From the day in 1955 that Ray Goad opened his first restaurant in Pinnacle, N.C., his Country Ham and Biscuits were featured. When he opened Rays Starlight Restaurant in Mount Airy in 1962, and it became known far and wide for Ray’s Country Ham and biscuits. It was not until 1964 that Ray Goad opened the first Rays Kingburger.

However, by 1972 the public records show that Rays Kingburger had boldly expanded into Eastern North Carolina where Hardees had started in Rocky Mount, NC. At first, Rays Kingburgers had difficulty competing against the Hardees home-court advantage. It was then that Ray Goad originated one of the most successful innovations in the history of American Fast-food. He decided to open for breakfast featuring his Country Ham Biscuits.

1972 there was not a single McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s or Hardee’s that was open for breakfast. Ray Goad pioneered the concept by opening for breakfast with Country Ham Biscuits in his several dozen Rays Kingburger restaurants across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

Hardees was forced to follow Rays Kingburger and open for breakfast. Hardees had already expanded into the North East where they were in more direct competition with McDonalds. That is when the infamous Egg McMuffin first appeared.

The rest is history, but history made in part by Ray Goad. In the next few years, the majority of fast-food restaurants all across the U.S. extended their core hours to accommodate very early mornings. Most of them also featured some form of the breakfast Biscuit Sandwich, which initially had included a slice of Rays Country Ham.