# A&W Root Beer
**A&W Root Beer** is an American root beer soft drink created in 1919 by [Roy W. Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/roy-w-allen) in [Lodi, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/lodi-california), and named in 1920 after Allen and his partner Frank Wright. It is sold both as a fountain drink made fresh in [A&W Restaurants](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-and-w-restaurants) and as a bottled and canned beverage owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, and it anchors the restaurant chain that pioneered American food franchising.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First served | June 20, 1919, at a roadside stand in Lodi, California, during a homecoming celebration for World War I veterans[1](https://awrestaurants.com/blog/memories-history/it-all-started-with-a-roadside-stand-the-roots-of-aw-restaurants/) |
| Name | "A" for Roy Allen, "W" for Frank Wright, partners from 1920[1](https://awrestaurants.com/blog/memories-history/it-all-started-with-a-roadside-stand-the-roots-of-aw-restaurants/) |
| Original price | 10-ounce glass for 5 cents, served in frozen "frosty mugs"[2](https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food34962c01s001e001) |
| Restaurant recipe | Made fresh with real cane sugar, water, and a proprietary blend of herbs, bark, spices, and berries; caffeine-free[3](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/2024%20Media%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf) |
| Bottled version | 20 fl oz contains 270 calories and 72 g of total sugars, sweetened with high fructose corn syrup[4](https://www.rootbeer.com/?afsrc=1) |
| Ownership | Restaurants owned by a franchisee partnership since 2011; Keurig Dr Pepper owns the bottle and can business; the Canadian chain has been separately owned since 1972[3](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/2024%20Media%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf) • [5](https://legalclarity.org/who-owns-aw-restaurants-canada-and-root-beer/) |
| Footprint | Over 850 restaurants in 35 U.S. states and Asia, of which over 600 are single-brand A&Ws[3](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/2024%20Media%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf) |
## Origins in Lodi
In 1918 or 1919, Roy W. Allen, an entrepreneur in [Flagstaff, Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/flagstaff-arizona), met a traveling chemist who offered a formula for draft root beer, and Allen signed an agreement to produce and market the concentrate[6](https://www.kpolsson.com/awhistus/). On June 20, 1919, he opened his first root beer stand at 13 West Pine Street in Lodi, California, giving away the drink during a city-wide party celebrating the return of local World War I heroes; the stand opened for business the next day, selling 10-ounce glasses for 5 cents[6](https://www.kpolsson.com/awhistus/). Allen's gimmick was to freeze the glass mugs so the root beer stayed icy cold, and the "frosty mug" became the brand's signature serving[2](https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food34962c01s001e001).
Allen soon opened stands in Stockton and Sacramento, and one of these outlets was a drive-in, a novel concept in the early automobile age, where "tray-boys" and "tray-girls" (later called carhops) served customers in their cars[2](https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food34962c01s001e001).
## The partnership and the franchise system
In 1920 Allen took Frank Wright, an employee at the Stockton stand, as his partner, and combining their initials they called the company A&W Root Beer[2](https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food34962c01s001e001). The partners leased their first two stands to other operators so they could expand into Sacramento, an arrangement that grew into franchising[1](https://awrestaurants.com/blog/memories-history/it-all-started-with-a-roadside-stand-the-roots-of-aw-restaurants/). The company's franchising site dates the launch of the franchise system to 1926, while its own history blog places the first franchise sales in 1925; both describe A&W as the first franchise restaurant chain in America[7](https://awfranchising.com/about-us/) • [1](https://awrestaurants.com/blog/memories-history/it-all-started-with-a-roadside-stand-the-roots-of-aw-restaurants/). To keep quality uniform, Allen sold the root beer concentrate exclusively to each franchise operator[8](https://www.matchpro.org/Archives/2007/A%26W.pdf).
Allen eventually bought out Wright, trademarked the A&W logo of an arrow through a bull's-eye target, and continued franchising[2](https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food34962c01s001e001). By 1950, with roughly 450 stands operating nationwide, Allen retired and sold the business[8](https://www.matchpro.org/Archives/2007/A%26W.pdf). Expansion followed the automobile: the first international restaurant opened in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1956, and in 1963 A&W reached the Philippines, Malaysia, and Okinawa, making it the first U.S. chain restaurant to expand to Southeast Asia[7](https://awfranchising.com/about-us/) • [9](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/A%26W%20Fun%20Facts%20%26%20History%202021.pdf).
