About
'40s
1940s Young married couple Margaret and Carl Karcher spend their savings to buy a hot dog cart.
1940s Carl's Drive-In BBQ opens less than five years later with hamburgers on the menu.
'50s
1950s Business blossoms and a southern California quick-service legend is born: Carl's Jr.® opens for business (so named because they're smaller than the Drive-In).
1950s Customers enjoy a quick-service first: Carl's Jr.® adds a drive-through for eating on the go.
'60s
1960s Carl's Jr.® begins its commitment to a quality dining experience by becoming the first among quick-service restaurants to offer table service and plush, carpeted dining rooms with music.
1960s Happy Star® becomes iconic of the Carl's Jr.® restaurants.
'70s
1970s Founder Carl N. Karcher opens corporate headquarters in Anaheim, California and by 1977 employs over 5,000 people in his restaurants.
'80s
1980s Carl's Jr.® introduces instant cult favorite: the Western Bacon Cheeseburger®.
'90s
1990s Carl's Jr.® begins dual-branding restaurants with quick-service Mexican food favorite Green Burrito®. The choice gives patrons twice as many reasons to eat out.
1990s Carl's Jr.® makes a name for itself with memorable commercials that appeal to young, hungry guys.
'00s
2000s Carl's Jr.® introduces the first sit-down restaurant style burger at a quick-service restaurant: The Six Dollar Burger®.
2000s Carl's Jr.® puts its restaurant-quality message to the test with the Fake Restaurant ad campaign, where real people pay upwards of $14 for a Six Dollar Burger® on hidden camera.
Los Angeles, 1941. Young Carl N. Karcher and his wife, Margaret, make a leap of faith and borrow $311 on their Plymouth automobile, add $15 in savings and purchase a hot dog cart.
One cart grows to four, and in less than five years, Carl's Drive-In Barbecue opens with hamburgers on the menu.
The brand continues its growth with an emphasis on quality, service and cleanliness, pioneering concepts such as partial table service and self-serve beverage bars. The introduction of the signature Six Dollar Burger™ in 2001 marks the latest Carl's Jr.® advance in the quick-service industry, confirming the chain's constant emphasis on product innovation and representing a desire to satisfy the tastes of young, hungry consumers.