R&I Top 400 Chains: The Quiz
You’ve had a whole year since the inaugural Top 400 Quiz to bulk up on chain-restaurant trivia. Here is your chance to see if you now know all there is to know. If a few of these still stump you, the answers are at the bottom of the page.
By Staff -- Restaurants & Institutions, 7/15/2007
1. Which of these was founder Kirk Perron’s original name for what now is Jamba Juice?
A. Juice Joint
B. The Juice Club
C. Jamba-Ree
D. The Juice and I
2. Which two Top 400 chains are named in a song by former Beatle George Harrison?
3. Which family-dining chain trademarked the slogan, “The Best Pie in America?”
4. Red Lobster serves 1.1 million of these every day. What are they? (Hint: They do not have shells)
5. What is the Official Burger and Drive-Thru Restaurant for Nascar racing?
6. Nationwide, how many phone orders did Pizza Hut expect to receive on Feb. 4, 2007 (aka Super Bowl Sunday)?
A. 1.5 million
B. 2.5 million
C. 3.5 million
D. 4.5 million
7. How many Internet domain names has Burger King Corp. registered worldwide?
8. A&W has 644 units in this year’s Top 400 report. How many did it have 50 years ago, in 1957?
9. Actor Ethan Hawke, who appeared in last year’s film adaptation of Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation,” worked at which Top 400 chain when he was in high school?
10. Four holding companies own both chains included in the Top 400 and restaurants (such as the one above) included in R&I’s Top 100 Independent Restaurants. Name them.
11. Match the chain or parent company with the reported price for which it was acquired:
A) Real Mex Restaurants (Chevys Fresh Mex, El Torito and others)
B) OSI Restaurant Partners (Outback Steakhouse and others)
C) Friendly’s
D) Bugaboo Creek Steak House
E) Hard Rock Cafe
F) Sbarro
G) Huddle House1) $359 million
2) $3.18 billion
3) $450 million
4) $124.1 million
5) $965 million
6) $337.2 million
7) $28 million
12. Pete Rose isn’t in baseball’s Hall of Fame but in 2005 he was in a television commercial for which Top 400 chain?
13. “Wedding Crashers” star Rachel McAdams claims she still has a fryer scar from her three years working for which Top 400 chain?
14. In 1953, Harold Butler opened Danny’s Donuts in Lakewood, Calif., and the following year built another unit in nearby Garden Grove. When doughnut sales slackened, he added a grill and turned it into a coffee shop. What Top 400 chain did it soon become?
15. A.H. “Gus” Belt operated a restaurant/gas station called Shells Chicken in Normal, Ill., before deciding in 1934 to create a new concept. What did he name it?
16. On the March 19, 2007, episode of NBC’s game show “Deal or No Deal,” host Howie Mandel plucked Michelle Kearney from her counter job at a Los Angeles Hot Dog on a Stick to be a contestant. She chose case No. 13 as possibly holding $1 million (it didn’t) because HDOS founder Dave Barham was born on June 13, 1913. How much money did Kearney win?
17. Academy Award-winning actor Billy Bob Thornton once managed the Culver City, Calif., unit of which Top 400 chain?
18. Pop singer Nick Lachey was quoted as saying, “I usually don’t eat before I perform. I find that burping is not good on stage.” After concerts, he says there are two Top 400 chains that he is likely to visit. Name them.
19. Buca di Beppo, built around family-style dining, introduced a smaller-portions Buca Small menu. For what percentage of total food sales did Buca Small account in 2006?