The brand's retail life began in 1971, when A&W Root Beer became available in bottles and cans beyond the restaurants[1](https://awrestaurants.com/blog/memories-history/it-all-started-with-a-roadside-stand-the-roots-of-aw-restaurants/). A mascot, Rooty the Great Root Bear, followed; the franchising site gives his debut as 1974, while the company's fun-facts sheet says 1973[7](https://awfranchising.com/about-us/) • [9](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/A%26W%20Fun%20Facts%20%26%20History%202021.pdf).
## A split brand: restaurants, bottles, and Canada
Three separate businesses now carry the name. A&W Restaurants was purchased in late 2011 from YUM! Brands by a partnership of domestic and international franchisees, making it the only U.S. restaurant chain entirely owned by franchisees; it is headquartered in [Lexington, Kentucky](https://www.edgepedia.org/lexington-kentucky)[3](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/2024%20Media%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf). [Keurig Dr Pepper](https://www.edgepedia.org/keurig-dr-pepper) owns the A&W bottle and can business and lists A&W among its core beverage brands; its 2022 annual report described A&W as the #1 root beer in the U.S.[3](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/2024%20Media%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf) • [10](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418135/000141813523000003/kdp-20221231.htm).
[The Canadian](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-canadian) chain has been independent since 1972, when the Canadian division was sold to Unilever; A&W Food Services of Canada runs the restaurants, and in Canada the root beer is bottled and distributed by [Coca-Cola](https://www.edgepedia.org/coca-cola) rather than Keurig Dr Pepper[5](https://legalclarity.org/who-owns-aw-restaurants-canada-and-root-beer/). A&W Food Services of Canada holds an ownership interest in A & W Root Beer Beverages of Canada Inc., which handles concentrate for canned and bottled regular and diet A&W Root Beer sold in Canadian retail locations[11](https://www.web.aw.ca/i/pdf/AW-Bill-S-211-Report-en.pdf).
## The beverage itself
The restaurant product is made fresh in each location from the original 1919 recipe, using real cane sugar, water, and a proprietary blend of herbs, bark, spices, and berries, served in a frosty mug; the company describes the recipe as caffeine-free[3](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/2024%20Media%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf) • [12](https://www.awrestaurants.com/menu/drinks/aw-made-fresh-root-beer/). The bottled retail product differs: a 20 fl oz serving lists 270 calories, 73 g of carbohydrates, and 72 g of total sugars, with ingredients of carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, [caramel color](https://www.edgepedia.org/caramel-color), sodium benzoate, natural and artificial flavors, and quillaia extract[4](https://www.rootbeer.com/?afsrc=1). A 355 ml can of A&W Root Beer was measured at 31 g of sugar in one sensory study, against 39 g for Barq's and 27 g for cane-sugar-sweetened Virgil's Old Fashioned[13](https://glassandnote.com/food/irish-people-taste-root-beer-for-the-first-time). A Zero Sugar version sweetened with [aspartame](https://www.edgepedia.org/aspartame) and acesulfame potassium is also sold, alongside A&W Cream Soda in regular and zero-sugar forms[4](https://www.rootbeer.com/?afsrc=1).
Most root beer sold in North America is caffeine-free, and A&W is among the brands Healthline lists as containing none[14](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/does-root-beer-have-caffeine).
The drink's most famous use is the root beer float, vanilla ice cream topped with root beer. A&W celebrates National Root Beer Float Day every August 6, giving away free small floats at participating U.S. restaurants and requesting donations for Disabled American Veterans, a cause the brand has supported since its founding[15](https://awrestaurants.com/national-root-beer-float-day/).
## Reception in taste tests
Blind taste tests place A&W consistently in the middle of the pack rather than at the top. A Washingtonian staff blind tasting of 13 root beers in 2010 put A&W third[16](https://washingtonian.com/2010/08/24/taste-test-whats-the-best-root-beer/), and a family blind test of eight brands in 2013 ranked it second, one point behind Henry Weinhard's[17](https://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=10821005). An early 2000s web test gave A&W the top overall taste score of its round, 3.95, second only to Boylan's among all root beers tested[18](https://www.delicioussparklingtemperancedrinks.net/rbeer/Round7.html).
