pseudo3d wrote: ↑January 22nd, 2022, 3:13 am
ClownLoach wrote: ↑January 21st, 2022, 10:26 am
Interestingly enough there are A&W Root Beer burger restaurants practically on every block. Must have at least 100 locations on the isle of Montréal alone. I wouldn't be surprised if they have more locations just in Quebec than in their remaining store fleet across the USA. They do have a trimmed down menu at those stores that reminds me somewhat of Wendy's, basically a core burger that is single, double or triple plus a few seasonal specials. They do not make the root beer on site at any of these restaurants - but I'm not really convinced that they made it from scratch at the last couple US A&W locations I visited either. The density of McDonald's restaurants in Montréal is also remarkable - also seems like they have at least a hundred.
United Brands split up A&W back in the 1970s, including the drink division (part of Keurig Dr Pepper today), the American operations (formerly owned by Yum! but split in 2011; some co-brands still exists), and the Canadian operations (also owned separately). The Canadian A&W stores have a different logo and different menu items.
A&W in Canada is entirely different from the US version. They still have the burger family. Mama, papa, etc. They also do not put any ice into drinks (I don't think they have any ice on hand). As far as the quality of the product goes... it is edible. Sort of reminds me of Jack in the Box that has been sitting around longer than it should have. I did buy one burger from them in a Petro Canada station that was a brand new unit and there was no traffic, everything was cooked fresh and prepared very carefully, that one was actually very good. Their pricing is also quite reasonable.