On June 20, 1919, Roy W. Allen opened a walk up stand in Lodi, 34 miles southeast of Sacramento, and sold his first root beer for 5 cents from a recipe he bought from a pharmacist in Arizona for $150. The root beer made its debut during a welcoming home parade for soldiers that served during the First World War. Allen soon opened a stand in Sacramento on K Street two years later and partnered with Frank Wright. They decided to put their initials on their root beer and A&W Root Beer was born. In 1923, a third stand was opened in Sacramento and was the first drive-in restaurant in California. Allen bought out Wright’s share in the company and trademarked the A&W name. Allen started to franchise the root beer and restaurants making it the first ever franchised fast food restaurant in the United States. Photograph of Roy Allen (left) and Frank Wright (right) in 1922 courtesy of A&W corporate archives. The second image is an advertisement showing the addresses for Sacramento’s original ...