A&W Restaurant

A&W Restaurants, Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Fast food
Founded	1919; 98 years ago (1919) Lodi, California , United States
Founder	Roy W. Allen Frank Wright
Headquarters	Lexington, Kentucky, United States
Number of locations	about 1,200
Area served	16 countries and territories
Key people	Kevin Bazner (CEO)
Products	Hot dogs, root beer, cheese curds, hamburgers, chicken
Parent	A Great American Brand, LLC
Website	awrestaurants.com

A&W Restaurants, Inc., is a chain of fast-food restaurants distinguished by its draft root beer and root beer floats. A&W opened a drive-in restaurant in Lodi, California, in 1919. The company name was taken from the surname initials of partners Roy W. Allen and Frank Wright. The company became famous in the United States for its "frosty mugs", where the mug would be kept in the freezer prior to being filled with root beer and served to the customer.

Beginning to franchise in 1925, today it has franchise locations throughout much of the world, serving a typical fast-food menu of hamburgers and French fries, as well as hot dogs. A number of its outlets are drive-in restaurants with carhops. Previously owned by Yum! Brands, the chain was sold to a consortium of A&W franchisees, through A Great American Brand, LLC, in December 2011.

A&W restaurants in Canada have been part of a separate and unaffiliated chain since 1972.

In June 1919,Lodi, California, Roy W. Allen opened his first root beer stand. In 1923 A&W began when Allen and Frank Wright opened an A&W drive-in restaurant in Sacramento, California, combining both of their initials for the name, and selling the root beer from Allen's stand. Curbside service was provided by tray boys and tray girls. In 1924, Allen purchased Frank Wright's stake in the business. In 1925, Allen began franchising the root beer, while the franchisee added the other menu items and operated at their discretion. This may have arguably been the first successful food-franchising operation. Allen sold the company in 1950 and retired.