Jack in the Box

Robert Peterson opened the first Jack in the Box in San Diego in 1951, one of the earliest restaurants built entirely around the drive-thru, with a giant clown on the roof and a speaker to order through. In 1980 the company literally blew up the clown in a TV ad to announce it was growing up, and the ping-pong-ball-headed Jack who replaced him has been the face of the chain since 1994.

The chain is also why burgers across America are cooked the way they are. In 1993 undercooked patties from its restaurants caused an E. coli outbreak that killed four children and sickened hundreds. Jack in the Box nearly collapsed, then became one of the loudest champions of food safety in the industry, pushing cooking temperatures well above what regulators required.

Around 2,200 restaurants, mostly in the western and southern US.