12 Fast Food Restaurants That Used To Have Completely Different Names
Fast food restaurants can be found in every state in the country. In fact, Toast shares that as of 2019, there were more than 190,000 fast food restaurants across the United States with a combined 2021 revenue of over $270 billion. However, while many of your favorite burger, sandwich, pizza, or chicken joints may have been around several years ago, some of them used to have an entirely different name. Did you know that McDonald's, Popeyes, Subway, Domino's, Burger King, and several other fast food restaurants have changed their names over the years (some even going through multiple name changes)?
According to Ignyte, there are several reasons to consider changing a business name, including changing the direction your brand is taking, trying to eliminate confusion with consumers, trying to come up with something new that will really stand out to customers, avoiding any legal issues, and more. PAPU.io notes that rebranding can sometimes be necessary to avoid drops in sales and attract a new customer base. Keep reading to find out which of your favorite fast food restaurants used to be called something completely different. Can you guess which ones used to be called Topsy's Drive-In, Chicken on the Run, Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill, Open Kettle, or DomiNick's?
1. Popeyes
Popeyes shares that their company was founded by Alvin C. Copeland Sr., in 1972. However, when Copeland opened his first restaurant in a suburb of New Orleans, he didn't call it Popeyes. The restaurant used to be called Chicken on the Run. Sadly, Chicken on the Run was not very successful, and shortly after opening the restaurant, Copeland shut it down. According to the Los Angeles Times, the restaurant remained closed for just three days, during which time Copeland worked on revamping his fried chicken recipe. He spiced things up a bit with some cayenne, helping him stand out against other fried chicken competitors in the area.
With the new recipe, Copeland decided a complete rebranding was needed. Chicken on the Run was changed to Popeyes. While many think Popeyes refers to Popeye the Sailor Man, it actually comes from the movie "The French Connection." In this 1971 film, the detective portrayed by Gene Hackman runs through a door shouting, "Hit the wall, Popeye's here!"
It seems that the name and recipe change were just what the restaurant needed. Just a few years later, the first franchise Popeyes opened up, and by 1985 there were 500 Popeyes restaurants scattered around the country. The famous "Love that Chicken" jingle came out in 1980, and I think we can all agree that "Love that Chicken from Chicken on the Run" definitely wouldn't sound as good.
2. Dunkin'
Dunkin' has actually changed its name twice. Just a few years ago, this donut and coffee shop used to be called Dunkin' Donuts, which is what many customers still know them as. However, according to Today, in 2019 the company dropped the "Donuts" from their name, changing it simply to Dunkin'. The company decided some rebranding was needed and wanted to modernize their name and increase customer interest in the brand. Along with the new name came new packaging and a new logo, though Dunkin' kept the orange and pink colors that have been associated with the restaurant for years.
While you probably remember this most recent name change, it wasn't the only time the company has tried to rebrand themselves. The first Dunkin' name change took place over 70 years ago. Dunkin' Newsroom shares that William Rosenberg opened a donut and coffee shop in Massachusetts in 1948. He initially named the shop Open Kettle. However, after a few conversations with executives, he decided to change the restaurant's name to Dunkin' Donuts just a few years later in 1950.
3. McDonald's
Creative Bloq shares that the golden arches weren't part of McDonald's logo until 1961. However, that isn't the only thing that would have been different if you went to a McDonald's right after the first restaurant opened. According to McDonald's, when the restaurant was founded in 1940, it had a different name. Brothers Dick and Mac McDonald decided to work together to open a restaurant in San Bernardino, California. They envisioned a drive-in restaurant with an extensive menu. The name of this restaurant: McDonald's Bar-B-Q. That's right, McDonald's started out as a BBQ restaurant — and didn't even serve french fries initially, though the menu did include peanut butter and jelly sandwiches early on.
As McDonald's Bar-B-Q experienced success, the name changed and Dick and Mac started working with Ray Kroc. Ray was initially looking to sell the pair Multimixers for their restaurant. However, after he learned that they were interested in opening up franchises for their successful restaurant, he jumped on the opportunity and was responsible for much of the growth the company experienced over the next several years.
4. Burger King
As The Burger King Book shares, in 1953, Keith Cramer and Matthew Burns made a $20,000 investment to open Insta-Burger-King. That initial investment paid off. By the following year they had made a $20,000 profit, and just two years after the first Insta-Burger-King opened, 10 new restaurants had already opened, with many more preparing to do so.
