The Krystal (the original name of Krystal restaurants) was founded in 1932 in Chattanooga. An interesting fact, the first Krystal restaurant was actually built in Chicago and transported to Chattanooga and its new location resided at the corner of 7th and Cherry Street. Their original slogan was, "Take Along A Sack Full".
Krystal’s first customer was French Jenkins, who spent thirty-five cents on six Krystals (their signature slider) and a cup of coffee. Company lore says that founder Richard Davenport’s wife suggested the name of crystal with a ‘K’ after having seen a crystal ball lawn ornament. Some Krystal’s restaurants still sport a crystal ball on the rooftop.
Krystal and White Castle’s locations only overlap in Kentucky (Bowling Green & London) and in Nashville, Tennessee. Krystal currently operates over three hundred restaurants in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Some of my best childhood memories involved going to a Krystal restaurant. I remember this was always one of the highlights of visiting my grandparents in East Ridge because of the promise of getting Krystal hamburgers in their downtown location. I also remember the rare experience of eating out with my parents at a Krystal, a tradition which continues with my father to this day. But back then going to a Krystal restaurant wasn’t a daily thing. It was a unique treat. That’s hard to comprehend seeing that we now live in an era that has multiple fast food chains on every corner.
In my high school years my affection for Krystal burned bright but it was also common lore that if you went to Krystal too often you were considered cheap – and no high schooler wanted to be considered cheap or poor – even if you were. However, I still ate at Krystal often – especially on school trips and after work because the small burgers were so inexpensive anyone could afford it – even poor kids like me.
As I got older going through the drive-thru in the early morning of one of their 24 hour locations became a rite of passage. I remember breaking up with at least one girl friend while waiting in the drive-thru lane as well as the indelible memory of befriending a car full of college girls and gaining an invite to their favorite party location. During my twenties, Krystal was open 24 hours, even during the holidays. In fact, with the exception of Waffle House restaurants, it was the only food place open 24 hours – and the only one with a drive-thru.
I have found that a person's relationship with Krystal usually correlates with their chronological age. As kids most every boy and girl loved Krystals. The burgers are kid sized and to a pint-size human that’s a gift from above. Before “kid’s” and “Happy” meals there were the Krystal Kritters – a group of “animals” that were mascots for the franchise. McDonald’s may have had Ronald McDonald, but Krystal had their Kritters that got into misadventures in the TV commercials and kids could even get stickers of the critters a lot of times. The Kritters were like the chain’s version of Sesame Street characters – or H.R. Pufnstuf. Krystal in the olden days also used to have a lot of giveaways. I remember heart shaped stickers with a smile on them given away during Valentine’s season, for example. Also another huge part of their marketing campaign was the affection that celebrities such as Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin and even President Ronald Reagan had for their hamburgers. In fact I remember getting caught in traffic near the Chattanooga airport due to Air Force One with President Reagan on board, making a unplanned stop to get bags of Krystal hamburgers for lunch.
In recent years they have invested in such cultural phenoms such as the The Krystal Square Off, event sanctioned by the former International Federation of Competitive Eating (now called Major League Eating) held from 2004 to 2009. Contestants had to eat as many Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes as possible. Fun fact, Joey Chestnut set the current world record on October 28, 2007, with 103 Krystal hamburgers in under eight minutes!
The bottom line is I feel like I have a lot invested in Krystals – money, experiences and calories. I would hate to think Krystal would go the way of Godfather’s, Central Park or even Po’ Folks. In fact I find it hard to imagine a world without Krystal so I'm rooting for their leadership to correct their trajectory so that not only myself, but my daughter and her children can enjoy the Krystal experience for many years to come.
