Omaha Exploration

When Larry Price introduced a deep-fried grilled cheese sandwich, fast food lovers everywhere (or at least in Nebraska) embraced it.

Before inventing the Cheese Frenchee, Price broke into the restaurant business by operating a hamburger stand at the Nebraska State Fair as a teenager. He graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University and found work as a football and basketball coach, mail carrier and even a grocer. By that point, he was ready to get back into the food game. To do so, he bought an old filling station at the corner of 66th and Cotner Boulevard in Lincoln and opened Topper’s Drive-In in 1949. Topper’s evolved into King’s Drive-In after he teamed up with James King in 1955.

The partners ultimately split in 1960 as Price wanted to focus on drive-in restaurants while King preferred a sit-down style restaurant. King ultimately left King’s while Price oversaw the chain’s rapid expansion to more than 130 locations in 20 states, including two in Canada.

Before selling King’s to a group of investors in 1972, Price invented the Cheese Frenchee. Similar to a Croque Monsieur, a fried cheese sandwich that originated in France, his version was Americanized with white bread, mayo and gooey American cheese, dipped into a batter of milk, eggs, flour and dry powdered cheddar cheese, coated with crumbled saltine crackers, refrigerated overnight and fried until golden brown. It was so popular that it spawned variants including the Ham Frenchee, Tuna Frenchee, Hot Dog Frenchee and Pizza Frenchee.

King’s eventually went bankrupt in 1974 due to overexpansion. The Frenchee, however, lives on. Investors including the family of former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey bought King’s recipes, and the famous sandwich made a special appearance at their new restaurant, Grandmother’s. It may have met its doom when the sit-down restaurant — James King anyone? — closed in 2014, but it was saved again, this time by Don & Millie’s, a spinoff that more closely resembled Price’s drive-in concept, just with a drive-thru window instead. Don & Millie’s started selling the sandwich in 1989 and hasn’t looked back.

By this point, you may be thinking there’s someone I’ve forgotten — Kings Classic, which operates alongside Amigo’s. Could it be that Kings Classic is related to King’s Food Host and is yet another spinoff? No, but it too sells a Frenchee. While not quite on the same level as Dr. Roger Mandigo’s McRib, Larry Price’s sandwich lives on.

I’d love to hear what you have to say so please feel free to comment. Until next time, keep exploring!

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