What was Burger King originally called?

Burger King was originally called Insta-Burger King.

Keith G. Cramer and Matthew Burns founded Insta-Burger King in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1953. The name came from the Insta-Broiler, a cooking machine used to grill hamburgers quickly and consistently. The equipment was central to the company’s early business model, and franchisees were required to use it.

The chain struggled financially as its equipment developed operational problems. In 1959, Miami franchisees James McLamore and David Edgerton purchased the company’s national rights and reorganized it under the name Burger King. They replaced the troublesome Insta-Broiler with a mechanized gas grill called the flame broiler.

The brand later expanded rapidly and was acquired by the Pillsbury Company in 1967. The Whopper, introduced in 1957, helped establish Burger King as a major hamburger competitor. The key distinction is that Insta-Burger King was the predecessor, not a nickname for the modern company.