Stewart's Restaurants facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Stewart's Restaurants |
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1924 |
| Food type | Bar |
| Dress code | Casual |
| Country | United States of America. |
Stewart's Restaurants are a chain of classic American fast-food places. They look like the cool diners from the 1950s! You might know them as Stewart's Root Beer or Stewart's Drive-In. The very first Stewart's opened way back in 1924 in Mansfield, Ohio. It was started by a man named Frank Stewart. By 1931, it became a franchise, which means other people could open their own Stewart's restaurants.
As of 2021, there are about 30 Stewart's locations across the United States. Most of them are in New Jersey. You can also find them in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
What's on the Menu?
Stewart's is super famous for its special Stewart's Fountain Classics root beer and tasty hot dogs. But most locations offer lots of other yummy food too! You can usually find hamburgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, cheesesteaks, ice cream, and milkshakes.
You can enjoy their famous root beer in different ways:
- In a bottle to take home.
- In a frosty mug at the restaurant.
- As a root beer float, with ice cream!
What's on the menu can change depending on the Stewart's location. Some are "Express" spots with a simpler menu. Others are "Full Service" and offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
How Stewart's Started
The very first Stewart's Drive-In opened in 1924 in Mansfield, Ohio. Frank Stewart, who was a school teacher, started the small stand to earn some extra money during the summer.
At first, the restaurant was a simple fast-food spot. It only sold root beer and popcorn. Frank Stewart had a clever trick: he added extra salt to his popcorn! This made people thirsty, so they bought more root beer. Soon, he opened more locations. Many of these had carhops, which were servers who brought food right to your car!
In 1931, two business people, John and Ami Mandt, helped Stewart's grow even more by turning it into a franchise. This meant other people could open Stewart's restaurants using the same name and recipes. Two of these original franchised locations are still open in West Virginia today! Over the years, the company was owned by different people and companies. Today, Michael W. Fessler, one of the original owners of a company called DeNovo Corp., still owns Stewart's Restaurants, Inc.
