Taco Bell operating in Mexico at all seems pretty crazy, but it's true that the famous American fast food franchise has locations south of the border. However, things get even stranger when you learn about the types of food they serve at these Mexican locations. It's not exactly what you would expect!
The first Taco Bell locations opened in Mexico in 2007, and while you can buy what Americans would call tacos they're, the company brands them as "tacostadas" since they're so different from the real thing. You can also find some traditionally American foods at these locations as well, like ice cream and french fries.
(Images via John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; AakritiGupta2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Dave Thomas is probably most famous for founding the fast food restaurant Wendys, but if it weren't for him, another iconic American restaurant might not exist either! Thomas originally worked as the head cook for Hobby House, which would eventually morph into Kentucky Fried Chicken after buying Colonel Sanders secret recipe.
After helping the slumping chicken franchise in the 1960s, Thomas made more than a million dollars from the company, which he then turned around and invested in his own restaurant—Wendys. He even decided to open the store's first location in the same town as the first KFC franchise he helped become profitable.
Olive Garden might not be making the most authentic or delicious Italian cuisine, but there's one iconic thing about the restaurant chain that keeps guests coming back for more—the unlimited breadsticks. However, if investors had gotten their way, we might have seen this tasty deal come to an end.
In 2014, an investor report for the company recommended doing away with the free unlimited breadsticks, as many breadsticks ended up uneaten and tossed at the end of the night. Thankfully, Olive Garden ignored this recommendation. Unlimited breadsticks did go away temporarily in 2020 and 2021, but they reemerged in 2022 when Olive Garden locations re-opened for dine-in customers.
(Images via Anthony92931, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Waffle House is either the greatest thing ever or humanity's worst invention—depending on who you ask and how many fights your local Waffle House sees. However, fans and haters alike will probably be surprised to learn that Waffle House does more than serve diner food and keep the public freakout compilation video industry alive.
Waffle House has actually dipped its toes into the music business, and since 1980, they've been the owner of Waffle Records. Over the years, the company has released several novelty songs like "Make Mine with Cheese", and for those really interested in the music of Waffle House, there's even a compilation CD with all their hits.
Considering that only about 1% of Japan's population is Christian, it makes sense that Christmas, as the West knows it, never really caught on in the country. However, that doesn't mean they don't haven't come up with their own holiday traditions—like eating at KFC on December 25th.
This strange tradition started in the 1970s when tourists couldn't find a restaurant that served a turkey dinner on Christmas. So, they went with the next best thing and ate at KFC instead. From there, this unique custom has only grown in popularity. Some Japanese citizens reserve their KFC Christmas dinner months in advance because the company gets so busy around the holidays.
(Images via N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; rumpleteaser from Nagoya, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
IHOP didn't officially open any stores in Vermont until 2009 because the state has some truly obnoxious rules about food labeling. IHOP's traditional syrups are not actual maple syrup, but they are described as "maple flavored", which is straight-up illegal in the state of Vermont. So, the chain had to make some changes to open there.
In Vermont IHOP locations, guests are actually served real maple syrup, but it's not as nice as it sounds initially! First of all, real maple syrup is all you can get at these locations, so if you're not a fan, you're out of luck. Secondly, you have to specifically order the syrup and it costs an additional 99 cents. What a fun, useful law!
You're probably not surprised to learn that there are no McDonalds locations to be found in Cuba—they're not exactly our biggest fans. However, you will find still find the Golden Arches on the island—just not in a place that you would expect a fast-food restaurant to open!
Since 1986, there has been a Mcdonald's franchise operating in Guantanamo Bay. Obviously, the prisoners there aren't getting daily happy meals or anything like that, but the restaurant claims to serve more than 6000 customers on the base, including lawyers and staff that live on site.
As recently as 1965, co-eds mixing in public was frowned upon in the United States. Strangely enough, one person who was instrumental in lessening this taboo was the founder of TGI Fridays. Restaurant creator Allan Stillman opened the restaurant's first location as a way to meet women in public, as opposed to private cocktail mixers.
