When Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant in November 1969 in Columbus, Ohio, he had one goal: To build a better hamburger. More than 30 years later, Wendy's is one of the largest quick service restaurant chains with more than 6,000 restaurants worldwide. The Wendy's family--from Franchisees to the restaurant teams to the corporate staff--still embrace the simple, effective principles Dave Thomas™ followed when he opened his first Wendy's restaurant: Serve hot, fresh hamburgers that are made to order with a choice of toppings and treat each customer as a special guest. That commitment has made Wendy's the third-largest quick service hamburger chain in the world serving the best hamburgers in the business in the United States, Canada, and various countries and territories. In 1995, Wendy's merged with Tim Hortons®, the largest coffee and fresh baked goods restaurant chain in Canada. Together, the restaurant chains now boast over 8,000 locations and combined sales of more than $8 billion. Read Less