Burger King's Bold Move: The First Internet Cafe in 1998
In 1998, the internet was still a relatively new phenomenon, largely confined to universities and research institutions. Recognizing the emerging potential of this technology, Burger King made a bold move: they opened the first-ever internet cafe at a location in Manhattan, New York City.
This innovative venture aimed to capitalize on the growing public interest in the internet while providing customers with a unique dining experience. The cafe offered free internet access to patrons who purchased a meal, allowing them to browse the web, check email, and explore the burgeoning online world while enjoying their Whoppers.
From the New York Times archive at the time
At a Burger King restaurant in New York's financial district, you might hear an unusual question: Do fries come with the World Wide Web?
Philip Greenberg for The New York Times
The Burger King at 182 Broadway is the first to offer Internet access.
Since last week, the Internet does come with fries and burgers at the Burger King on Broadway at John Street in Manhattan, which is providing 20 minutes of Internet time with each minimum purchase of $4.99 ($3.29 for breakfast). The restaurant has mounted 20 computers with access to the Internet above a countertop where, in an earlier age, people might have punched in their jukebox selections rather than URLs."I thought it could be something different to allow them to 'have it your way,' in terms of seeing the world and do whatever they want to do," said the store owner, Peter Allen Abramson, as many in his lunchtime crowd shook his hand and congratulated him for what many called a brilliant idea.
Cheryl Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the Burger King/National Franchisee Association, said that Abramson's Burger King was the first in the chain to take such a step and, to the best of her knowledge, was the first cyberburger joint anywhere.
The system in Abramson's Burger King operates off a single server. The terminals, all made by Compaq, run on 266-megahertz Pentium II chips with 32 megabytes of RAM.
A customer who makes a minimum purchase gets a personal identification number that allows Internet access on a speedy T-1 line. Gambling and sex-oriented sites are blocked, Abramson said.
Hamid Akram, 20, a bank teller and finance major at Brooklyn College, said he couldn't believe his eyes when he entered the restaurant and discovered the wall of beckoning computers. He went online and found an electronic newspaper from his native Pakistan.
"This is so nice," he said. "This will make me come here every day." -- MICHEL MARRIOTT
A Glimpse into the Past
Imagine stepping into a Burger King in 1998. Instead of the sleek, modern interiors we're accustomed to today, you'd likely find a more traditional fast-food setting with a dedicated corner or section equipped with a few clunky computers. Dial-up connections were the norm, so the experience would be slow by today's standards, but it was undeniably groundbreaking for the time.
A Pioneering Effort
Burger King's experiment with internet cafes was a pioneering effort in the fast-food industry. It demonstrated a forward-thinking approach to customer engagement and recognized the potential of the internet to revolutionize how people interact with businesses. While the widespread adoption of internet cafes didn't quite materialize as predicted, Burger King's initiative serves as a reminder of the company's willingness to embrace new technologies and explore innovative concepts.