Vintage photos of fast-food restaurants show what it was like to go to McDonald's and other chains back in the day

The first franchised restaurant only sold hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, milk, root beer, orangeade, Coca-Cola, coffee, and three kinds of milkshakes: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.

The company was well-established by the 1970s and was beginning its global expansion. By 1970, the chain had sold over 6 billion burgers.

McDonald's meals were served on plastic trays, which customers could then bring over to a dining-room table to enjoy.

While chains like In-N-Out Burger already had drive-thru windows, McDonald's didn't have one until 1975, when a franchisee in Sierra Vista, Arizona, skirted around an Army regulation that prevented military members from entering local businesses in fatigues.

Fast Company reported that he got around the regulation by knocking down a wall in his restaurant's kitchen and installing a drive-thru window to serve customers.

The first McDonald's PlayPlace was introduced in 1971, forever changing the McDonald's dining experience for families and children. While parents relaxed and ate their meals, kids could play in colorful climbing structures, jungle gyms, and slides.

The introduction of the PlayPlace solidified McDonald's reputation as a destination for families on a budget, as many were during the 1970s amidst a time of financial insecurity, high inflation, and the Vietnam War.

The chain added two more signature burgers to its menu when the Quarter Pounder and Quarter Pounder with cheese were added in 1973.

In 1979, the first Happy Meals were introduced.

Chicken McNuggets were added to menus in 1983, and patrons were also given the option to "super size" their fries and soft drinks to a larger size starting in the summer of 1987.

McDonald's has tested out many other items throughout the years and, by 2013, its menu had 145 options, Bloomberg reported.

When the chain first opened, it served 18-cent flame-broiled burgers, milkshakes, and fries. By the 1980s, the fast-food chain had a well-established brand identity.

Burger King locations in the 1980s offered both drive-thru and dine-in service, allowing customers to choose the method that was most convenient for them.

However, you might be surprised to learn that Burger King once offered a customizable salad bar.

It originally cost 37 cents compared to Burger King's original burger, which cost 18 cents. The Whopper came with sauce, cheese, lettuce, pickles, and tomato, all piled on top of a larger patty.

Burger King's uniforms have changed drastically during the chain's lifetime. In the 1980s, the brand started experimenting with plaid, stripes, and baseball caps.

Many Burger King restaurant dining rooms have evolved since the 1980s, but some look surprisingly similar.

Pictured above is a Taco Bell restaurant in 1996.

Most Taco Bell restaurants have modernized, and no longer feature the original logo and Southwestern-inspired architecture.

Each item cost just 19 cents, and the menu featured traditional Mexican favorites like frijoles, tostadas, burritos, and tacos.

In 1984, Taco Bell introduced the Taco Salad and Taco BellGrande and, in 2004, Taco Bell began selling Mountain Dew Baja Blast.

This is what the restaurants looked like in 1975.

White Castle is often regarded as the first fast-food hamburger chain. When the restaurant opened, the family-owned business sold its 5-cent sliders by the stack.

In 1961, White Castle became the first fast-food hamburger chain to sell over 1 billion burgers. One year later, the chain brought out a new menu item: the cheeseburger slider.

The business, owned and operated by founder Truett Cathy, started by selling standard items like waffles, breakfast foods, sandwiches, and burgers.

The first restaurant to bear the name Chick-fil-A opened in the Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1967. The restaurant is pictured above in the year it opened.

Cathy opened the first freestanding Chick-fil-A restaurant in 1986, over two decades after he created the chain's original chicken sandwich. Free-standing locations are now the norm for Chick-fil-A, and mall locations are much less common.

Not much has changed on In-N-Out's menu since its early years. In 1961, In-N-Out added "animal-style" burgers to its menu, which included a mustard-cooked beef patty, lettuce, tomato, pickles, extra spread, and grilled onions.

In 1963, In-N-Out began serving its famous Double-Double burger, and in 1975, In-N-Out began serving milkshakes.

A few years later, In-N-Out opened its first location with a dining room in Ontario, California.