Kenney's was a fast-food chain that sold hamburgers and fried chicken at conveient locations all over Southwest Virginia. Started by Canadian William Kenney in 1958 after parting ways with the Biff-Burger chain, Kenney's dominated the region during the '60s and '70s when national chains were few and far between.
Kenney's specialty was the Kenney Burger, broiled and dipped in a secret ketchup-based sauce, based on the original Biff-Burger. My favorite items there were the fried chicken, french fries and the special deep-fried biscuits.
Can't you just feel your arteries closing?
Anyway, as chains like McDonald's and KFC grew, Kenney's market share shrunk. It was all but gone by the mid-'80s, save for a handful of restaurants in Lynchburg and Rockbridge County. Other than the diner chain Famous Anthony's, there have been few, if any, strong regional restaurant chains in Southwest Virginia since.
Kenney's was strongest in the Roanoke Valley in its heyday and many of the old mansard-roofed reataurants that beccame Kenney's signature are still standing. Along with the old buildings, still strong are the memories of the food, as was evidenced when Mr. Kenney fried up his famous burgers and sold jars of his sauce for charity in 2002. The proceeds went to Habitat for Humanity and it turned into one of their most popular events ever.
click here for the history via the Biff-Burger site.
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