What was Burger King’s original name when the company was founded in 1953?

Burger King’s original name when the company was founded in 1953 was Insta-Burger King.

Keith J. Kramer and his wife’s uncle, Matthew Burns, founded the company in Jacksonville, Florida. Their business used a cooking device called the Insta-Broiler, which helped shape the original name. The first restaurant opened under the Insta-Burger King name in 1953.

The company encountered financial difficulties soon afterward. David Edgerton and James McLamore acquired the struggling business in 1954 and reorganized it. They removed “Insta” from the name, creating Burger King, and replaced the Insta-Broiler with a redesigned broiler.

The name is often mixed up with the restaurant’s later identity because Burger King is the brand name used for most of its history. The Whopper was introduced in 1957, several years after the original Insta-Burger King business began.