B&K Rootbeer facts for kids

B-K Root Beer is a chain of drive-in fast-food restaurants. These restaurants are famous for their special root beer and yummy root beer floats! You can find B-K restaurants mostly in the Midwest part of the United States, in states like Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The name B-K stands for "Bergerson & Kenefick." The very first B-K restaurant opened its doors in Wabash, Indiana, way back in 1940.

At one point, there were as many as 238 B-K drive-ins across Indiana and nearby states. Melvin and Mary Bergerson started the company in the mid-1940s in Michigan City, Indiana.

The Story of B-K Root Beer

The first B-K restaurant started in Wabash, Indiana, in the 1940s. Today, each B-K Root Beer restaurant is owned and run by different people. This means they are not all part of one big company anymore.

For a while, a company called DeNovo Corporation from Livonia, Michigan, owned the B-K Root Beer chain. David Chapoton was the president of this company. In the late 1980s, David sold the B-K "trademarks" to Burger King Corporation. A trademark is like a special sign or name that belongs to a company, like their logo or brand name. After Burger King bought the B-K trademarks, they used the "BK" part to help launch their new grilled chicken sandwich, called the BK Broiler.

In 2016, Burger King decided they no longer needed the B-K trademarks. David Hosticka from Michigan then tried to get the B-K Root Beer trademarks back. He wanted to help the about 35 B-K drive-in locations that were still open and maybe even help the B-K Root Beer brand grow again. However, the US Patent and Trademark office said no. They explained that the letters B-K were still officially registered by Burger King Corporation.