Enthusiast commentary often treats A&W as a reference point rather than a favorite. A D Magazine taster suggested that people who grow up with A&W come to treat its flavor profile as the default against which other versions are measured[19](https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2014/06/taste-test-thursday-root-beer/). In a 2024 zero-sugar comparison, A&W Zero Sugar scored 6.5 out of 10 on average, ahead of Mug Zero Sugar (6.3) and far ahead of a probiotic root beer (2.8)[20](https://foretherecord.com/root-beer-rankings). A 2024 family taste test of zero-sugar root beers found that A&W had the least artificial-sugar aftertaste of the brands tried but the weakest root beer flavor and less carbonation[21](https://fluentbrittish.blogspot.com/2024/11/root-beer-taste-test.html).
## References
1. [It All Started with A Roadside Stand: The 'Roots' of A&W Restaurants, A&W Restaurants blog](https://awrestaurants.com/blog/memories-history/it-all-started-with-a-roadside-stand-the-roots-of-aw-restaurants/)
2. [A&W Root Beer Stands, Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (Andrew F. Smith, 2004)](https://app.ckbk.com/reference/food34962c01s001e001)
3. [A&W Restaurants 2024 Media Fact Sheet](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/2024%20Media%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf)
4. [Bring Home the Root Beer, A&W Root Beer (rootbeer.com)](https://www.rootbeer.com/?afsrc=1)
5. [Who Owns A&W? Restaurants, Canada, and Root Beer, LegalClarity](https://legalclarity.org/who-owns-aw-restaurants-canada-and-root-beer/)
6. [Chronology of A & W Root Beer (USA), Ken Polsson](https://www.kpolsson.com/awhistus/)
7. [Burger Franchise | A&W Restaurant, awfranchising.com](https://awfranchising.com/about-us/)
8. [Ouuuuuuu! A&W Root Beer, MatchPlay November/December 2007](https://www.matchpro.org/Archives/2007/A%26W.pdf)
9. [A&W @ 100: Fun Facts and a Little History, A&W Restaurants](https://backend.awrestaurants.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/A%26W%20Fun%20Facts%20%26%20History%202021.pdf)
10. [Keurig Dr Pepper Form 10-K (fiscal year 2022), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418135/000141813523000003/kdp-20221231.htm)
11. [A&W Corporate Structure and Activities (Bill S-211 Report), A&W Canada](https://www.web.aw.ca/i/pdf/AW-Bill-S-211-Report-en.pdf)
12. [A&W Made Fresh Root Beer, A&W Restaurants menu](https://www.awrestaurants.com/menu/drinks/aw-made-fresh-root-beer/)
13. [Sassafras and Surprise: Irish Palates Meet Root Beer for the First Time, Glass & Note](https://glassandnote.com/food/irish-people-taste-root-beer-for-the-first-time)
14. [Is Root Beer Caffeine-Free?, Healthline](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/does-root-beer-have-caffeine)
15. [National Root Beer Float Day, A&W Restaurants](https://awrestaurants.com/national-root-beer-float-day/)
16. [Taste Test: What's the Best Root Beer?, Washingtonian](https://washingtonian.com/2010/08/24/taste-test-whats-the-best-root-beer/)
17. [Results of our family blind taste test of 8 different brands of rootbeer, CougarBoard](https://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=10821005)
18. [Great American Root Beer Showdown, Round 7](https://www.delicioussparklingtemperancedrinks.net/rbeer/Round7.html)
19. [Taste Test Thursday: Root Beer, D Magazine](https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2014/06/taste-test-thursday-root-beer/)
20. [Birdie Bev Rankings, Fore the Record](https://foretherecord.com/root-beer-rankings)
21. [Root Beer: A Taste Test, Fluent Brittish](https://fluentbrittish.blogspot.com/2024/11/root-beer-taste-test.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Food, customs, and everyday culture › Food, cooking and hospitality › Beverages and drink culture › Soft drinks and non-alcoholic beverages › Soft drink brands and companies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license