When a marketing executive for a huge burger chain finds a nasty secret ingredient in their burger recipe, he goes to the ranches and slaughterhouses of Colorado to investigate and finds that the truth is sometimes difficult to swallow.

A&W Root Beer. Foster's Freeze. IHOP. Der Wienerschnitzel. See's Candy. Jack in the Box. You name the American food icon, and chances are its roots are in California. Food historian and chef George Geary tells the remarkable stories of the early 20th-century food startups that captured America's hearts and stomachs, from Bob's Big Boy to McDonald's, Winchell's Donuts to In-N-Out, Peet's Coffee to Taco Bell. With more than 200 historic and contemporary...