NoWaiter

NoWaiter

Company type	Privately owned
Industry	Fast food restaurant
Founded	1950
Headquarters	Urceopolis , Urcea
Number of locations	40,101 restaurants
Area served	Worldwide
Number of employees	Approximately 3 million, including franchised employees

NoWaiter is a Urcean multinational fast food corporation, founded in 1950 as "Roll Through No Wait" stand in Stanlow. The company was later turned into a franchise, becoming regionally successful in Westglen by 1960 and pioneering modern drive-through fast food techniques. Throughout the 1960s, the chain grew nationally and supplanting other emergent fast food chains which did not have drive-through capability, and by 1970 the company - now renamed "No Wait No Waiter" - was the largest fast food chain in Urcea. The company adopted its current name in 1981. Centered in Stanlow during the first three decades of existence, the company relocated its headquarters to Urceopolis in 1983.

NoWaiter is one of the world's largest restaurant chains by revenue, serving 100 million customers per day worldwide, and is one of Urcea's largest companies by revenue. The menu, which originally included variations of hamburgers, includes a wide array of foods, including and especially hot dogs and corned beef melts for which the company has become well known. NoWaiter is also well known for its variety of root beer, which entered common retail sale in 1990.

NoWaiter is often symbolized by its golden arrows, developed to be an abstraction of road markings and speed in order to emphasize its credentials as a drive-through establishment. Like most other Urcean establishments, it is closed on Sunday in Levantia and Sarpedon but has varying rules abroad.

History

NoWaiter was established in July of 1950 as the "Roll Through No Wait" restaurant by Dan Ernaro, a fast food hamburger stand intended to be primary ordered as drive-through, a type of take-out service that was primarily only in use in Urcea for bank tellers. Many contemporary hamburger stands existed, including both carhop traditional roadside stands which were becoming less fashionable as well as up and coming fast-food restaurants, including many that were now franchising nationwide. Of the latter group, many were still employing a method in which customers had to park and go up to the front of the restaurant, which Ernaro perceived as an inconvenience. Instead, his stand catered only to individuals in their cars. The concept was a major success, and by 1960 many regional competitors were either bought up by the Roll Through No Wait firm or went out of business. In 1962, the company introduced the Corned'N'Cheddar, which would become its most popular menu item and signaled a move away from a hamburger-exclusive menu. Hot dogs were introduced to the menu in 1967. As the company grew, Ernaro decided to establish franchise agreements while establishing a separate division owning real estate on which franchisees established their restaurant for rent. This model made the company extremely liquid by the late 1960s, allowing it to buy out several competitors and convert restaurants to drive-through service. In 1968, many of the first Roll Throughs were converted to also have an inside dining room. The success of the brand and change from stands to full fledged restaurants lead the company to change its brand to "No Wait No Waiter" by 1970, at which time it became the largest restaurant chain in Urcea. In the 1970s, No Wait No Waiter obtained the rights to begin selling franchises across the Levantine Union, and the first No Wait abroad was opened in Palestina Parish, Porta Bianca in 1975. In 1981, the company changed its name to the simplified "NoWaiter" and adopted the golden arrows for which it is well associated with today. In 1983, the company moved from a small office adjacent to the original Roll Through No Wait stand to its corporate headquarters in Urceopolis, where it remains today and has the "NoWait Academy" designed to train managers and employees while developing experimental menu items. NoWaiter introduced breakfast in 1985. Dan Ernaro died in 1992 after 42 years, and his children sold the company to a consortium of private investors in 1997.

Products

NoWaiter's menu revolves primarily around what it calls the "three beefs" - hamburgers, corned beef, and hot dog products, though the hot dogs used by the company are actually mostly pork. Breakfast was introduced to most restaurants around 1985, and varies significantly from the three beef formula while retaining some thematic concepts from its lunch menu.

Breakfast menu

Introduced in 1985, the breakfast menu includes a variety of options which are derivative of the all day lunch and dinner fare. The two most popular items on the breakfast menu are the "MornDog", a breakfast sausage presented in the same manner as a hot dog wherein the bun is a griddled pancake with maple flavor, and "Daddy Hashy", which are corned beef hash shaped length-wise and held together as a solid, surrounded on its lower half by a biscuit casing. Several breakfast-specific beverages are also Offred, primarily coffee and three kinds of tea.

Lunch and dinner menu

The most popular item on NoWaiter's menu, and among it's oldest, is the Corned'N'Cheddar (occasionally marketed as a "CNC"), which is a sandwich comprised of sliced, baked corned beef with cheddar cheese and a mix of ketchup and mayonaise on a pressed, panini-like bun and grilled. Historically, the CNC was served in a round styrofoam container with a hinge in the middle. As styrofoam containers were phased out in Urcea, the iconic CNC container was replaced with a wax paper wrap. The second most popular item is the corn dog, a hot dog on a stick covered in cornmeal batter and deep fried. Several other types of food are on offer as well, especially hamburgers and many variations of hot dogs and corned beef.

NoWaiters have some regional variation within Urcea on menu items, as certain franchises are offered experimental menu items. NoWaiters have significant menu diversity in locations outside Levantia. The well-known Beef Ribber (also pork) sandwich, which imitates barbeque pork ribs, is occasionally offered nationwide but is offered on a regional and seasonal basis.

Seasonal specialties

During the season of Lent, fish and plant based options are introduced to the menu, including the popular "green hash", a plant-based substitute of corned beef hash served at breakfast.

Marketing

NoWaiter's "Three Beef Guarantee" commercial campaign from the 1980s was extremely successful and the "Three Beefs" became central to the stated ethos of the company and its menu offerings. The initial commercial featured a family quarreling over what kind of beef they wanted for dinner, but once they pulled up to NoWaiter in their vehicle, each ordered a different item - a hot dog, a hamburger, and a corned beef sandwich - and ended the commercial happy. Three beef features heavily in the company's marketing materials through the 21st century. The campaign has been heavily criticized by nutritionists, citing that many of NoWaiter's products - especially in the hot dog line - feature almost no beef. A 2026 response from the company indicated that "beef is a state of mind", a statement that was heavily debated in society generally and online specifically.