A&W Restaurants, Inc. is an American chain of fast-food restaurants distinguished by its draft root beer, root beer floats and burgers. Its origins date back to 1919 when Roy W. Allen set up a roadside drink stand to offer a new thick and creamy drink, root beer, at a parade honoring returning World War I veterans in Lodi, California. Allen's employee Frank Wright partnered with him in 1922 and they founded their first restaurant in Sacramento, California, in 1923. The company name was taken respectively from the initials of their last names\u2014Allen and Wright. The company became famous in the United States for its \