Arctic Circle

Arctic Circle began as a refreshment stand that Don Carlos Edwards set up at Utah’s Pioneer Day celebrations in 1924. By the early 1940s he had a barbecue restaurant in Salt Lake City, and in 1950 he opened the first Arctic Circle there. At its peak the chain had 308 restaurants across the West; today it has around seventy in eight states, still headquartered in Utah.

Edwards liked inventing things. His first hit was the Brown Topper, a soft-serve cone dipped in chocolate, then the Ranch Burger, and the chain also claims to have sold the first kids’ meal. But his lasting contribution is fry sauce: the pink mix of mayonnaise and ketchup he served at his barbecue restaurant and brought to Arctic Circle, which spread to almost every burger stand in Utah and Idaho. The chain says it goes through about 120 gallons a day.

The menu is classic Western drive-in. The burgers use Black Angus beef, exclusively since 2001, and come with shredded lettuce, pickles, ketchup and the house white sauce. Around them are finger steaks, halibut and chips, white cheddar cheese curds, shakes loaded with candy and Lime Rickeys. Calories are in the official nutrition calculator.

About seventy restaurants in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Arizona and Wyoming, roughly half of them in Utah.

• Wayback Burgers (United States, since 1991). A Delaware burger stand that grew into a franchise from Buenos Aires to Tokyo. Also built on beef, cheese and a double stack.
• Spangles (United States, since 1978). Wichita’s 1950s-themed steakburger chain, famous in Kansas for its odd TV adverts and a six-patty burger called The Beast. Also built on beef, cheese and a double stack.
• A&W Restaurants (United States, since 1919). America’s oldest drive-in chain, and the burger that lost to bad maths. Also built on beef, cheese and a double stack.
• Sonic Drive-In (United States, since 1953). Order through a speaker from your car and a carhop brings the burger. Also built on beef, cheese and a double stack.