Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Freddy’s opened in Wichita, Kansas, in 2002, founded by brothers Bill and Randy Simon, their business partner Scott Redler, and their father, Freddy Simon. Freddy was a Second World War veteran who had earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star and spent more than half a century in the restaurant business. The chain was built to feel like the burger places of his youth in the late 1940s and 1950s.

The food is deliberately old-fashioned: steakburgers pressed thin on the griddle until the edges go crisp, shoestring fries, Vienna Beef hot dogs, and frozen custard made fresh in every restaurant. It is one of the fastest-growing burger chains in the country, largely on the strength of that crispy-edged burger.

Around 580 restaurants across the United States.

• 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.
• 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.
• Jack's (United States, since 1960). Alabama’s home-grown fast-food chain, where biscuits share the menu with the Big Jack. 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.