Many food brands have different names on the East Coast than they do on the West Coast — for example, the mayonnaise called Hellmann’s is known as Best Foods out west, while West Coast fans of Dreyer’s ice cream might recognize the striped carton of Edy’s back east. You might think the same is true in the case of fast-food giants Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s, which are both owned by CKE Restaurants and, on the surface, appear to be the same thing with different names.
However, if you look closely, you’ll discover that’s not quite the case: A few differences separate the beloved chains, even beyond their names. Not only were the two restaurants created in totally different fashion, but each one offers menu options that speak to its origins and customer preferences.
Carl’s creation
Though they share the same parent company and branding, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s were established on opposite sides of the country, by totally different people, roughly 20 years apart. Carl’s Jr. was first. It was established in Los Angeles way back in 1941 by Carl and Margaret Karcher, who, it is now famously said, borrowed $311 to open a hot dog cart. The couple sold hot dogs, chili dogs, and tamales for 10 cents each.
The business was an immediate hit and soon grew from a collection of carts to Carl’s Drive-In Barbecue in Anaheim in 1945. The next year, burgers joined its menu. Feeling pressure from the newly popular McDonald’s, Karcher opened a couple fast-food burger joints of his own — Carl’s Jr., his drive-in’s offspring — which made history by offering the first drive-up windows. By 1964, all his restaurants were incorporated under the name Carl Karcher Enterprises, which later became known as CKE Restaurants, which still operates Carl’s Jr. today.
Hardee’s hit
Years later and across the country, Wilber Hardee of Greenville, North Carolina, who owned a few restaurants in The Tar Heel State, made his initial visit to its first McDonald’s. This got him excited about opening his own fast-food burger business, which he ultimately did in 1960. Hardee’s original offerings were charbroiled burgers, fries, and milkshakes. Hardee soon enjoyed success and expansion around the Southeast and, eventually, the Midwest.
Hardee’s business grew rapidly through a partnership with two other men, Leonard Rawls and Jim Gardner, then changing hands among corporations, ultimately becoming the fourth-largest fast-food restaurant in the country by 1997, with more than 3,000 locations. That’s when CKE Restaurants, which at the time operated 1,600 Carl’s Jr. locations, saw a great opportunity: The corporation purchased Hardee’s and merged the two restaurants while keeping the names. Carl’s Jr. remained a West Coast entity, while Hardee’s remained in the East and Midwest.
Differing menus
The recognizable happy star logo and cursive fonts on their signs, their signature charbroiled burgers, and beloved hand-breaded chicken tenders certainly would lead you to believe that Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. are the same. But their different roots mean each one offers some distinctive menu items that aren’t shared with the other. Both do offer charbroiled burgers, notably the Famous Star and bacon cheeseburgers, and many of their burgers are the same (including being made from frozen burger patties) but have different names (e.g. the Double Famous Star at Carl’s Jr. is a Super Star at Hardee’s).
Importantly, each one offers unique menu items not found at the other restaurant. For example, Carl’s Jr.’s western roots inform its menu containing a variety of western bacon cheeseburgers, while Hardee’s offers Frisco burgers on sourdough toast. Meanwhile, Carl’s Jr.’s beloved breakfast menu includes a Breakfast Burger and Grilled Cheese Breakfast Sandwich, while Hardee’s southern origins means that it’s largely known for its breakfast sandwiches served on its made-from-scratch biscuits, which the restaurant has served for over four decades.
