Royal Castle in Miami, Florida (2012).

Royal Castle was a Miami, Florida-based hamburger restaurant chain known for its miniature hamburgers that were similar to White Castle's hamburgers,[1] and its Birch Beer beverage, a version of root beer.[2]

Royal Castle's motto was: "Fit for a king!"[3] The restaurant chain also served breakfast, with orange juice freshly squeezed to order.

One Royal Castle still exists in Miami, at 2700 NW 79th Street.[4]

History

In 1938, Royal Castle was founded by William Singer, with an initial restaurant located at N.E. Second Avenue and 79th Street in Miami. Royal Castle eventually grew to 175 locations throughout Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Louisiana,[3] with the bulk of them in Miami.[5] Singer, who was from Columbus, Ohio, was inspired by the success of White Castle, which had moved its headquarters to Columbus from Wichita, Kansas, in 1934.[6]

During its heyday, in 1961, Royal Castle sold its hamburgers for 15 cents (equivalent to $1.47 in 2022), and fries and Birch Beer for 7 cents each (equivalent to $0.69 in 2022).[2]

External videos
video icon The End of an Era in Fast Food; Royal Castle

In 1969, Royal Castle was acquired by Nashville, Tennessee-based Performance Systems for about $9.1 million.[7] Performance Systems had been active creating and marketing chicken franchise restaurants, most notably Minnie Pearl's Chicken. However, the company became overextended due to lack of executive restaurant experience, collapsed amid allegations of accounting irregularities and stock price manipulation, and was forced to sell off its assets, including Royal Castle.[8]

By the 1970s, the Royal Castle chain began to lose ground to other fast-food hamburger chains, including McDonald’s as well as Burger King, which also had been founded in Miami in 1954.[6][9]

In 1975, the remaining shareholders of Royal Castle voted to liquidate the company at $2 a share, down from the $12 per share when the company had been acquired by Performance Systems.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Schley, Emory (2005-10-11). "Royal Castle, we miss you so". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  2. 1 2 Strouse, Chuck (2009-01-22). "Royal Castle Returns". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  3. 1 2 Fitzmorris, Tom (2012-08-23). "Royal Castle". The New Orleans Menu. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  4. ↑ "1965 - Royal Castle restaurant at 2700 NW 79th Street, Miami (as of late 2013, it is the LAST remaining open Royal Castle) photo - Don Boyd photos at pbase.com". PBase. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  5. ↑ "The Last Royal Castle Is In Miami #tbt". Burger Beast. 2014-05-29. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  6. 1 2 Miller, Carlos (2009-08-06). "The Royal Castle Hamburger Chain Meetup". Miami Beach 411. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  7. ↑ "Royal Castle Names Collins As President". St. Petersburg Times. 1969-02-26. pp. 3B. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  8. ↑ Bennett, Julie (June–July 2007). "What really happened to Minnie Pearl Fried Chicken?". Franchise Times. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  9. ↑ "Remembering Royal Castle Hamburgers". The Frontline. Archived from the original on 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  10. ↑ Fiero, Peter (1975-04-10). "Polk's Business: Royal Castle Wants To Quit". Lakeland Ledger. p. 6B. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
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