A fast-food restaurant, or quick-service restaurant (QSR), is characterized by a limited menu of pre-cooked, standardized food, primarily for takeaway, with minimal table service. While the term "fast food" was officially recognized in 1951, earlier establishments like Japan's Yoshinoya (1899) and Berlin's self-service "Stollwerck-Automatenrestaurant" (1896) set precedents. In the U.S., the Automat (1912) popularized "take-out" service, but White Castle, founded in Wichita, Kansas in 1921, is widely considered the first American fast-food chain. White Castle pioneered standardized food production, a dedicated supply chain, and the multi-state restaurant model, laying crucial groundwork. McDonald's, which began as a barbecue drive-in in 1940 by the McDonald brothers and was later revamped into a hamburger stand in 1948, built upon these systems to become a global empire alongside other multinational chains like KFC (est. 1952).