The Pig Stand: Where the Drive-In Restaurant Was Born

Before McDonald's. Before Sonic. Before the entire American fast food industry as we know it, there was the Pig Stand — and the Pig Stand invented the drive-in restaurant.

The First Drive-In

The Pig Stand opened in Dallas in 1921, and it was the first restaurant in America designed specifically for customers in automobiles. The concept was simple and revolutionary: customers drove up, carhops came to the car to take orders, and food was served without the customer ever leaving their vehicle. In 1921, when the automobile was still a novelty for many Americans, this was a genuinely radical idea.

The Pig Stand's founder, Jessie Kirby, understood something that would take the rest of the food industry decades to fully grasp: Americans loved their cars, and they would love a restaurant that let them stay in one. "People with cars are so lazy," Kirby reportedly said, "that they don't want to get out of them to eat."

The Menu

The Pig Stand specialized in barbecued pork sandwiches — the "pig sandwiches" that gave the chain its name. The food was simple, affordable, and designed to be eaten in a car. The chain also claims credit for inventing Texas toast — the thick-sliced, butter-grilled bread that became a staple of Texas cooking — as well as the chicken-fried steak sandwich and the onion ring.

The Legacy

The Pig Stand expanded across Texas and into other states, reaching its peak of over 100 locations before the rise of the national fast food chains began to erode its market. The chain survived in diminished form for decades, a living artifact of the moment when the American drive-in restaurant was born.

The Pig Stand Restaurant Texas Retro T-shirt is for Texas food history lovers and drive-in devotees alike. Find it in the Dallas collection.