White Spot

Nat Bailey, born in Minnesota and raised in Vancouver, started out in the 1920s selling hot dogs for a dime and ice cream for a nickel from a converted 1918 Model T at Lookout Point. In 1928 he opened a barbecue sandwich stand at Granville Street and 67th Avenue and, on a friend’s advice, named it after a White Spot restaurant in Los Angeles. It became Canada’s first drive-in, Bailey is credited with inventing the carhop tray, and by 1955 the chain was serving 10,000 cars a day. Vancouver’s baseball stadium is named after him.

Bailey sold the chain to General Foods when he retired in 1968, and in 1982 it came back into local hands when the BC businessman Peter Toigo bought it; his sons took over after his death in 1993. White Spot today is a sit-down family restaurant serving breakfast to roast turkey dinners, but its reputation rests on burgers, the Pirate Pak children’s meal, and milkshakes made with BC dairy. The fries are Kennebec potatoes from the Guichon family farm in Delta, a partnership that goes back to 1935.

The burger that made the name is the Legendary, with the secret Triple “O” sauce, which became a teenage obsession in the 1960s; the company says only a few people know the recipe. In 1997 White Spot gave the sauce its own quick-service brand, Triple O’s, now found in BC, at gas stations in Alberta and Ontario, on BC Ferries, and in Hong Kong and Macau. Calories are in the official nutrition guide.

About fifty family restaurants across British Columbia, plus Triple O’s counters in BC, Alberta, Ontario, Hong Kong and Macau.

• 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.
• Elevation Burger (United States, since 2005). The Virginia chain that called itself the first organic burger joint, with fries cooked in olive oil. Also built on beef, cheese and a double stack.
• In-N-Out Burger (United States, since 1948). Three burgers on the board and a secret menu everyone knows by heart. Also built on beef, cheese and a double stack.
• Hardee's (United States, since 1960). Biscuits in the morning, Thickburgers the rest of the day. Also built on beef, cheese and a double stack.