Robert O. Peterson converted a San Diego drive-in into Jack in the Box in 1951 and put a talking clown on the roof. Drivers ordered through a two-way intercom, a novelty at the time. The Jack in the Box name now covers more than 2,100 US restaurants, most of them west of the Rockies.
Below, Jack in the Box History runs from that first drive-in through five decades of changing corporate owners to the chain as it stands. The priced menu, the off-menu builds and the allergen declarations each get a page of their own. Links to all three sit below.
Jack in the Box History
Robert O. Peterson opened Topsy’s Drive-In on El Cajon Boulevard in 1941, a decade before the clown arrived. The San Diego rebuild of 1951 pointed everything at the car window rather than the counter. Speed suited southern California, and Peterson pushed the format across the Southwest through the following two decades. Tacos arrived early and stayed.
Ralston Purina bought the parent company Foodmaker in 1968 and sold it back to management in 1985. Foodmaker later listed on the public markets, then took the Jack in the Box name for itself in 1999. Qdoba Mexican Grill sat under the same roof from 2003 until its sale in 2018. Del Taco followed a similar arc, bought in 2022 and sold to Yadav Enterprises in 2025.
The Jack in the Box system counts 2,128 restaurants, of which franchisees run all but 149. Those sit across 22 states, plus Guam and a small group in Mexico. Well over half the total falls in California and Texas alone. San Diego still houses the head office, and the shares trade on the Nasdaq under JACK.
Jack in the Box Menus and Details
The Jack in the Box detail splits across three pages: the priced menu, the off-menu builds and the allergen list. Every figure on them comes from one published source rather than a blend, so a number here will not disagree with one there. Burgers, tacos, breakfast and the late-night Munchie Meal all appear.
Jack in the Box Menu Prices
Burgers, tacos, chicken sandwiches, breakfast plates, sides and shakes, each row carrying its calorie figure. Read the full Jack in the Box Menu Prices.
Jack in the Box Secret Menu
Off-menu builds that the counter will make on request, with the wording to use when ordering. Read the Jack in the Box Secret Menu.
Jack in the Box Allergen Menu
Which burgers, tacos, breakfast items, sides and shakes declare wheat, soy, milk, egg or sesame, item by item. Read the Jack in the Box Allergen Menu.