White Castle Claims To Have Invented Restaurant Carry-Out
White Castle has several different claims to fame above and beyond the name recognition inherent in being a restaurant chain with locations in 15 different states. For one thing, it dates back to 1921, thus making it the nation's oldest fast-food chain. For another, it's one of the few non-fictional fast food restaurants to be featured prominently in a major movie, and "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" is a lot more fun to watch than the McDonald's dissing "Super Size Me" (even if the chain never did add a "Harold and Kumar special" to its menu). One achievement touted on the White Castle website, however, doesn't stand up to scrutiny — the restaurant was hardly the first one to offer takeout.
According to the White Castle timeline, one of the first significant dates in the restaurant's history was 1927, at which time it started offering bags of burgers to go. While chain founder Billy Ingram did come up with a snappy slogan — "Selling 'em by the sack" — people were purchasing food to go since the days when ancient Romans would stop by their local thermopilia for a quick isicia omentata, which was the first documented burger. This fancy slider made with wine and pine nuts might have been all the rage 1500 years ago but wouldn't be too out of place at a hipster bistro today.
American takeout predates White Castle's invention by several centuries
Not only wasn't White Castle the first to invent the takeout concept, but it didn't even introduce it to the U.S. Back in colonial times, hotels offered takeout meals to anyone able to send a servant out to fetch them. By the late 19th century, even the working classes were getting takeout, as packed lunches were available for picnickers and travelers, while vendors also offered portable foods to laborers on their way to work. By the 1920s, not only was White Castle offering burgers by the bagful, but chicken and oysters were popular to-go options from other establishments. Chinese restaurants were also among the early adopters of the takeout concept, as well as being some of the first restaurants offering delivery. In fact, those white cardboard origami pails that are still often used for Chinese carryout today were patented in 1894 and mass-produced around the turn of the 20th century.
One claim that we will grant White Castle, however, is that it was the first American fast food chain to offer takeout. After all, that does tend to go along with it's being the first American fast food chain, period.