Mental Floss

I was hungry, so I went and got some food. As I sat in front of my laptop eating said food, I saw these facts and I thought they were interesting enough to show you all. We all think of our favorite fast food chains as being delicious and sheer perfection; however, they did not all start that way. Many founders did not know what food, or what kind of fast food restaurant would win them success, and failed in order to achieve what they have today. Check out the humble beginnings of these much loved joints and brands that have swept rapidly across the country.

1. When Ben and Jerry decided to go into business, they really wanted to make bagels. But the equipment required to make bagels was rather expensive, so they researched a cheaper product and settled on ice cream. Although they've released plenty of other breakfast-related ice cream flavors -- Cinnamon Buns, Coffee & Biscotti and Maple Grape Nut among them -- they have yet to create a lox and bagel-flavor. Maybe it's in production?

2. Glen Bell, the founder of Taco Bell (who knew the "Bell" represented a person?), started his career in the fast food business with a meager hot dog stand. It did so well that he sold it and opened a bigger and better stand, and he started selling tacos for 19 cents out of a side window. Before long, the hot dogs were playing second banana to the tacos, and Bell decided to switch the business.

3. What if Dunkin' Donuts had a fleet of vehicles that drove around like the ice cream man, selling sweet, sweet carbs to anyone who could scrounge up some change? Well, they used to, sort of. After working for just such an ice cream company, William Rosenberg used his war bonds and borrowed some money to start a mobile catering business that delivered breakfast and lunch to factory workers. He noticed that his best sellers by far were coffee and doughnuts, and decided to base the whole business around them. Seems to have worked out OK. (I still like the idea of doughnuts coming to me, though.)

4. On the other hand, Al Copeland, who created Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits, started out in the doughnut biz and ended up in poultry. He sold his car to purchase a Tastee Donut franchise from his brother and then decided to fry chicken instead of crullers. The first one failed, even with the tagline "So fast you get your chicken before you get your change." But the second version succeeded, making him a multimillionaire. The name, by the way, came from Popeye Doyle from "The French Connection" -- not Popeye the Sailor Man.

5. How about a Sonic Steakhouse? The founder, Troy Smith, had big plans for an upscale steak eatery when he originally entered the restaurant business. He opened a small diner called Troy's Pan Full of Chicken to generate revenue for the bigger steakhouse and realized somewhere in the middle of things that he was making a load of money selling just root beer, hamburgers and hot dogs every week. He decided to stick with the low-brow menu and scrap the sirloin.












6. Finally, of course, there's McDonald's. Like our other frankfurter entrepreneurs, Dick and Mac McDonald started with a mere hot dog stand in Monrovia, California. They upgraded, but burgers weren't really their main focus -- they planned to capitalize on their delicious BBQ. They were mistaken. Several years later, they noticed that burgers were the item keeping the store alive and decided to switch exclusively to burgers, shakes, and fries. These days, I suppose they do a little bit of all of that, and more (yes, even the McHotDog).

All information courtesy of CNN Living and Nylon Magazine.