Ordering a burger and milkshake at a shiny, all-hours diner is a quintessential part of American life. They boomed in the USA as the country returned to prosperity after the Second World War and the age of the motorcar gave rise to the suburbs. However diners, and their iconic stainless-steel exteriors, lie in the first half of the century.

Most diners have retained that unique retro design, as it became part of the American cultural landscape. You know what you’re looking at and what to expect inside. You get good value, classic booths, table service and a simple menu of quick-cook American classics, such as hamburgers, fries, club sandwiches and, of course, endless coffee. 

The epitome of the American Dream, diners are usually small businesses that cater to all sections of society. No matter whether it's feeding hungry families and shift workers, or being a haven for teens to meet up – all without judgement.

But the diners’ crown was about to slip with the rise of even faster food – the burger chain. As McDonald’s dominates today, it might be a surprise to learn the firm wasn’t the first in the game. Many believe the first US fast food chain was White Castle. Born in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas, founders Walt A Anderson and Edgar Waldo 'Billy' Ingram set out to change the public's perception of the quality of the meat industry.

However, it would be two working-class brothers who would take the burger chain beyond the American Dream to conquer the globe. Dick and Mac McDonald opened McDonald’s Bar-B-Q in San Bernardino, California in 1940. Like other drive-in restaurants, carhops delivered meat sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to customers' cars. But then the brothers had a better idea. In 1948, they closed the restaurant and reinvented it with a simple nine-item menu.

A mascot, a mini chef called Speedee, was raised aloft the newly redesigned restaurant. The natty little fellow and his quietly patriotic outfit was part of McDonald’s brand, along with the Golden Arches, until 1955.

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Just as McDonald’s was reinventing the burger business its own way, another fast food innovation was already underway: the drive-thru. The firstcomer’s prize goes to Red’s Giant Hamburg (yes, without the 'er' due to a mismeasured sign). Opened in 1947 in Springfield, Missouri, its owner Sheldon 'Red' Chaney got fed up with life as proprietor of a small gas station and decided to put his herd of beef cattle to better use. He opened a restaurant on the site of the gas station forecourt and sold hamburgers to busy travellers passing through.

The very next year, the same concept would start a chain: the snappily named In-N-Out Burger, which was opened by Harry and Esther Snyder in the Los Angeles suburb of Baldwin Park, California. Wanting to serve the best burgers at his sparkly clean new burger stand, Harry would visit the meat and produce markets himself, and prepare the food by hand. Esther, meanwhile, did the accounts in their home around the corner. In-N-Out Burger is still a family business today.

And we must not forget pizza. Soldiers stationed in Italy during the Second World War got a taste for it, so in search for speedy food on their return to New York, the city’s many Italian restaurants offered the first ordered-to-take-home pizzas. The home-delivery service would follow and, in 1960, Domino's was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan (pictured) founded by brothers Tom and James Monaghan, who borrowed the investment money from their mum.  

Read more: Domino's pizzas you won't believe from around the world.

Little did Harland Sanders know that, when he started selling fried chicken at a service station in Corbin, Kentucky (pictured) during the Great Depression of the 1930s, his business would become the second-largest restaurant chain in the world. He perfected his still-secret recipe of herbs and spices in 1940 and, thanks to his inspired conversion of one of the first commercial pressure cookers into a pressure fryer, slashed the time it took to cook the chicken.

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Children’s menus were established by many of the leading chains during the 1960s, with Ronald McDonald making his first appearance in adverts for McDonald’s in 1963. But the 1970s would see the marketing of visits to fast food restaurants, aimed at children and families, as fun excursions. McDonaldland and its cast of colourful characters – Hamburglar, Grimace, Mayor McCheese, Captain Crook and the Big Mac – made their first appearance in 1970.

