Founder Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy’s® Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant in downtown Columbus, Ohio on November 15, 1969. The name Wendy and the illustration of a pig-tailed, red-headed little girl were inspired by Thomas’ own daughter, Melinda Lou.
Just over one year later, in 1970, Wendy’s® opened a second restaurant in Columbus, featuring a Pick-Up Window with a separate grill. This innovation revolutionized the fast-food industry, propelling Wendy’s® from a Columbus restaurant chain into a foodservice phenomenon.
Dave Thomas’ idea was always, very simply, to build a restaurant where families could enjoy hamburgers their way. Operating under the motto “Quality Is Our Recipe,” Wendy’s® quickly became known for the square beef hamburgers that hang over the bun, each made with the customer’s choice of toppings.
In 1979, Wendy’s® became the first national restaurant chain to introduce the salad bar, which kicked off the company’s menu diversification program. In 1983, it became the first restaurant chain nationwide to offer baked potatoes. Other recent menu innovations include crispy chicken nuggets, the Big Bacon classic and a wide variety of to-go salads.
Quality and fresh, made-to-order food remain the focus, allowing Wendy’s® to quickly serve a variety of meals to millions of customers daily.
When Briad’s quick-service division decided to become a franchisee of Wendy’s® International Inc., it immediately netted extremely successful results. We now own and operate 42 Wendy’s® restaurants throughout New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. All of Briad’s Wendy’s® are equipped with state-of-the-art technology to better serve customers, and Briad is actively committed to staff development and employee growth.
Briad Restaurant Group, LLC is a franchisee of Wendy’s International, Inc., and assumes all liability for the content represented in this web site. All representations made in the web site are solely those of Briad Restaurant Group, LLC and are not to be, under any circumstances, construed as endorsed by, or representations of, Wendy’s International, Inc. (www.wendys.com)
The Wendy's name and design, and Old Fashioned Hamburgers are registered trademarks of Oldemark LLC and are licensed to Wendy's International, Inc.