Specifically, he wanted to meet stewardesses, so he opened the restaurant next to an apartment complex where many stewardesses lived. As strange as it sounds, the idea was a hit, and Stillman opened his second location only a few years after the first one debuted.
Taco Bell has yet to open any franchise locations in space, but that doesn't mean astronauts don't go south of the border from time to time. In addition to freeze-dried food, astronauts take some fresh food with them as well. A common choice used to be sandwiches, but bread crumbs in zero gravity ended up being a bigger problem than anticipated.
When one astronaut suggested tortillas as an alternative to bread, it sounded like the perfect plan. So, NASA partnered with Taco Bell to make special tortillas that had a shelf life of at least a year without any change to their quality. The restaurant is still providing tortillas to the organization to this day.
(Images via Mudwater, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
People love a good conspiracy theory, and they often pop up in the weirdest places, so it's not really a surprise that fans of the restaurant chain Whataburger came up with a ridiculous (but strangely plausible-sounding) theory about the company's ketchup packets, which are labeled with numbers one through five.
According to the conspiracy, these numbers correlate to how salty or sweet the ketchup is, with one being the least sweet and five being the most sweet. As clever as that sounds, there's not really any evidence that this is the case. According to some in the know, these numbers have to do with how the ketchup is packaged in the plant where it is produced.
The history of law in England goes back more than 1000 years, and during that time, there have been some pretty notable cases arise. However, the longest trial in England's history is only a few decades old at this point, and, strangely enough, it involves a uniquely American company: McDonalds.
After a 1986 Greenpeace expose about some of McDonalds business practices, the company sued for libel. The trial was truly massive, involving more than 100 witness and more than 50,000 pages of evidence and transcripts. In 1997, the courts ruled that some libel had taken place, but the case continued on in appeals until 2005—making this a trial that lasted almost two decades!
These days, the name Burger King is synonymous with fast food across the country, but if you find yourself at the Burger King in Mattoon, Illinois, don't expect to order a whopper there! The Hoots family opened a fast-food burger joint in the town in 1959 and named it Burger King, which, unsurprisingly led to legal troubles down the road for them.
The Hoots eventually took the Burger King franchise to court in order to protect their name, which they did...sort of. According to the ruling, while the Burger King company couldn't have any franchises in the Mattoon area with that name, the mom-and-pop restaurant was barred from opening other locations outside of Mattoon with the Burger King name. While the business was eventually sold, it still exists and still uses the Burger King name.
What exactly does a bell have to do with tacos? If you've ever been confused by the tex-mex chain's unusual name, you're not alone! Despite the fact that Taco Bell's logo incorporates a giant bell, the name of this company doesn't actually have anything to do with the noise maker.
Instead, the name Taco Bell is based on the founder's name, Glenn Bell. He originally opened a hot dog stand in 1946, but by 1952 he was selling tacos instead. A few short years after that, he opened the first Taco Bell location, and the name became known all across the country.
When you think of Pizza Hut, "healthy eating" is probably not the first phrase that comes to mind. While it might not be good for us, who can resist all that cheese and grease? Despite their reputation for less-than-nutritious food, Pizza Hut was actually, at one time, the biggest purchaser of kale in the world.
Thankfully, none of that kale actually made it onto their pizzas. Instead, the chain used all that kale to help decorate their salad bars. If you're of a certain age, you might actually remember all that kale on the salad bars (which were discontinued in 2009), but we always just assumed it was fake!
Love him or hate him, Jason Mraz was an objectively successful musician in the late 2000s/early 2010s. Two Grammys and millions of record sales is nothing to scoff at! However, these days, he's branched out into some business ventures that are decidedly non-musical. In fact, if you've eaten at Chipotle recently, you might want to send him a thank you!
In 2006, Mraz bought a farm in southern California that produces about 30,000 pounds of avocado each year. Most, if not all, of these avocados end up in Chipotle guacamole for the restaurant's locations in the area. 30,000 pounds might sound massive, but Mraz is actually one of the smaller suppliers for the company!
(Images via Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0. via Wikimedia Commons; Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