Fast food got serious and silly at the same time during the 1980s and 1990s. A period of aggressive advertising campaigns and price slashing kicked off the Burger Wars. These campaigns included high-profile TV adverts and press marketing that used a tactic known as comparative marketing, that is, each chain comparing its product with its rival's and declaring theirs the best. A bit cheeky.

Burger King kicked things off with a concerted effort to overtake McDonald’s that would end up coming at a huge cost to both businesses. In the early 1980s, Burger King set out to emphasise that its burgers were flame-broiled rather than fried like McDonald’s patties. What followed was some of the biggest rival ad campaigns seen to date, costing the companies tens of millions of dollars and denting their profits. 

Founded in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio, Wendy's focused on the Old Fashioned Hamburger. The company entered the melee in 1984, branding itself as the "fresh alternative" to its two biggest rivals and launching its hugely successful 'Where's the beef?' campaign. The iconic TV advert, featuring old ladies literally looking for the beef in rival burgers, would see the then 81-year-old actress Clara Peller, pictured in character for the campaign, become an instant cultural icon.

'Where's the beef" also entered the American lexicon as a catchphrase for questioning authenticity, and we still use it today. The campaign's runaway success wasn't just a cultural moment to be remembered, either (although there was spin-off merchandise and even a song). Wendy's, whose first store is pictured, sales jumped 31% to $945 million in 1985 worldwide, proving you should never doubt the power of a great catchphrase.

The rivalry also extended to some pretty cheeky on-site campaigns too, such as parking mobile advertising next to a rival’s store and signs poking fun at the next-door restaurant. And, it seems, troubled times for the fast food sector means the Burger Wars have been making a resurgence. Keep your eyes open for some hilarious fast food snark. 

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Diners and burger chains may have served Baby Boomers well, but times were a-changing. In 1971, three young partners founded a coffee shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market to serve this new generation's needs – quality coffee and a social environment. It would take a stock market listing and another generational shift in the late 1990s and early 2000s for Starbucks to become a global phenomenon, but the coffee shop revolution had begun.   

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The American public’s love affair with fast food was as strong as ever, but the 2000s customer was starting to think seriously about their health. And none more so than the hip New Yorker. No wonder then the founding of Shake Shack in 2004, first as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park before expanding to a kiosk in the same area, was a roaring success. Alongside its milkshakes, it served hamburgers and hot dogs that emphasised its use of natural, and hormone- and antibiotic-free Angus beef. 

With health- and authenticity-conscious millennials now forming a large share of the market, American fast food underwent an artisan revolution. Gourmet hot dog chain Dog Haus, founded in Pasadena, California in 2010, is a prime example. Its founders wanted to 'recapture the nostalgic childhood experience of eating a hot dog' using fresh ingredients. Dog Haus is known for its generously dressed sausage dogs and signature all-beef hot dogs.  

Now read: The fast food newcomers conquering America

The march of fresh, environmentally friendly and healthy food was already unstoppable but, as meat began to find itself in the firing line, plant-based food became a major player. Guy Vaknin founded plant-based sushi chain Beyond Sushi in 2012, in New York, with nothing short of phenomenal success. After an appearance on television’s Shark Tank, day-to-day sales exploded by 40%.

But the burger would not be left behind. The funky Bareburger chain was one of the first to start selling the Impossible Burger, a plant-based patty from Silicon Valley start-up Impossible Foods which 'bleeds' and sizzles when cooked, in 2017. The chain is an all-natural, organic burger outlet that sells beef and bison patties alongside quinoa, black bean and meat-free versions. What could be better than a yummy burger with a clear conscience? 

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Of course, the major players weren’t far behind. The Impossible Whopper was introduced at Burger King in St Louis, Missouri at the start of 2019. It was a resounding success and nationwide rollout is on its way. Burger King has also been quick to channel contemporary customers’ other concerns too. For example, it created a range of Unhappy Meals, promoting Mental Health Awareness Month. It seems nothing is impossible in the unstoppable fast food business.

Read more: The Impossible Whopper and other eye-opening menu changes