The name Insta-Burger-King came from the special appliance used to make the burgers: the Insta-Burger Stove. With its technology, this device was able to cook the burgers using radiant heat while also toasting the buns. In just one hour, the stove could prepare 400 burgers. However, the special stove didn't always perform as it was supposed to and frequently broke down or didn't work properly. On one particularly stressful day, when the Insta-Burger was making all sorts of noises and then stopped working, franchise owner David Edgerton became frustrated and pounded the machine with a nearby hatchet. This prompted him to look for a new and better way to cook the burgers, eventually leading him to design a flame broiler, the same cooking method that is still used today. Burger Beast explains that David Edgerton and his partner James McLamore bought the Insta-Burger-King company from the original founders and rebranded the company to the name we all know today.
5. Domino's
Domino's is such a popular pizza franchise that it may be hard to imagine they were ever called anything else. However, as Domino's shares on their website, the restaurant was first called DomiNick's. DomiNick's was a pizza chain founded by Dominick DeVarti, according to Zippia. The chain had a few locations in Michigan. In 1960, brothers Tom and James Monaghan were in charge of one of these locations in Ypsilanti. A year later, Tom took out a $500 loan, which he used to purchase the restaurant from DeVarti. Tom's brother James gave up his stake in the company just a year after him and Tom started it. He let James buy him out with a Volkswagen Beetle.
A few years later in 1967, the pizzeria's name was changed to Domino's. By this time, there were three locations, all close to the original restaurant in Ypsilanti. A new logo for the restaurant was also designed around the time of the name change. It was similar to what we see today: a domino with three dots (one for each location). The company grew quickly after the name change. A total of 200 new Domino's had opened just 11 years later.
6. Jack in the Box
For the first 10 years the restaurant was around, Jack in the Box was called something entirely different. Fox News explains that Robert Oscar Peterson opened a fast food chain in San Diego, California in 1941. Peterson named his restaurant Topsy's Drive-In. A little later, Peterson decided to rebrand his restaurants and change their name — however, it wasn't changed to Jack in the Box just yet. The name Oscar's was selected. One of the things that set Oscar's apart from other local restaurants was their unique circus theme, including the pictures of a clown with a round head.
In 1951, 10 years after the initial debut of Topsy's Drive-In, the name of one Oscar's location was changed to Jack in the Box. This name change coincided with the addition of a few new features in the restaurant, including a drive-thru window and the two-way intercom that allowed customers to place their orders with ease. These new and exciting features, along with the new name, caused the location to experience great success. After seeing the success that came with the name change, it didn't take long for all the Oscar's to follow suit and change their name to Jack in the Box too. Jack in the Box shares that the company operates over 2,000 restaurants across the United States and Guam today. Approximately 90% of their customers order take out or go through the drive-thru — one of the features that really help the company get their start.
7. Boston Market
According to LiveAbout, Boston Market was founded by Arthur Cores and Steven Kolow. Cores and Kolow, who lived in Boston, decided to work together to start a restaurant chain. With their respective backgrounds working in the food industry and managing real estate, Cores and Kolow thought that they had a good shot at opening a successful restaurant. In 1985, they put their plans to work and purchased a storefront location, ordered rotisseries for cooking chicken, and began compiling recipes to make side dishes. However, they didn't call their restaurant Boston Market yet. Instead, it was called Boston Chicken.
The name change still wouldn't come for a few more years. A few other key events needed to take place first. One of these was when George Naddaff, a local Kentucky Fried Chicken store owner, persuaded Kolow and Cores to sell him their business in 1989. In 1992, according to The New York Times, the restaurant changed hands again, this time to Blockbuster executives Saad J. Nadhir and Scott Beck. Nadhir and Beck were the ones who changed the name to Boston Market because of the menu's expansion to include other types of meat.
Boston Market changed hands two more times. After their attempts to open locations overseas left the company with too much debt, they filed for bankruptcy and were forced to close hundreds of stores in 1998. In 2000, McDonald's purchased the chain and was able to help it rebuild. A few years later in 2007, McDonald's sold Boston Market to Sun Capital Partners.
