Y2K Just Wasn’t on the Menu

New Year’s computer gremlins.

Before the world celebrated the arrival of 2000, Orange County’s biggest restaurant chains had declared themselves Y2K ready. But some had flashlights, batteries and calculators at hand just in case things went awry.

After the midnight hour, there was relief all around.

“There was no meltdown here,” said Suzi Brown, spokeswoman for Anaheim-based CKE Restaurants Inc., parent company of Carl’s Jr. and other chains. “Everything went off without a hitch.”

Del Taco spokeswoman Barbara Caruso called the occasion “delightfully uneventful” as the Laguna Hills-based chain remained open 24 hours, as usual, and did steady business. “It was like a typical Friday night,” Caruso said.

National chains such Denny’s, McDonald’s and Burger King said teams that were on call to deal with any glitches found themselves not really needed.

“We made the transition without incident in 118 countries, as little as Sri Lanka and as big as the United States and Japan,” McDonald’s spokesman Brad Trask said. “We had upgraded all of our systems and it was absolutely worth it.”