While Wendy's has never been the most memorable of fast food restaurants growing up (that of course went to McDonald's), Wendy's still ranks up there, with iconic architecture and still having things like kids' meals.
In fact, Wendy's was probably more seen on trips than what I ate at when I was home...at least before around January 2005 when a new restaurant opened near me (and for a time was the closest fast food to my house).
Wendy's was founded by Dave Thomas back in 1969 and until its sale to Triarc Companies in 2008 was one of the few independent major fast food companies that never saw a larger corporate owner. I've had someone tell me the death of founder (and star of most of the commercials) Dave Thomas in 2002 effectively end Wendy's as a slightly more upmarket fast food competitor to other choices like McDonald's and Burger King. There's not a lot I can say about Wendy's or its menu items. Most of their promotional items were few and far between, and forgettable. I don't even remember their "ciabatta sandwiches" all that well, and I only vaguely when the Baconator was released. I do remember the Vanilla Frosty much better, though. It was sort of a big deal...they had inflatables on a few Wendy's restaurants back in November 2006...with a white-colored Frosty! Seems odd that it took until 2006 to have what was in essence a vanilla milkshake but we'll let it slide.
What we have here in this new page (besides a somewhat outdated "former restaurant" list) is a 1995 Nutrition Guide that shows the salad bar ingredients! At this time, beyond the salad bar there was only a very basic hamburger menu, chili, and a baked potato. Here, it's known as the "Garden Spot". For an even briefer time, some stores had the "Superbar" which added Mexican and Italian items.
While I do intend adding the full guide someday I'll just add the actual ingredient list. The exception is on the main side where they list the burger menu.
A lot of the stuff on there is just stock, pre-made ingredients. I remember that banana-and-strawberry glaze from another place, possibly Golden Corral or a Chinese buffet or maybe even Gattiland from many years ago. However, I also know that even if everything is pre-made, it adds a ton of labor costs to the operation. I have worked in foodservice (pizza specifically) and cleaning out ingredient bins is just cumbersome. Everything has little food bits stuck to it. The ham had juice collecting in the bottom, the bacon is horrifically greasy, and the mushrooms will smell like death if they aren't cleaned out.
Self-serve salad bars in particular were known even in the late 1990s for harboring bacteria, and in 2020, panic over health concerns wiped out struggling buffet chains like Ryan's and Sweet Tomatoes. (As a general rule, I find buffets disgusting.)
The list below is of former locations in Texas. It is a bit outdated and won't be updated but I'm still leaving it here.
City | Address | Notes |
---|---|---|
Alice | 1305 East Main Street | Opened ~1979. Now Taqueria Jalisco #6 |
Arlington | 3101 East Division Street | Now The Spot Bar |
4391 Little Road | * Originally Catfish King (for a few years), became Wendy's sometime around the mid/late 1980s, closed in August 1997. Torn down for Burger King (now Taco Casa). * A newspaper article from August 1997 refers to a bank pre-dating Wendy's, but Catfish King was in its place during that supposed time and no address or proof has been found of a bank in that space according to current research. | |
1050 NE Green Oaks Blvd. | Opened late 1990s and closed around 2013/2014. Now Pollo Regio | |
Austin | 6903 Airport Blvd. | Now Taqueria Los Jaliscienses |
9813 N. Lamar Blvd. | Closed ~2013. Now Brident Dental & Orthodontics | |
3701 S. Lamar Blvd. | Torn down for In-N-Out Burger | |
Baytown | 308 N. Alexander Drive | Now Hartz Chicken Buffet |
Brownsville | 2335 Boca Chica Blvd. | Opened in 1979, closed in 2013. Now Popeyes. |
4385 N. Expressway 77/83 | Closed around the early-mid 2010's. Now Arby's. | |
Bryan | 3216 Texas Avenue S. | Now Loan Star. Restaurant closed 2005-2006. |
Bulverde | 33889 US Hwy. 281 N. | Opened ~2009 in former Taco Bell. Closed early 2020 |
College Station | 2052 Holleman Drive West (inside Shell) | Closed in or around 9/30/20 (when the station was a Sunoco), now Burger Mojo. |
Conroe | 1203 N. Frazier Street | Now Church's Chicken. |
Corpus Christi | 5858 South Padre Island Drive #109 (inside Sunrise Mall) | Closed in late 2000s (mall has since closed). |
5606 Everhart Road | Opened in 1979. Now Taqueria La Tapatia. | |
