Carl’s Jr. throws herself an 80th birthday party in Anaheim – Orange County Register

Hot dogs returned to the Carl’s Jr. menu on Saturday for a day at a drive-thru in Anaheim.

The event was a celebration to mark the fast food chain’s 80th anniversary.

Although its parent company, CKE Restaurants, left Anaheim in 2017 for Tennessee, Carl’s Jr. deep roots in Anaheim, as is the founding family.

The chain began with a hot dog cart owned by 24-year-old Carl Karcher of Ohio, who came to Anaheim in 1937 to work at a seed and feed store owned by an uncle. He and his wife Margaret opened the hot dog cart on the corner of Florence and Central Avenues in Los Angeles on July 17, 1941. He financed the venture with $326 borrowed with his car as collateral.

Karcher acquired more carts and opened a restaurant, Carls Drive-In Barbeque, in 1945, and succeeded the first Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Anaheim in the 1950s.

The menu of Carl’s Jr. has changed many times over the years and at some point the hot dogs have been dropped. It now focuses on calorie-laden burgers loaded with toppings and a new line of crispy chicken sandwiches.

By the time Karcher died in 2008, his company was operating more than 3,000 restaurants and making $1.5 billion a year.

Saturday’s party was held at a drive-thru on Harbor Boulevard near the former headquarters and on land where the Margarets family once owned orange groves.

Invited guests, including members of the Karcher family, gathered in a private dining room where Owen Klein, vice president of global culinary innovation for CKE Restaurants, presented the guests with slices of a birthday cake in the shape of a hamburger with the meat patty, lettuce, cheese served and spices melted in glaze.

Restaurant patrons turned a wheel of fortune for a chance to win food and swag, such as baseball caps and lip balm. At the counter they could order special milkshakes, such as strawberry cheesecake and chocolate Oreo cake topped with unicorn frosting.

On the terrace they could be served hot dogs from a replica of Karcher’s cart.

“Although we have moved the office out of Anaheim, we are deeply involved in Southern California and Orange County, even though we no longer have a megaplex,” Klein said.