A & W – A Restaurant With History

Whiskey, coffee and sarsaparilla—three drinks every cowboy craves.

A few months back, Sandra Cox, one of Cowboy Kisses very own authors, wrote a great post on the history of sarsaparilla. While it doesn't replicate sarsaparilla exactly, the modern day version of this spicy, fizzy drink is root beer, and I am a big fan!

My favorite root beer is Barq’s. The tagline on their commercials is 'Barq’s has bite' and boy, is it true! Of the three popular root beers on the market - Barq’s, Mug, and A &W - Barq’s is the only one that has caffeine. I confess to being a daily drinker of soda and for a long time my drink of choice was Barq’s.

During Covid, along with a shortage of masks and toilet paper, came a shortage of Barq’s root beer, which forced me to mourn and change my ways, drinking whatever was available in dire times. There was never a happier day when production ramped back up and I was able to get my old favorite once again.

But I digress. The real focus of this article is not Barq’s nor even root beer in general, but the restaurant that grew out of the beloved drink—A & W.

According to a 2020 blog post on their website, there are more than 900 A & W restaurants worldwide. 460 of those are in the U.S. spread across 35 states.

A & W populates central California fairly heavily but of the handful that exist in Southern California – I am lucky to say one of them happens to be near my home. My kids and I pass it all the time. Just seeing the orange and brown sign gives me an endorphin kick, somehow jettisoning me back to childhood when stopping for a soda was a real treat. 

In present day, it’s the thought of cheese curds (put on the menu in 2003) with marinara sauce that has me swinging the wheel, accelerating my car into the parking lot, and squealing up to the drive through board. I’m exaggerating. No squealing haha. Just anticipation.

Fast food is always a pull when you’re on the road with kids, but fast food and root beer? A no brainer. If only the root beer budget was bigger. So the last time I forced myself to drive past the restaurant without stopping I began to wonder about the history of the quaint little chain. What I dug up was pretty interesting.

Over 100 years old, A & W dates back to June 20, 1919 when Roy W. Allen set up a roadside root beer stand at a WWI veterans parade in Lodi, CA. A few years later, He and acquaintance Frank Wright partnered together, opening a second stand which they quickly released to other operators so they could grow the business. A from Allen and W from Wright, became the name of their delicious little business—A&W. A few more years went by before Allen began to sell franchises. This established A&W as the first franchise restaurant chain in the U.S.

By 1950 there were 450 of the restaurants and Allen sold the whole shebang to a California company named A&W Root Beer Co.

Canada was home to the first restaurant that took A&W to international status. With outlets in the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, and other locations throughout Southeast Asia A&W has grown by leaps and bounds with more restaurants slated to open every year.

In addition to being the first franchise restaurant in the U.S., A&W also lays claim to being the first chain restaurant to sell a bacon cheeseburger. The first! Can you believe it? What restaurant nowadays doesn’t sell a bacon cheeseburger?

In 1971 the drink became available in both bottles and cans. Cans are my personal favorite because in my opinion cans keep the drink colder and fizzier than the bottled version - not that I will turn down a bottle mind you.

Rooty the Great Root Bear became the restaurant's mascot in 1971 and still sits outside many establishments today on a barrel of root beer. 

If you’re lucky enough to have an A&W near you, or you can hunt one down the next time you hit the road on vacation, you’ll have your choice of burgers, chicken, hot dogs, sides, and sweet treats.

Which brings us to the tasty conclusion: Root beer floats. Who doesn’t love the smooth, creamy vanilla flavor and spicy fizz of root beer frothing over a giant scoop of ice cream? My kids and I made some at the house just last week, but that did not stop me from ordering one at the restaurant when I swung in to take pictures for this post. Haha.

Long story short, times and names have changed. History has given way to modernity and Sarsaparilla has segued into root beer, but the next time you get a hankering to live the cowboy life or to taste a bit of Americana, jump in your car and program your GPS for the nearest A&W restaurant. Order a float, take a picture with Rooty the Bear, and please, for the love of all things tasty, eat a cheese curd for me.

To see some fun pictures through the years and for more A&W facts visit awrestaurants.com and read their blog.

Until next time, friends. 

Cali Black

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Sweet With Faith The Blue Sky Series

Sweet With Sizzle The Fake Series

Sweet With Grit – All That Glitters – Free with newsletter signup

Coming Soon: Sweet Christmas - Christmas In The Cascades – releasing October 25, 2024