Jack's

Jack Caddell opened a walk-up burger stand in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, on 21 November 1960. Hamburgers and fries cost fifteen cents and shakes twenty. The original building, remodelled several times, still serves as the chain’s flagship.

Jack’s is a very Southern fast-food chain. Breakfast biscuits are its best-known food, fried chicken and fried pies share the menu, and it was one of the first chains to advertise directly to children, sponsoring a local Popeye TV show. It is growing quickly again, opening around twenty restaurants a year.

About 280 restaurants across the Deep South, all company-owned, with the original Homewood stand still open.

• 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.
• 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.
• Burger Street (United States, since 1985). A Texas double drive-thru burger chain from the man who created Taco Bueno and Casa Bonita. Also built on beef, cheese and a double stack.