NoWaiter
NoWaiter is a Urcean multinational fast-food corporation. Founded in 1950 as Roll Through No Wait, a hamburger 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.
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| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Privately owned |
| Industry | Fast food restaurant |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Founder | Dan Ernaro |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 40,101 restaurants |
Area served | Worldwide |
Number of employees | Approximately 3 million, including franchised employees |
Throughout the 1960s, the chain grew nationally and supplanted other emergent fast-food chains which did not have drive-through capability, and by 1970 the company - 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.
Today, 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. Its primary rival in the fast-food sector is Coria Clux. 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 was introduced 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. All NoWaiter locations in Levantia and most locations in Sarpedon follow Sunday Sabbatarianism and are closed on Sunday; international locations vary.
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 with which it is well associated 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.
Introduced in 1985, the breakfast menu includes a variety of options that 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 offered, primarily coffee and three kinds of tea. Like the lunch menu, the breakfast menu has several combo options which include the various breakfast items paired with a coffee or tea and a sliced fruit side, which is the only side available on the breakfast menu.
The most popular item on NoWaiter's menu, and among its 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 CornDog, 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. The third most popular item is the Big'N'Beefy (marketed as a "BNB"), which is a third-pound angus burger usually served with cheese, mustard, and lettuce. The remainder of the menu includes items like "DoubleDog" (two hot dogs in a specially designed bun), "BabyBeef" (a 2 oz burger when cooked served with cheese), and CornDogNuggets.
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. During the season of Lent, fish and plant-based options are introduced to the menu, including the popular "green hash", a plant-based substitute for corned beef hash served at breakfast.
Most NoWaiter locations offer three kinds of sides, which they refer to as the "three beefettes". The most commonly offered and most popular type of side is fried pickle chips in small, medium, and large sizes, which usually come in varying sizes of paper cups. The second most common type of side offered at NoWaiter is small cups of macaroni and cheese. The third most common type of side is "Equatorial Beefettes", which are essentially small hash nuggets replacing some of the ingredients with quinoa. Equatorial Beefettes were poorly received at their initial offering and remain unpopular. All sides are served with a small sauce cup containing chipotle mayonnaise-based sauce.
Almost all NoWaiter locations employ a combo menu for lunch and dinner, which includes a primary item combined with a side (always fried pickles in Urcea) and a soft drink. Some combo menu deals include multiple versions of one item, such as two CornDogs, or the most expensive item on the menu, two Corned'N'Cheddars (billed as "Two for the Price of Two" and nearly always combo menu number "2" on combo menus).
NoWaiter items, particularly on the lunch menu, have occasionally received criticism from public health experts and the general public. Much criticism has been leveled at limited time only options, which experts have criticized as "over the top" and "excessive and dangerous to public health". The most controversial item was released for a limited time run in August 2017, which was a five-pound bucket of fried pickles known as the "BickleBucket". While marketing campaigns emphasized that the BickleBucket was intended for consumption by a whole family, many locations began to sell out of fried pickles due to the popularity of the product while also causing significant labor and workflow issues at participating NoWaiter locations.
Restaurants
Most NoWaiter restaurants from before 1968 were single or two-room fast-food stands with a kitchen optimized using the principles of mass production; most restaurants had an attached bathroom or outhouse for the employees, and many also had an adjoining office for the manager or franchise owner. Beginning in the late 1960s, many of these simple stands had small dining rooms added on, creating a design that became popularly known as "drive-through hodgepodge". No standardized design existed for restaurants until 1974, and accordingly, some drive-through hodge podges were deliberately built that way, while some generic restaurant designs were also employed. From 1974 until 1984, a standard restaurant design employing a semi-circle was used, with the flat side holding the kitchen and drive-through window and the rounded portion holding the dining room. In 1984, the restaurant design was rapidly changed to resemble the two arrows from above, with the pointed end being used as the drive-through side. The "two arrows from above" style proved popular and relatively easy to emulate, with thousands being constructed over the next two decades until a more generic design was adopted in 2002. The two arrows restaurants were supplemented with inside playgrounds, known as "Arrow Castles", beginning in 1990. The post-2002 designs no longer included Arrow Castles but increasingly began to incorporate self-serve coffee stations and other innovations intended to improve the experience of breakfast customers.
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. In face of mounting criticisms, the company sent a reply tweet to Lucás Atri on 18 September 2026, "beef is a state of mind", a statement that was heavily debated in society generally and online specifically.
Beginning in the 1980s, NoWaiter began to refit many of its restaurants with the golden arrows, which the company states "signifies the productive, on-the-go consumer that we cater to". Across the country, large golden arrow signs atop signposts can be seen along many major roadways, and "the golden arrows" is sometimes used as a euphemism for NoWaiter.