Breaded and fried onions are a favorite side dish or burger topper, but do you know where they came from? Their origins are more contentious than you'd think.
The Pig Stand.
Like Italy during the Renaissance or Muscle Shoals in the sixties and seventies, one Texas restaurant was a hotbed of ideas and inventions during the last century. The Pig Stand, a Texas chain now whittled down to one location on Broadway in San Antonio, claims to have invented three of the most beloved diner dishes in history: Texas toast, onion rings, and chicken fried steak sandwiches.
Just like the restaurant itself, with its checkerboard floors and red vinyl booths, the stories behind these inventions are short on frills. “We needed a thicker toast to serve with things like our hearty fish and chips,” says owner Mary Ann Hill. “So, the owner at the time, Royce Hailey, asked the bread company if there was any way they could cut the bread any thicker. They did, and we started buttering the slices and toasting them on the grill.”