Baker's Burgers, Inc.,

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

Baker's Drive-Thru, is a chain of

fast-food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...

s in the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

region of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. The menu combines both American fast food and Mexican specialties. It features

hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

french fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

taco A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican cuisine, Mexican dish consisting of a small hand-sized corn tortilla, corn- or Flour tortilla, wheat-based tortilla topped with a Stuffing, filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and fing ...

burrito A burrito (, ) or burro in Mexico is, historically, a regional name, among others, for what is known as a taco, a tortilla filled with food, in other parts of the country. The term ''burrito'' was regional, specifically from Guanajuato, Guerre ...

quesadilla A quesadilla (; ; Mexican diminutive of ''quesada'') is a Mexican cuisine, Mexican dish consisting of a tortilla that is filled primarily with cheese, and sometimes meats, spices, and other fillings, and then cooked on a griddle or stove. Trad ...

s, and milkshakes. A breakfast menu and vegetarian menu are also available at most locations. All Baker's locations are in

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

and

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

. Three stores are located in the

Victorville Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. Victorville is the principal city of a Victor Valley–based urban area defined by the United States Census Bureau: ...

- Hesperia area of Northern San Bernardino County. The corporate offices are on Riverwalk Parkway in Riverside.

History

Neal and Carol Baker

Inspired by the success of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

, Neal Baker founded his first restaurant in San Bernardino in . He called it "Baker's Burgers." (San Bernardino was also the location of the first McDonald's.) Three years later, Baker added Mexican food to the menu. Burgers were sold at one window and Mexican food at another. He called this the "Twin Kitchen" concept. A second store was opened in Rialto the following year. As of 2023, there are 39 Baker's Drive-Thru locations. Upon the death of Neal Baker, his widow Carol took over control of the privately-held company. She died in 2017, leaving the second generation of Bakers in charge.

Legal problems

After struggling for over 30 years to make Baker’s a success, Baker hired Joe Amlani in 1986 to conduct a complete overhaul on the concept and establish their operations as they exist today. Shortly after Carol Baker’s passing in 2017, Amlani was let go while under contract. Amlani pursued legal action in San Bernardino County Superior Court. After the Baker children took over, they appointed Jason Talley as their new CEO, nephew of Neil and Carol Baker's son-in-law Terry Talley. Jason tried adamantly to not pay what Amlani said he was owed on his contract and tried to invoke ERISA preemption in Federal Court. That motion was brought to Central District in California in early 2018. The Baker Family's motion was denied and the case was sent back to Superior Court of San Bernardino. After months of delays, the courts finally settled the case and sided with Amlani.

New menu items

In 1995, Baker's began adding a vegetarian menu to locations, originally called the Loma Linda Kitchen menu due to the prevalence of vegetarians in Loma Linda. Seventh-day Adventists, who are traditionally vegetarian, comprise about half the population of Loma Linda. The first two locations that featured this menu were in Loma Linda and Yucaipa. The vegetarian menu has since been added to most locations.

Charities

Baker's Drive-Thru restaurants are involved in the Inland Empire through charities and civic works. According to its website, the company has contributed more than $3 million to Easter Seals of Southern California. Baker's also supports the Children's Fund, high school sports and university programs. In May 2013, the Baker Family Learning Center was opened in Muscoy, on land that Neal Baker donated. It houses a public library and pre-school.

References

External links

Official website
1952 establishments in California Companies based in San Bernardino County, California Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food hamburger restaurants Mexican restaurants in the United States Restaurants established in 1952 Restaurants in California {{California-restaurant-stub