Chick-fil-A

S. Truett Cathy opened a diner called the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia, in 1946. Fifteen years later he found a pressure fryer that could cook a boneless chicken breast as fast as a hamburger, and the sandwich he built around it became Chick-fil-A. Every restaurant still closes on Sundays, a rule rooted in the founder’s Christian beliefs.

For a burger site, Chick-fil-A matters because its sandwich is shaped like a burger and competes with every burger chain for the same lunch. It set the template that McDonald’s, Popeyes, KFC and nearly everyone else later copied, and it remains the one they are measured against.

Around 3,000 restaurants across the United States, all closed on Sundays.