20. Which two Top 400 chains now operate hotel-casinos bearing their names?
21. How many of the chains on the debut Top 400 list remain on it today?
ANSWERS:
1. Which of these was founder Kirk Perron’s original name for what now is Jamba Juice?
The Juice Club
2. Which two Top 400 chains are named in a song by former Beatle George Harrison?
From “Cockamamie Business”:
Now we like to air condition—though the air has no ozone ring Still they’re chopping down the forest for McDonald’s and Burger King Eating cows with such persistence—doesn’t offer much resistance To this cockamamie business
3. Which family-dining chain trademarked the slogan, “The Best Pie in America?”
Bakers Square
4. Red Lobster serves 1.1 million of these every day. What are they? (Hint: They do not have shells)
Cheddar Bay Biscuits
5. What is the Official Burger and Drive-Thru Restaurant for Nascar racing?
Checkers Drive-In/Rally’s Hamburgers
6. Nationwide, how many phone orders did Pizza Hut expect to receive on Feb. 4, 2007 (aka Super Bowl Sunday)?
2.5 million
7. How many Internet domain names has Burger King Corp. registered worldwide?
354
8. A&W has 644 units in this year’s Top 400 report. How many did it have 50 years ago, in 1957?
1,400
9. Actor Ethan Hawke, who appeared in last year’s film adaptation of Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation,” worked at which Top 400 chain when he was in high school?
Burger King
10. Four holding companies own both chains included in the Top 400 and restaurants included in R&I’s Top 100 Independent Restaurants. Name them.
Clyde’s Restaurant Group
Consolidated Restaurant Operations
Landry’s Restaurants
Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group
11. Match the chain or parent company with the reported price for which it was acquired:
Real Mex Restaurants (Chevys Fresh Mex, El Torito and others) $359 million
OSI Restaurant Partners (Outback Steakhouse and others) $3.18 billion
Friendly’s $337.2 million
Bugaboo Creek Steak House $28 million
Hard Rock Cafe $965 million
Sbarro $450 million
Huddle House $124.1 million
12. Pete Rose isn’t in baseball’s Hall of Fame but in 2005 he was in a television commercial for which Top 400 chain?
Gold Star Chili
13. “Wedding Crashers” star Rachel McAdams claims she still has a fryer scar from her three years working for which Top 400 chain?
McDonald’s
14. In 1953, Harold Butler opened Danny’s Donuts in Lakewood, Calif., and the following year built another unit in nearby Garden Grove. When doughnut sales slackened, he added a grill and turned it into a coffee shop. What Top 400 chain did it soon become?
Denny’s
15. A.H. “Gus” Belt operated a restaurant/gas station called Shells Chicken in Normal, Ill., before deciding in 1934 to create a new concept. What did he name it?
Steak ‘n Shake
16. On the March 19, 2007, episode of NBC’s game show “Deal or No Deal,” host Howie Mandel plucked Michelle Kearney from her counter job at a Los Angeles Hot Dog on a Stick to be a contestant. She chose case No. 13 as possibly holding $1 million (it didn’t) because HDOS founder Dave Barham was born on June 13, 1913. How much money did Kearney win?
$62,000
17. Academy Award-winning actor Billy Bob Thornton once managed the Culver City, Calif., unit for which Top 400 chain?
Shakey’s
18. Pop singer Nick Lachey was quoted as saying, “I usually don’t eat before I perform. I find that burping is not good on stage.” After concerts, he says there are two Top 400 chains that he is likely to visit. Name them.
Outback Steakhouse and T.G.I. Friday’s
19. Buca di Beppo, built around family-style dining, introduced a smaller-portions Buca Small menu. For what percentage of total food sales did Buca Small account in 2006?
40%
20. Which two Top 400 chains now operate hotel-casinos bearing their names?
Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood
21. How many of the chains on the debut Top 400 list remain on it today?
23 (In descending order of appearance on the July 1965 Top 400: Big Boy, McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, A&W, KFC, Frisch’s, White Castle, Denny’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box (listed as Foodmaker), Shakey’s, Shoney’s, The Original Pancake House, Carvel, Friendly’s, Krystal, Piccadilly Cafeterias, Steak ‘n Shake, Arctic Circle, Furrs, Nathan’s Famous, Trader Vic’s, and Sonic)
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