White Spot
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| Founded | June 16, 1928 |
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| Headquarters | Vancouver, BC, Canada |
| Website | White Spot |
White Spot is a Canadian restaurant chain based in Vancouver, British Columbia, best known for its hamburgers, Pirate Pak children's meal and burger sauce. Some locations have carhop drive-in service.
In the 1920s, Nat Bailey operated a travelling lunch counter, using a 1918 Model T. A prominent location was Prospect Point in Stanley Park. Hotdogs were a dime and ice cream was a nickel.
The restaurant was founded on June 16, 1928, by Nat Bailey. His first idea for a name for the eatery had been Granville Barbecue, but Nat instead took the advice of a friend who suggested he call it White Spot after a restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California—in part because the name sounded spotless and clean.
The original White Spot was located in the Marpole neighbourhood, at 67th and Granville Street, at what would be known as Granville House, in Vancouver. The restaurant was called White Spot Barbecue Sandwiches, evolving into a drive-in and dining room.
By 1955, the chain was serving 10,000 cars a day and 110,000 customers a week.
By the 1990s, some White Spot Drive-ins were phased out due to an increase in franchise restaurants and a gradual decrease in popularity of drive-in's. Granville House was a popular dining spot until 1986 when a fire in the kitchen damaged the building. The restaurant closed permanently at that location shortly thereafter, despite some talk of rebuilding.
The carhop drive-in service began further west, at a viewpoint off Marine Drive in Point Grey, when Bailey served food from a vehicle. Drivers parked nearby asked if food could be delivered to their cars, so Bailey hired servers who "hopped to it" to do so. Similar drive-in carhop service, with servers bringing trays and food to diners' cars to eat on-site, using trays that fit across the seats between vehicles' windows, which became standard at White Spot outlets. Some locations still offer drive-in service.
The chain was sold to General Foods in 1968 when Nat retired.
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