Hardee’s

Hardee’s charbroils its burgers over an open flame and rolls its biscuit dough by hand every morning. That pairing has held since the chain’s first decade. About 1,565 restaurants trade across 31 states, most of them in the Southeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest.

The Hardee’s history below covers the founding in eastern North Carolina and the company built out of it. Carl’s Jr. arrives later, under the same owner. Prices, secret builds and allergen declarations sit on separate pages.

Hardee’s History

Wilber Hardee put up the first Hardee’s in Greenville, North Carolina, in 1960, a counter selling hamburgers, fries and milkshakes to a drive-in trade. The charcoal broiler he installed behind it still cooks every burger the chain sells. Two customers, James Carson Gardner and Leonard Rawls, opened the first company-owned store on North Church Street in Rocky Mount in 1961. Hardee’s Food Systems grew out of that store.

CKE Restaurants Holdings runs Hardee’s alongside Carl’s Jr. from Franklin, Tennessee, having moved the head office there out of California. That pairing dates to 1997, when CKE bought the chain and set both names under one owner. The territories stayed separate, Hardee’s through the South, the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest, Carl’s Jr. through the West. Roark Capital Group has held the company since 2013, and the Franklin office sets the menu and the brand standards for both.

Biscuit makers start before dawn, mixing and cutting Made From Scratch Biscuit dough by hand. A fresh batch reaches the case every fifteen minutes through the morning. That method went nationwide in 1977 after a test run in Virginia Beach, pulling sausage gravy, country ham and fried chicken onto the board. About 1,565 restaurants now trade across 31 states, with North Carolina holding roughly one in eight and Virginia and Tennessee next.

Hardee’s Menus & Details

Three pages carry the detail behind the counter. Each one pairs an item name with its price and its calorie count on the same row.

The full board, section by section, with a price and a calorie figure beside every item.

Off-menu builds, the wording to hand the crew, and the listed item each one starts from.

Hardee’s afternoon window, the Charbroiled Sliders it prices by patty count, and the drink that rides along with them.

Milk, wheat, soy, egg and sesame item by item, with a calorie count on every row.