s w nst dz is a hamburger chain based in kansas city missouri . the chain opened in 1940 and has seven locations in kansas and missouri . 1 2 apart from its burgers winstead s is known for the streamline moderne style of its original restaurant and skyscraper sodas and milkshakes built to serve five or six . 2 3 the chain is owned by haddad restaurant group . 4 food network magazine rated winstead s the best hamburger in the state of kansas . 5 food critic calvin trillin considers winstead s to have the world s best cheeseburgers . 6 contents 1 history 2 see also 3 references 4 external links history edit winstead s drive in was founded in springfield illinois by kathryn winstead in 1936 . winstead s was one of the first drive in restaurants in the united states . customers would back into a stall flash their lights and a car hop would come out to take the order and deliver food . around 1938 kathryn s brother jack opened a second winstead s in their hometown of jacksonville illinois . a sister of jack and kathryn opened another location in fort wayne indiana . in 1932 fannie winstead garst moved from sedalia missouri to springfield illinois after her husband jesse d. garst died . fannie moved to illinois to live with her sisters kathryn and nellie winstead . in exchange for room and board fannie helped her sisters run the winstead s drive in in springfield . the winstead family was originally from smithton missouri and they wanted to return to their missouri roots . the winstead sisters returned to missouri and opened garst s drive in in july 1937 . the new drive in in sedalia was the first drive in restaurant west of the mississippi river . 7 nellie and her husband gordon montgomery began discussing with kathryn the possibility of opening a winstead s in kansas city missouri in the area of the country club plaza . the winstead sisters found a location just to the east of the country club plaza near 47th and main streets ; however they were hesitant to open at the location because kansas city was run by political machine boss tom pendergast and all new development in and around the plaza area was run through the powerful real estate developer j.c. nichols . nellie and kathryn winstead decided to move forward with the kansas city store and it opened in 1940 . fannie winstead garst remained in sedalia where she continued to operate garst s drive in . instead of offering only car hop service the new location in kansas city built in a streamline moderne style accommodated customers both inside and outside the restaurant . the sisters struggled to keep the restaurant open during world war ii as a result of beef rationing ; however the restaurant flourished following the end of the war . they eventually bought the property that they were initially leasing from j.c. nichols . a second kansas city area winstead s was opened in lee s summit missouri . johnny ray s drive in is now located in the former winstead s building in lee s summit . kathryn winstead retired from the restaurant business in 1952 and she turned over control of the business to nellie and gordon montgomery . they added french fries and milkshakes to the limited menu in 1957 . kathryn winstead died in 1967 and the montgomerys sold winstead s restaurant two years later to morris and victor lerner brothers who owned king louie international a kansas city based corporation that ran bowling alleys and made bowling attire . the lerners expanded by opening two new winstead s locations one in north kansas city and the other in overland park kansas . 8 in 1982 the lerner family sold king louie international to an investment group that considered closing or divesting themselves of the small chain . a local restaurateur nabil haddad a franchisee and a major stockholder in the mcdonald s corporation today oversees seven winstead s locations in the greater kansas city area . each of the winstead s locations has a distinctive tower on the front of an art deco style building . 8 winstead s closed its location at 10313 metcalf ave. in overland park in august 2015 . officials representing the metcalf 103 shopping center where the restaurant was located indicated that the restaurant s lease was set to expire at the end of august . 9 see also edit food portal companies portal list of fast food restaurants list of hamburger restaurants references edit locations & hours . winstead s steakburger . retrieved 8 may 2013 . a b the midwest s burger king sarah bryan miller the wall street journal april 15 1998 . the cheerful glutton s guide to kansas city martha woodall the philadelphia inquirer december 10 1989 . accessed on line december 20 2007 . steakhouses on the table michael hooper and amy bauer topeka capital journal october 28 2003 . accessed on line december 20 2007 . 50 states 50 burgers http www.foodnetwork.com 50 states 50 burgers package index.html calvin trillin u. s. journal the ordeal of fats goldberg . the new yorker july 3 1971 . fine art and photography the art of shirley kleppe a b road tips winstead s kansas city http www.kansascity.com news business biz columns blogs cityscape article32424798.html external links edit official website v t e fast food and fast casual restaurant chains in the united states chicken chains coffeehouse chains pizza chains hamburgers a & w back yard big boy burger king carl s jr. checkers rally s cook out fatburger five guys freddy s fuddruckers the habit hardee s in n out jack in the box johnny rockets krystal mcdonald s roy rogers shake shack smashburger sonic steak n shake wayback wendy s whataburger white castle asian l & l hawaiian barbecue manchu wok panda express pei wei asian diner pick up stix sarku baked goods au bon pain auntie anne s bruegger s cinnabon corner bakery cafe dunkin donuts einstein bros. great american cookies honey dew donuts krispy kreme mrs. fields nestl toll house panera bread pretzelmaker pretzel time shipley do nuts tim hortons t.j. cinnamons wetzel s winchell s beverages argo tea biggby coffee caribou coffee bean & tea leaf coffee beanery dunn bros gloria jean s jamba juice juice it up orange julius peet s planet smoothie robeks seattle s best coffee smoothie king starbucks teavana tropical smoothie cafe tully s frozen desserts baskin robbins ben & jerry s braum s bruster s carvel cold stone culver s dairy queen dippin dots fosters freeze friendly s golden spoon graeter s h agen dazs handel s kiwi yogurt maggiemoo s marble slab menchie s pinkberry red mango rita s sweet frog tastee freez tcby tropical sno tutti frutti yogen fr z yogurtland hot dogs hot dog on a stick nathan s famous portillo s wienerschnitzel mexican style tex mex baja fresh cafe rio chipotle del taco el pollo loco freebirds green red burrito moe s pancheros qdoba rubio s taco bell taco bueno taco cabana taco del mar taco john s taco mayo taco time wahoo s fish taco noodles fazoli s noodles & company sandwiches arby s atlanta bread blimpie capriotti s charley s cos cousins d angelo daphne s erbert & gerbert s firehouse subs great wraps jason s jerry s subs jersey mike s jimmy john s lenny s sub mcalister s deli miami subs mr. hero newk s eatery penn station port of subs pdq potbelly quiznos rax runza sandella s schlotzsky s steak escape subway togo s tubby s tudor s biscuit world which wich seafood arthur treacher s captain d s h. salt esquire ivar s long john silver s skippers seafood & chowder house defunct bresler s ice cream brigham s burger chef carrols d lites druther s henry s hamburgers hot n now hot sam pretzels naugles red barn sandy s zantigo retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title winstead % 27s & oldid 737048517 categories 1940 establishments in missouricompanies based in kansas city missourihamburger restaurantsregional restaurant chains in the united statesrestaurants established in 1940restaurants in missouristreamline moderne architecture in missouri navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate 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