Winstead's facts for kids
Winstead's is a popular restaurant chain known for its delicious hamburgers. It started in 1940 and has locations in Kansas and Missouri. Besides its tasty burgers, Winstead's is famous for its unique "Streamline Moderne" building style. It also serves huge "skyscraper" sodas and milkshakes, which are so big they can be shared by five or six people! Many people love Winstead's, and Food Network Magazine even called its hamburger the best in Kansas. A food writer named Calvin Trillin thinks Winstead's has the best cheeseburgers in the world.
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The Story of Winstead's
Winstead's began as a "drive-in" restaurant. This means customers could drive up, order from their car, and have food brought right to them.
How It All Started
The very first Winstead's Drive-In was opened in Springfield, Illinois, in 1936 by Kathryn Winstead. It was one of the first restaurants of its kind in the United States. Customers would park their cars, flash their lights, and a "car hop" would come to take their order and deliver their food.
A few years later, around 1938, Kathryn's brother, Jack, opened another Winstead's in their hometown of Jacksonville, Illinois. Another sister also opened a location in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Moving to Missouri
In 1932, Fannie Winstead Garst, another sister, moved to Springfield, Illinois, to live with Kathryn and Nellie Winstead. Fannie helped her sisters run the Springfield drive-in. The Winstead family originally came from Smithton, Missouri, and they wanted to return to their home state.
So, in July 1937, the Winstead sisters opened a new drive-in called Garst's Drive-In in Sedalia, Missouri. This was the first drive-in restaurant west of the Mississippi River!
Opening in Kansas City
Nellie and her husband, Gordon Montgomery, talked with Kathryn about opening a Winstead's in Kansas City, Missouri. They found a spot near the Country Club Plaza. Even though the city was run by a powerful political leader at the time, the sisters decided to go ahead.
The Kansas City Winstead's opened in 1940. Unlike the earlier drive-ins, this new location had a special "Streamline Moderne" design. It allowed customers to eat inside or outside. During World War II, it was hard to get enough beef, but the restaurant did very well after the war ended. Later, another Winstead's opened in Lee's Summit, Missouri.
New Owners and Growth
Kathryn Winstead retired in 1952, and Nellie and Gordon Montgomery took over the business. In 1957, they added french fries and milkshakes to the menu.
In 1969, the Montgomerys sold Winstead's to brothers Morris and Victor Lerner. They owned a company called King Louie International. The Lerners helped Winstead's grow by opening two new locations: one in Kansas City North and another in Overland Park, Kansas.
In 1982, a local restaurant owner named Nabil Haddad took over Winstead's. He helped the chain expand even more. Today, each Winstead's restaurant has a unique tower on the front, showing off its cool art deco style.
Recent Changes
Over the years, some Winstead's locations have closed. The Overland Park, Kansas, location on Metcalf Avenue closed in August 2015. Another location in Lenexa, Kansas, on West 95th Street, closed on April 15, 2019.
See also
- List of fast-food restaurants
- List of hamburger restaurants
