麥當勞最早是間燒烤店，從洛杉磯到全美最大速食連鎖店
The Los Angeles of today is a multicultural metropolis, home to people and cuisines from every corner of the globe. You can take a culinary journey around the world without ever leaving the city. From Mexican to Moroccan, from Thai to Taiwanese, it’s all available, all the time. But is there any food that actually comes from the City of Angels?
現在的洛杉磯是多元文化的大都會，來自世界各地的人和料理都在此紮根。不用離開這座城市，你就能走一趟世界美食之旅。從墨西哥到摩洛哥、從泰國到台灣的美食都有，而且隨時都能吃到。但洛杉磯有真正的在地美食嗎？
To answer that question, we need to go back in time. After WWII, L.A. experienced a population explosion, and the growing suburbs created a new car culture, as well as new businesses to support it. Before long, there were motels, drive-in movie theaters and drive-in restaurants all over the city. Richard and Maurice McDonald opened McDonald’s Bar-B-Que in San Bernardino in 1940, and after a few years business was so busy that they could barely keep up. So they reduced the menu to just burgers, milkshakes, soft drinks and apple pie, turned the kitchen into an assembly line and dropped the “Bar-B-Que” from their name. They may not have invented burgers, but they did invent fast food. The brothers later sold McDonald’s to a shake machine salesman named Ray Kroc, and under his management it became the top fast food chain in the country and eventually the world.
想回答這個問題，要將時間往回推。第二次世界大戰後，洛杉磯經歷了一次人口爆增，日益發展的郊區造就新的汽車文化，新的商業型態也隨之興起。沒多久，洛杉磯到處都有汽車旅館、汽車電影院和汽車餐廳。1940年，理查和莫里斯麥當勞在聖伯納地諾開設麥當勞燒烤店，過幾年後，因生意太好，幾乎忙不過來，於是簡化菜單，只賣漢堡、奶昔、汽水和蘋果派，將廚房改為裝配線，再把招牌上的「燒烤」字樣撤掉。漢堡或許不是他們發明的，但他們確實發明了速食文化。這對兄弟後來將麥當勞賣給奶昔機的推銷員雷克羅克，在他的經營下，麥當勞成為全美最大的速食連鎖店，後來晉升為世界之最。
And McDonald’s isn’t the only fast food restaurant that got its start in the Los Angeles area—otherwise known as the cradle of fast food civilization. Carl’s Junior was established in Anaheim, In-N-Out Burger in Baldwin Park, and Jack in the Box and Taco Bell just down the coast in San Diego. With so many choices, which fast food restaurant do Angelenos prefer? In survey after survey, the clear winner is In-N-Out Burger. Established in 1948, In-N- Out, unlike the other chains, is a family-owned business that has remained true to its L.A. roots. Relying on all fresh ingredients and word-of- mouth advertising, In-N-Out has developed a loyal customer base that includes movie stars, pop singers and even celebrity chefs!
麥當勞也不是唯一從洛杉磯地區發跡的速食餐廳，因此洛杉磯也稱為速食文明的搖籃。卡樂星是在安納罕創立、In-N-Out 漢堡是在鮑德溫公園創立、Jack in the Box 和塔可鐘則是在沿岸不遠的聖地牙哥創立。在如此多的選擇下，洛杉磯人最喜歡哪家速食餐廳？多次調查證明，In-N-Out 漢堡是明顯的大贏家。 In-N-Out 漢堡創立於1948年，跟其他速食連鎖店不同的是，它是家族經營的企業，一直留在洛杉磯堅守自己的根基。靠著新鮮的食材和口耳相傳，In-N-Out 漢堡已經培養出一群忠實的顧客，包括電影明星、流行歌手，甚至名廚！
【用語解說】
before long 不久之後
這個慣用語的意思等同於 soon，但是通常只放在句子的結尾，這點與soon 的用法不太相同。
A: Learning how to play the guitar is so hard.
學彈吉他好難喔！
B: Just keep practicing, and you’ ll be playing like a pro before long!
只要持續練習，不久之後你就可以彈得像個高手一樣啦！
drive-in 免下車
五〇、六〇年代，美國相當盛行汽車文化，也就是能在車內取得服務，點餐及取餐都不需要下車。除了餐廳之外，還有以大型停車場為場地的露天汽車電影院
（drive-in theater），電影院座位就是你自己開來的愛車，如今已經漸漸式微。
【單字字彙】
1) multicultural (a.) 多種文化的
2) metropolis (n.) 大都市，首都
3) all the time (adv.) 無時不刻
4) milkshake (n.) 奶昔
5) soft drink (phr.) 汽水，不含酒精飲料
6) assembly line 裝配線，生產線
7) management (n.) 管理，管理階層、團隊
8) Angeleno (n.) 洛杉磯人
9) word-of-mouth (a. /n.) 口耳相傳的；口碑
本文授權刊登自 EZ TALK編輯部《開口吃遍USA 美國食用英語：EZ TALK 總編嚴選特刊》
