Wendy's founder Dave Thomas spent his early years growing up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Thomas credits local burger joint Kewpee Hamburgers as the inspiration to create Wendy's.
Hamburger joints back in the 60s on Westnedge Ave in Kalamazoo and Portage. McDonald's, Burger Chef (not Burger King, and who remembers Henry's Hamburgers?
Most Michiganders may not know that olive burgers and olive sauce originated in Flint, MI at Kewpee's Hotel Hamburgs in 1923. Kewpee's in downtown Lansing, MI still serves the popular burger nearly 100 years later.