The First Fast Food Breakfast Restaurant In America Was A 1970s Staple

Many people partake in fast food breakfast so they can eat an on-the-go meal during their commute. It's been that way for a surprisingly long time, but have you ever considered which chain started serving breakfast first? For instance, the first fast food breakfast sandwich wasn't from McDonald's. That honor goes to Jack in the Box, which introduced its Breakfast Jack in 1969. However, neither chain was the first to offer fast food breakfast items on their menus. The first restaurant to do that was Ray's Kingburger.

In 1964, fast food pioneer Ray Goad opened the first Ray's Kingburger in Mount Airy, North Carolina, serving the original $0.15 hamburger. The menu included country ham and scratch-made Southern biscuits, both of which are things Southerners always have on their breakfast table. Using the same biscuit recipe as his mother, Goad was already serving this style of breakfast at the gas station restaurant he opened in the '50s, Ray's Midway.

An advertisement from around 1970 depicts the country ham, sausage, eggs, and biscuits served as a platter. From Daily Meal's research, it seems probable that the platter was the original breakfast option but that country ham and biscuit sandwiches were added to the menu, possibly shortly after Jack in the Box launched its breakfast sandwich.

With success, Ray's Kingburger expanded to 15 locations throughout the North Carolina Piedmont region in just five years. As the chain became a staple in the 1970s, Goad set his sights on Eastern North Carolina as well as South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, eventually totaling about 50 restaurants into the mid-'80s while competing against Burger King, Hardee's, McDonald's, and Wendy's. Unfortunately, you can't visit Ray's Kingburger to enjoy country ham and biscuits anymore — classic Southern breakfasts everyone should enjoy once in their lives — because the restaurant has since closed. However, owner Ray Goad and his chain are responsible for sparking interest in fast food breakfast, and customers still enjoy similar items at other fast food chains today.

During the early-'70s expansion of Ray's Kingburger, the already-established Hardee's gave it some stiff competition in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where it was also headquartered. Meanwhile, Ray's Kingburger was directly competing against McDonald's in the northeastern part of the state. These fast food chains (and others) weren't serving breakfast at the time, but they soon had to add such items and extend their hours to accommodate the demand and remain relevant in the market. McDonald's, for instance, began testing the Egg McMuffin in 1971 and launched it nationwide by 1975. Other chains such as Hardee's and Bojangles developed their own versions of breakfast biscuit sandwiches soon after.