Westport’s first fast-food franchise was Dairy Queen, on the Post Road near downtown.
That DQ (not to be confused with the one further east, where Little Barn is now) later became the Crest Drive-In. Much later — after demolition — that was the site of Qdoba. Today it’s vacant.
Westport has had other national fast food chains — Roy Rogers, for example (now McDonald’s). And Arby’s.
But that roast beef franchise — most notable for never having, to my knowledge, one single customer, ever — was not the first at that spot.
In the late 1960s, Carrol’s opened there. It was a red-letter day for Westport teenagers.
(Courtesy of Stephen King)
Burgers were cheap. Parking was easy. You could hang out with friends, talk loudly, and pretend you were at a real fast food place, like Burger King.
(Courtesy of Thomas O’Connell)
Which Carrol’s became, after Carrol’s. And before Arby’s.
The drive-thru window is still there. But today it’s a Starbucks.
If that doesn’t say something about how Westport has changed, I don’t know what does.
