A&W Restaurants is an American chain of fast-food restaurants well known for its draft root beer, burgers, and root beer floats. It is also the oldest restaurant chain in America.

The company opened its first restaurant in 1923 in Sacramento, California when Frank Wright partnered with Roy to start the A&W restaurants. The company was named from the initials of their last names, Allen and Wright.

Let’s look at this company’s detailed history, unique mascots, and trademarks.

A&W Restaurants History

In 1919, Roy W. Allen set up a roadside stand to sell a new thick and creamy drink known as root beer, during a parade honoring World War I veterans in Lodi, California.

Four years later, in 1923, Roy partnered with a man named Frank Wright to start A&W Restaurants. The fast food chain, whose moniker is derived from the initials of their last names, Allen and Wright, was incorporated and opened its first location as a drive-in restaurant in Sacramento, California. The restaurant sold Roy’s famous root beer from his stand, with curbside service provided by tray boys and tray girls.

In 1924, Roy Allen bought out Frank Wright and a year later started franchising the root beer portion of the business. The franchisee owner added other menu items at their discretion, creating what is thought to be the first successful franchise operations.

In 1950, Allen retired and sold the company. The new owners of A&W Restaurants continued to sign franchisees to 20-25-year contracts under the old franchising model. In 1956, the company expanded into Canada by opening restaurants in Montreal and Winnipeg.

By 1960, the company had 2,000 restaurants in operation. A&W opened the first restaurant in Okinawa in 1963. Over the following years, the company would continue to branch out in other foreign markets, including the Philippines and Malaysia.

AI and Geri Lieboff, a couple from Las Vegas, opened the first A&W Restaurant in Malaysia, after purchasing the franchising rights for both Malaysia and Singapore. While setting up franchises in these locations proved difficult, within five years the couple would start to see success and opened a total of 22 restaurants.

In 1961, Dale Mulder opened the A&W franchise in Lansing, Michigan. In 1963, Mulder added the bacon cheeseburger to his menu, after a customer made several requests for bacon to be added to their cheeseburger. Because of this, A&W is credited for inventing the bacon cheeseburger.

A&W would be sold twice in the 1960s. In 1967, the company would be sold to the United Fruit Co, which was then purchased by the AMK Corporation in 1970. AMK later formed the United Brands Company as a holding company for A&W.

A&W Beverages Inc, a subsidiary of A&W, started supplying groceries with bottled A&W products in 1971. These products soon became available nationally. In 1972, Unilever acquired A&W’s Canadian division.

Peaking at a total of 2,400 in 1974, A&W had more restaurants than Mcdonald’s throughout the 1970s. Franchisee owners would express discontent with the old franchisee model, leading the company to adopt a more modern franchise agreement, including royalties and new standards.

A. Alfred Taubman acquired the restaurant portion of A&W in 1982 under Taubman Investment Co. He would later sell A&W to Sidney Feltenstein in 1995. The company then merged with Long John Silver’s to form Yorkshire Global Restaurants.

In March 2002, Yorkshire merged with Tricon Global Restaurants and formed Yum! Brands. Yum! Brands later sold A&W Restaurants to A Great American Brand.

A&W Restaurants Mascots

A&W Restaurants has a list of unique mascots. In the ’60s, Chubby Chicken appeared on all Chubby burgers. In 1963, A&W introduced four new choices of hamburgers as well as their corresponding burger family members, which appeared as a cartoon on each burger’s wrapper. The burger family members were Papa Burger, Mama Burger, Teen Burger, and Baby Burger.

Rooty, the Great American Root Bear, was a mascot designed in response to McDonald’s Ronald McDonald. It originated in Canada in 1974 and crossed American borders in 1976. Rooty became the face of A&W through the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. The company used the mascot for both the restaurant chain and bottled drinks in television and print advertising.

A&W Restaurants Trademarks

A&W Restaurants has obtained or sought federal registration for over 20 trademarks. These include “VERNORS,” “ROCHESTER,” “A&W TEN,” and “A&W.”

The company obtained federal trademark registration for “VERNORS” on August 15, 1911. A&W uses the trademark for ginger-ale and ginger-ale extract.

A&W Restaurants also obtained federal trademark registration for “ROCHESTER” on October 13, 1987. The company used the trademark for soft drinks and syrups and bases and concentrates for making soft drinks.