8. Sonic
Sonic is another restaurant that has been around for decades, though it hasn't always been called Sonic. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, Troy Smith was a businessman who lived in Shawnee, Oklahoma and managed numerous restaurants. One of those restaurants — the Log House — had a separate, drive-in root beer stand. After closely examining his books, Smith came to the conclusion that the small drive-in, called Top Hat, was his most profitable operation. After drawing this conclusion, he changed course to put more attention into the drive-in and expand what it offered.
The Top Hat drive-in thrived, so much so that it caught the attention of Charlie Pappe who wanted to get into the restaurant management business. Pappe worked with Smith, and the pair was able to open three additional Top Hat drive-ins. However, the two soon came to a roadblock when they learned that the name Top Hat was copyrighted and that they would not be able to open any additional locations using that name. This obstacle led them to choose a new name — Sonic Drive-In — selected because of the restaurant's slogan, "Service at the Speed of Sound." The name change took place in 1959 according to Sonic and the restaurant has continued to expand with locations in most states across the country.
9. Subway
Subway shares that Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck opened a restaurant in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1965. DeLuca, a 17 year old, had been seeking advice from Buck on how he could make enough money to cover his college tuition. Buck decided to make a $1,000 investment to work with DeLuca and open a sub shop. But, that sub shop wasn't called Subway yet. According to Margin, it was called Pete's Super Submarines, after co-founder Peter Buck. It took a few years and a few new locations (including more prime spots than they selected for the first restaurant) for the chain to really take off.
The first of two name changes occurred soon after the restaurant was founded. A radio promotion referred to the restaurant as Pete's Submarines. However, the owners were worried that people would mishear this name as Pizza Marines, prompting them to change it to Pete's Subway instead. In 1968, "Pete's" was dropped from the name, leaving it as simply Subway. This proved to be another successful name change, as just six years later there were 16 different locations. Soon, DeLuca and Buck decided to transition to a franchise business model to help their restaurant expand even further.
10. Panera Bread
There are a lot of things you may not know about Panera Bread. One of these things is that it used to be called the St. Louis Bread company. According to Panera Bread, the St. Louis Bread Company was started in 1987. Using a sourdough starter from San Francisco, the company offered a variety of baked goods for its customers. Panera Bread shares that it had expanded to 19 different locations by 1993. It was at this time that Ron Shaich, an executive with Au Bon Pain Co. Inc., acquired the company.
Ron believed that many consumers were looking for healthier alternatives to fast food and set out with the goal to design a system that would deliver on these hopes. Renaming the company Panera Bread, Ron brought this vision to reality and is credited with inventing "fast casual" dining experiences. While the company was renamed Panera Bread, many of the locations in St. Louis are still called St. Louis Bread Company. However, as Riverfront Times shares, some locals are not happy that some of the restaurants in the St. Louis metro area have been changed to Panera Bread.
11. Fuddruckers
Fuddruckers is a fast food restaurant chain that has been around for over 40 years. Texas Hill Country shares that Phillip J. Romano founded the company in 1979, with the first restaurant opening in San Antonio, Texas. He was searching for the perfect name for his new burger restaurant and eventually landed on Freddie Fuddruckers. Romano continued to lead the company as more and more Fuddruckers opened across the country. However, in 1988, he decided to leave and start on a new venture — Romano's Macaroni Grill.
After Romano left, the company changed hands a few times. In 2008, the company started having some troubles, and has since closed several of their restaurants. According to Fuddruckers, there are only 70 restaurants left in the United States today, spread out over 18 states and Puerto Rico. The majority of the restaurants are in Texas, where the company got its start.
12. Qdoba Mexican Eats
Qdoba Mexican Eats is another fast food restaurant that has gone through several name changes over the years. According to Nation's Restaurant News, the restaurant was initially called Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill. The first Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill opened in 1995 in Denver, Colorado. However, just a few years later, the first name change to Z-Teca took place, followed shortly after by a second change in 1999 to Qdoba Mexican Grill.
Qdoba Mexican Grill remained the name for 16 years. However, in 2015, Qdoba Mexican Grill was looking for a way to garner new customers and show why they were the better choice given all the other fast-casual Mexican restaurants. A new name was in order, once again. This time, as Restaurant Business shares, Qdoba Mexican Eats won out as the top choice. Along with their new name, the company aimed to make over the entire dining experience for their customers with new food offerings, restyled employee uniforms, and updated dining room decor.