling platter of meat, peppers, and onions across the dining room in 1984.
BBQ Chicken Pizza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1985
A new restaurant by the name of California Pizza Kitchen puts barbecued chicken, red onions, gouda, and cilantro on a pizza and makes history.
Orange Chicken . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1987
A Hawai'i branch of Panda Express claims to be the birthplace of the chain’s sticky-sweet orange chicken recipe, a riff on a Cantonese classic.
Stuffed-Crust Pizza . . . . . . . . 1995
Donald and Ivana Trump helped introduce the idea of eating your pizza “crust first” when Pizza Hut launched its cheese-pull-ready, stuffed-crust pizza.
Burrito Bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2004
Chipotle, founded in 1993, ditches the tortilla and throws its signature burrito fillings into a bowl, launching an entire new chain-food genre.
Crunchwrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2005
Why choose soft- or hard-shell when you can have both, wrapped around each other for a cheesy, beefy Crunchwrap, which debuted at Taco Bell in 2005?
Red Velvet Cupcake . . . . . . . . 2005
With Sprinkles, Candace Nelson put her signature dot atop a red velvet cupcake and tapped into a nostalgic treats trend that has yet to die down.
Build Your Own Salad Bowl . . . 2007
A trio of Georgetown students change the face of fast-casual with Sweetgreen, the $12 salad chain that turns bowl lunch into a millennial lifestyle.
Tonkotsu Ramen . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010
Tokyo-based Jinya opens a branch of its acclaimed ramen chain in Studio City, California, introducing the joys of tonkotsu to a whole new audience.
Hot Chicken Sandwich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2017
The Nashville sensation becomes a national phenomenon, with chains like celebrity-backed Dave’s Hot Chicken banking on the appeal of hot chicken.
Popeyes Chicken Sandwich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2019
Veteran poultry pusher Popeyes adds a new (not hot) fried chicken sandwich to its lineup of tenders and buckets, and all hell breaks loose.
We’re Everywhere!
Meet the super fans who have made one chain restaurant their whole personality
what we’re calling the rabid chainification of this country, looking at how we lose — but also sometimes win — when everything, including our appetites, are built to scale.
