Carl's Jr.

Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain owned by CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc., who also owns Hardee's, with franchisees in North and South America, Asia, Oceania, Europe, and Africa.

In 2016, Entrepreneur listed Carl's Jr. as No. 54 on their Top Franchise 500 list, which ranks the overall financial strength, stability, and growth rate for the top 500 franchises in any field across the United States.

As of March 2016, CKE (the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's) has a total of 3,664 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 44 states (both chains are totally absent from New England) and 38 foreign countries and U.S. territories.

In 1941, Carl Karcher (1917–2008), who was a truck driver, and his wife Margaret Karcher (1915–2006), borrowed $311 ($6,649 in 2024 dollars) on their Plymouth automobile and added $15 ($321 in 2024 dollars) in savings to purchase a hot dog cart on the corner of Florence and Central Avenues in Los Angeles. From their newly purchased cart, they sold hot dogs, chili dogs, and tamales for a dime ($2 in 2024 dollars ), and soda for a nickel ($1 in 2024 dollars). Within a few years, Carl and Margaret owned and operated four hot dog stands in Los Angeles. In 1945, the Karchers moved the short distance to Anaheim, California, and opened their first full-service restaurant, Carl's Drive-In Barbecue at 1108 North Palm Street (now Harbor Boulevard). In 1946, hamburgers were added to the menu for the first time.

In 1956, Karcher opened the first two Carl's Jr. restaurants – so named because they were a smaller version of Carl's Drive-In Barbecue restaurant – in Anaheim and Brea. The first local Carl's Jr. was built in 1956 on the former Janss Street next to St. Boniface Catholic Church about half a block away from Anaheim High School. That former Carl's Jr. is now the church's Bethany Hall while currently a restaurant is now located one block south on Harbor Boulevard. The former flagship Carl's Jr. is located at 1200 North Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim next to the former corporate headquarter office at 401 Carl Karcher Way until 2003, when the company moved its headquarters to a larger facility 500 feet north of the original location at 1325 North Anaheim Boulevard in Anaheim, then moving again in 2018 to Franklin, Tennessee.

By the end of the 1950s, there were four Carl's Jr. restaurants in Orange County, California. The restaurants also had a new supervisor, Donald F. Karcher, Carl's younger brother, who would later become the company's president.

By the 1960s, Carl was operating 24 restaurants in Southern California. The company incorporated in 1966 as Carl Karcher Enterprises, Inc., and launched a major expansion of the chain in 1968. The menus were limited for faster service, featuring charbroiled hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, and malts.

By 1975, there were more than 100 Carl's Jr. locations in Southern California, and the company expanded into the northern part of the state. Carl's Jr. celebrated its success by building its Anaheim corporate headquarters in 1976. The following year, it became the first QSR chain to offer salad bars in all 200 locations. The first out-of-state restaurant opened in Las Vegas in 1979. By the end of the decade, sales exceeded the $100 million mark. Carl's Jr. also experimented with fast-food Mexican cuisine in the 1970s and early 1980s with a spin-off called Taco de Carlos. The units all closed by the early 1980s, with Karcher later stating that this was due to the locations being too far apart from each other.