Restaurant Guides
Why Is It Called Dave’s Hot Chicken?
Because Dave is real. Dave Kopushyan is the chef who created the recipe, and he fried the first tenders himself in an East Hollywood parking lot in 2017. Dave…
Restaurant Guides
Who Owns Jack in the Box?
Shareholders. Jack in the Box is a public company on the Nasdaq, still based in San Diego where it started in 1951. The bigger story is the taco chain it bought for…
Restaurant Guides
Why Is It Called Jack in the Box?
Because the speaker you ordered into was a box with a clown’s head on top, like the children’s toy. In 1951 talking to a box was the whole selling point. 1951 first…
Restaurant Guides
Why Is Applebee’s Closing Restaurants?
A few dozen a year, out of roughly 1,500. Weak locations are being shut as leases and franchise agreements end, while the company pours its effort into combined…
Restaurant Guides
Why Is It Called Applebee’s?
Because the founders picked it out of a phone book. Their first choice was taken, so they changed the spelling. There was never a Mr. Applebee. 1980 first…
Restaurant Guides
Who Owns IHOP?
Dine Brands Global, a public company that also owns Applebee’s. The twist is that IHOP bought Applebee’s, not the other way round, and almost every IHOP you visit is…
Restaurant Guides
Why Did IHOP Change Its Name to IHOb?
It never really did. The IHOb name was a month long marketing stunt in June 2018 to sell burgers, and the b stood for burgers. It was mocked everywhere, and it…
Restaurant Guides
Who Owns Denny’s?
Since January 2026, a private investor group that includes one of Denny’s own franchisees. After more than two decades on the stock market, the diner chain went…
Restaurant Guides
Why Is It Called Denny’s?
It was Danny’s first. Nobody called Danny or Denny founded it, and the name changed by a single letter because another Los Angeles diner complained. 1953 Danny’s…
Restaurant Guides
Why Is Sonic Ice So Good?
It is not the water. It is the shape. Sonic uses nugget ice, which is made from compressed flakes full of tiny air pockets, so it is soft to chew and soaks up the…
Restaurant Guides
Why Is It Called Sonic?
Because its first name was already taken. The drive in started out as Top Hat, and when the partners could not use that name any more they picked a word that matched…
Restaurant Guides
Why Does Cook Out Have Bible Verses on Its Cups?
Because the family that owns it is Christian and put its favorite scripture on the packaging. It is not a campaign or a gimmick, and the company has never advertised…