Wendy’s Information

Wendy's was founded by Dave Thomas in 1969 and named after his daughter, Melinda Lou Thomas. Melinda's older siblings nicknamed her "Wendy", but it was originally "Winda" since the then 8-year-old girl had a little difficulty saying her own name. Who knew her adorable childhood moniker would eventually become the name for great-tasting hamburgers? When Dave opened the first Wendy's restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, he opened the door to a new standard in quality food. Dave developed an innovative method to prepare made-to-order hamburgers, allowing the staff to quickly serve high quality food on a daily basis. Quality meant everything to Dave, but it was not just about the food. His passion was seen in the way he lived his days, even coining the phrase "Quality is our Recipe" and making it a part of the Wendy's way of life. Today, the number of Wendy's restaurants worldwide grew to over 6,500. His words "We don't cut corners on quality" affected everything from the hamburgers to customer service, and his insistence to freshness lives on even after his passing in 2002. So whenever you visit our stores, we hope to remind you of Dave's legacy to his customers and his dedication to serve honest food made from fresh, natural, high quality ingredients. We do not just do things differently. We do things better.