Dallas | 14115 S. Coit Rd. | Closed before 2011. Now Church's Chicken |
7932 S. Great Trinity Forest Way | Closed before 2015. Now Williams Chicken | |
Edinburg | 2111 West University Drive | Closed in 2016, later Slim Chickens. Currently vacant. |
Fort Worth | 3400 Brandon Lane | Closed around 2012/2013. Now Lisa's Chicken & Seafood |
350 Blue Mound Road | Closed in the late 2010's. Now Lisa's Chicken & Seafood | |
6440 North Freeway | Closed in 2018. Now Lisa's Chicken & Seafood | |
Garland | 2319 W. Walnut St. | Closed around 2014/2015. Now La Pullita Pollos |
4535 W. Walnut St. | Now My Canh Restaurant | |
Harlingen | 1501 E. Harrison Avenue | Opened in 1985. Now Taqueria La Mexicana |
Houston | 1303 Westheimer Road | Closed 2012, extensively renovated into Doc's Motorworks Bar & Grill (opened 11/14 and closed 12/17). Now "sweetgreen". |
2300 Westheimer Rd. | Currently 60 Degrees, extensively remodeled | |
10966 Grant Road | Now Playa Azul Seafood & Oyster Bar at least since 2007 | |
11381 Airline Drive | Closed in the 1990s, now Las Banderas Carniceria Y Rest. | |
1332 Crosstimbers Street | 80s one with a solarium that closed in 2013. Now a car title loan. | |
2231 S. Voss Rd. | Currently Mancuso's Italian Table | |
6137 S. Loop 610 | Closed late 2000s, demolished spring 2015 | |
5611 Bellaire Blvd. | Torn down 2004-2005, now a strip center | |
4701 Main Street | Closed in the early 2010s, currently vacant | |
Greenspoint Mall | Unknown closure | |
3929 N. McCarty Street | Torn down 2015-2016 | |
16402 El Camino Real | Moved to 16500 when strip center was redeveloped in late 1990s/early 2000s (old Wendy's now site of Kroger) | |
376 Uvalde Road | Closed between May 2017 and October 2018 | |
2803 Cullen Blvd. | Demolished in the early 2000s for soccer fields for University of Houston | |
2348 West Holcombe Blvd. | Torn down 2006-2007 for The Bank of River Oaks (now PlainsCapital Bank) | |
902 Federal Road | Later Taqueria Tepatitlan and Las Ranas; currently Carnitas Taco Company | |
620 South Hwy. 6 | As of 2008, this was Royal Collision Center, then as of 2014 became Tint World, then closed by 2018. | |
6800 Harrisburg Blvd. | Later Banco Popular (2007), Prosperity Bank, and now BB&T. Prosperity and Banco used original Wendy's sign. | |
6410 Antoine Drive | Has been "Thang's Cajun Seafood & Rice" since at least 2007 | |
2427 FM 1960 West | Later Logan Farms Honey Hams Market Cafe. Currently vacant. | |
Irving | 110 W. Airport Fwy. | Closed between 2008 and 2011, now "Country Cafe", shared building with lobby for Budget Lodge (now Magnuson Hotel). |
Jersey Village | 16055 Northwest Freeway | Torn down for rebuilding the US-290/Beltway 8 interchange (closed 2012, razed 2013) |
Lake Worth | 6105 Lake Worth Blvd. | Now Taco Casa |
Laredo | 2602 S. Zapata Hwy. | Closed around 2016/2017. Now KFC |
Lubbock | 1717 50th Street | Now Whataburger |
McAllen | 4100 N. 10th Street | Closed ~2008. Now Jimmy's Egg |
1201 N. 10th Street | Moved to 4100. Now Muelle 37 | |
North Richland Hills | 7835 Boulevard 26 | Closed around the late 2000's. Now Digestive Health Associates Of Texas |
Portland | 1105 W. US Hwy. 181 | Torn down for Walgreens |
Richardson | 1545 E. Belt Line Road | Now Quizno's |
Round Rock | 720 Round Rock Avenue | Torn down in 2018 |
San Angelo | 1830 N. Bryant Blvd. | Whataburger since 1999 |
San Antonio | 5050 Walzem Road | Now Benny's Tacos (Wendy's closed before 2011) |
8814 Perrin Beitel Road | Closed in 2013. Now Taqueria La Tapatia | |
2446 Nacogdoches Road | Closed in 2013. Currently vacant | |
5701 Bandera Road | Now X Nation Auto Group | |
5730 Babcock Road | Closed in 2014. Now Tia's Taco Hut | |
4424 Rittiman Road | Closed in 2009, later Subway. Currently vacant | |
15337 San Pedro Avenue | Later Juicer Heroes. Currently vacant | |
Sherman | 3301 Texoma Pkwy. | Now Cielito Lindo |
Spring | 4906 Louetta Road | Now La Hija De La Tostada Mexican Grill |
Temple | 301 North General Bruce Drive | Closed mid-2010s, replacement restaurant Tapa Tapa's opened in late 2019 or January 2020. |
Universal City | 405 Pat Booker Road | Closed in 2014. Now Benny's Tacos |
Victoria | 1108 East Rio Grande Street | Now EZPAWN |
4601 N. Navarro Street | Now Schlotzsky's | |
Vidor | 540 North Main Street | Now Whataburger |
Waco | 6001 West Waco Drive Ste. 107 (inside Richland Mall) | Operated from 1994 to 2014 |
Weslaco | 1001 Texas Blvd. N. | Closed in 2013. Now Loan Star Title Loans |
Thanks to purpledevil and sevfiv from the HAIF, as well as STR.