Zesto is a licensed trademark owned by TJ Group Investments, LLC and currently used by a significant amount of independently owned restaurants and independent franchise chains who sublicense the trademark to franchise owners. Until 1955, Zesto Drive-In was a chain of drive-in restaurants franchised by Taylor Freezer Corp. (now the Taylor Company), featuring ice cream and frozen custard. They are recognized for their ice cream favorites such as avalanches, milkshakes, sundaes and ice cream sodas, to name a few.[1]
History
Zesto was started by entrepreneur and inventor L.A.M. Phelan as a national franchise chain. Phelan was head of the Taylor Freezer Corp., which in 1945 had developed the "Zest-O-Mat" frozen custard machine, and franchise agreements granted exclusive use of the Zest-O-Mat machines in a given territory under the Zesto name.[2] The first known Zesto Drive-In was opened in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1948 at the foot of St. Mary's Hospital on Missouri Boulevard[3] by its original franchise owner, Lottie Traubtz;