Burger King Forever Banned in This City Due to Obscure Court Case

Burger King restaurants are still fairly plentiful across the U.S., but there is one city where you can’t “have it your way.”

That’s unless “your way” means driving to a completely different town to get a Whopper.

Where Burger King Is Banned

Even if it isn’t always mentioned in the top tier of fast food restaurants with McDonald’s and Taco Bell, Burger has a fairly large footprint. Coming into this week, the brand has 19,000 restaurants scattered across the globe.

Of course, that total will be changing in the coming months. It was revealed this week that Burger King plans to shutter 400 locations while upgrading others as part of a massive overhaul for the brand.

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For one city, Burger King was never an option in the first place thanks to a judge that ruled the restaurant isn’t allowed.

According to Chicago’s CBS News affiliate, Burger King isn’t allowed within a 20 mile radius of Mattoon, Illinois.

Why Is Burger King Banned In Illinois?

Mattoon is a city of approximately 16,000 people located in east central Illinois.

According to the CBS affiliate, Gene and Betty Hoots opened their own restaurant called Burger King in the city in 1957, four years before the chain would ever set foot anywhere in Illinois. The Hoots family already had an ice cream joint called Frigid Queen, so it only made sense to also add a King to their growing empire.

Everything was fairly chill between the two sides until 1968. That’s when CBS says the Hoots filed a lawsuit against the Burger King fast food chain. The couple held the trademark to the Burger King name and wanted to stand their ground.

While the Hoots ultimately won the case, it really wasn’t a total win. Classic Chicago Magazine explained the ruling as the Burger King chain getting to keep the name only if they stayed outside a 20-mile radius around the Hoots’ version of Burger King.

The ruling is still good today with the closest Burger King location about 25 miles north of Mattoon. The original Burger King opened by the Hoots also still stands after it was sold to its current owner in 2017.

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