The Food That Built America Season 7, Episode 9: Burgers, Burritos, & the Battle for Fast Food

Pizza Power Play

Two pizza juggernauts expand their empires as a hungry new contender turns the fight into a three-way race to become America’s biggest pizza chain.

42 min

Cereal Killers

Rival cereal giants race to invent the next must-have bowl, sparking a sugary arms race of mascots, crunch, candy, and the first ever chocolate cereal.

42 min

The Birth of Bubblegum

A struggling candy maker’s botched experiment leads to the world’s first bubble gum, its distinctive color, and a decades-long bubble gum war fueled by colorful mascots, comic strips, baseball cards, and novelty flavors — transforming gum into a pop culture.

42 min

Drive-Thru Burger Revolution

Three burger operators race to serve a new generation on wheels, and a primitive intercom and sliding window evolve into the drive-thru — revolutionizing fast food and kicking off an industry arms race.

42 min

Chocolate in a Glass

A chemist unlocks a chocolate syrup that transforms milk into a magic sensation, a scrappy soda shop owner cracks the code to bottling liquid chocolate for the masses, and a dairy innovator turns wartime surplus into instant cocoa gold.

42 min

Clash of the Cookie Giants

A century ago, the cookie industry didn't exist, until a wave of innovators turn it into a $15 billion powerhouse.

43 min

Cheesecake Chronicles

A struggling cheesemaker, a New York restauranteur, a small-time baker, and a determined mother-son duo transform a humble cheese pie into a decadent American dessert--turning cheesecake into a grocery staple and the star of a restaurant empire.

42 min

Rice to Riches

A keen-eyed immigrant, a candy mogul, and two pasta-making brothers reinvent rice for America’s kitchens by making it faster, easier, and impossible to resist.

42 min

Icons of Ice Cream

Spilling the Tea

Let's Get Crackering

Cereal Sensations

Say Yes to the Dressing