The Beloved Texas Chain Restaurant That Got Put Out Of Business By Sonic

The fast food landscape is constantly changing, and many industry pioneers have fallen by the wayside over the years. These days, there are plenty of fast food drive-thrus that no one even remembers anymore. The drive-thru was the natural evolution of the drive-in, an experience that Sonic still offers today. But Sonic didn't innovate the concept. That honor dates back over one hundred years to the corner of Fort Worth Pike Road and Chalk Hill Road between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, to a brand called Pig Stand.

Pig Stand, which opened in 1921, let its customers drive up, park, and order a barbecued pork sandwich served right to their window by a carhop. The idea proved so popular that, by World War II, there were 70,000 drive-ins throughout the country. According to the Federal Highway Administration, there were over nine million cars on U.S. roads back then, nearly triple the number from just five years earlier.

Jessie G. Kirby, co-founder of Pig Stand, had the prescient realization that people in cars wanted fast, convenient service. Carhops would approach vehicles, take their orders, and return with food just minutes later. It married the still novel thrill of driving with the emerging concept of fast food. To this day, the chain is credited with some memorable food innovations, including chicken-fried steak sandwiches, onion rings, and Texas toast (yes, it actually comes from Texas), all of which are still diner staples today. Pig Stand also innovated the use of neon signs to advertise a restaurant.

By 1927, Pig Stand served thousands of meals a night in Dallas. But in a sea of competition, Pig Stand was eventually overshadowed by newer chains such as Sonic. Founded in 1953 in Oklahoma, Sonica was known as Top Hat at the time. Unlike Pig Stand, the brand sped up service by having intercoms so customers could order food right away instead of waiting for a carhop to take their order.

Eventually the drive-thru took over from the drive-in as the dominant fast food model. In 1948, In-N-Out in California leapfrogged the drive-in concept by promising "no delay," allowing customers to get their meal without having to leave their cars or even park. You can still order some of those original menu classics at In-N-Out today. While other restaurants experimented with drive-thrus, In-N-Out perfected them. You can see how well it worked by taking a drive through any American city today.

With Sonic outpacing Pig Stand by the early 1970s — and drive-thrus spreading to all corners of the country — Pig Stand began its decline. The very last Pig Stand, located in San Antonio, Texas, closed in 2023. At the time, the restaurant was heavily in debt. If you go to Oklahoma, you might find Van's Pig Stands, a separate chain that dates back to the 1920s, but it's entirely unrelated to the original. Pig Stand helped shape the modern fast food landscape, and their legacy remains, even if the restaurants do not.