• What restaurant franchise closed after causing the biggest Hepatitis-A outbreak in
American history?
What doomed hamburger chain invented a version of the Happy Meal six years before McDonald's?
Some of these were successful for a while, and some bombed from the start, but here are
15 restaurants that just absolutely tanked.
15 –Howard Johnson's • At one point, Howard Johnson's restaurants
were serving more American families than anyone outside of the U.S. Army.
• The distinct orange roof was as much as signature look as McDonald's golden arches,
but several changes in ownership slowly killed the company, which also operated a chain of
hotels under the same name.
• When Marriott divested from the fast food industry, the restaurants were left to die
slowly.
The final one closed in October of 2017.
14 –Sambo's • As the story goes, Sambo's was named
using bits of its founders' names – Sam Battistone and Newell Bohnett.
• Supposedly, the connection to the racist children's book "Little Black Sambo"
was coincidental… despite them decorating the restaurants WITH SCENES FROM THE BOOK.
• Still, the chain became hugely successful, operating over eleven-hundred stores at its
peak.
• The chain collapsed in the 1980s, and sold most of its locations to Denny's and
other chains.
Today, there is only one location remaining in Santa Barbara, California.
13 –Kenny Rogers Roasters • Country singer Kenny Rogers opened his
infamous line of rotisserie chicken restaurants in 1991, grew to over 400 locations, went
bankrupt, and closed all but one by 1998.
• It is now best remembered as being a plot device in a pretty good episode of Seinfeld.
• But believe it or not, Kenny Rogers Roasters, after a couple of ownership changes, is a
hugely-successful and fast-growing chain… in Asia.
• There are over 150 locations across Southeast Asia, including one in the Beijing Capital
International Airport.
12 –Lum's • It might not be hard to imagine how a
restaurant based around hot dogs would go out of business.
• But Lum's steamed their hot dogs in BEER, so they did okay for a while there.
• Unfortunately, the owners of the successful Florida franchise extended themselves too
far, buying the Caesars Palace Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in 1969, and selling the Lum'shot
dog franchises.
• The franchise – and its new owners – were bankrupt by 1982.
11 –Chi-Chi's • When Chi-Chi's opened in the American
Midwest in the 1970s, it enjoyed incredible success as one of the only Mexican-themed
chain restaurants in the region.
• But by 2003, the chain had gained competition, and lost a lot of originality.
• And then they caused the largest Hepatitis-A outbreak in American history at a restaurant
in Pittsburgh, infecting 660 people and killing 4 with contaminated green onions.
• Today, Chi-Chi's only exists as a brand of salsa sold by Hormel.
And nine locations in Belgium, for some reason.
10 –Childs • Childs is one of the first casual dining
chains in the United States, ever.
• It brought restaurant-style dining – which was once a uniquely high-class – at prices
normal people could afford.
It was one of the first chains to maintain a consistent look between branches for branding
recognition.
• Childs peaked in the 1920s and 1930s, but began to tank after owner William Childs
began to shift the menu to his own vegetarian preferences.
• In 1961, it was bought and phased out by the Riese Organization, owners of T.G.I.
Fridays, Applebees, and Dunkin' Donuts.
9 –Steak and Ale • Norman Brinker is the man behind Jack-in-the-Box
and Chili's.
But he's also the man behind the far less-successful Steak and Ale.
• Steak and Ale was one of the first restaurants to feature a self-serve salad bar, and in
1966, it served an 8-ounce steak for a $1.95.
• But Steak and Ale signalled a boom in the fast-casual style of dining, and it couldn't
keep up with its new competition.
• Its last 50 locations closed in 2009, but the owners of Bennigans have bought the
rights to the chain, and are planning to revive it.
8 –Gino's Hamburgers • Gino's Hamburgers was opened by NFL
Hall-of-Famer Gino Marchetti, and became one of the first fast-food restaurants to use
sports as a major selling point in 1957.
• The chain did well, until it was bought by Roy Rogers in 1982, which converted most
of the locations… and then tanked THOSE locations as well.
• The chain was revived in 2010, and now operates two locations in Pennsylvania under
the name "Gino's Burgers and Chicken."
7 –Roy Rogers • Unlike many of these franchises, Roy Rogers
actually somewhat survived its nosedive.
But in 1990, the franchise operated 648 locations.
Today it barely has 50.
• Most of the other 600 locations were sold to Burger King, Wendy's, and Boston Market.
Others were converted to Hardee's.
• The chain may be making a comeback, though, as 8 East Coast franchises opened in 2015
and 2016 alone.
6 –Burger Chef • In a lot of ways, Burger Chef was a better
McDonald's.
The chain pioneered a new technology that could cook burgers faster than anyone: 800
per hour.
• They even pioneered the idea of a "Fun Meal" in 1973 – a kid-sized meal with
a small burger, fries, dessert, drink, and toy.
McDonald's "invented" the Happy Meal six years later.
• The company behind Burger Chef optimistically opened over A THOUSAND locations across the
United States between 1958 and 1972.
• But that overexpansion did them in as a company, and the whole operation was sold
to Hardee's and phased out in 1981.
5 –Minnie Pearl's Chicken • Minnie Pearl's Chicken came up in the
1960s as a competitor – or imitator – to newly-established chain Kentucky Fried Chicken,
and unlike KFC, it had the name of a famous country starlet attached to it.
• The company behind the chain started selling franchises faster than they could open them.
They had sold 300 stores, but only opened five.
• At that point, they took their stock public, and announced two NEW franchise ideas – one
chain named after a gospel singer, and Minnie Pearl's Roast Beef.
• Soon, the company's practice of expand first, run a business later, caught up with
it.
Not only were individual businesses not especially successful, but they were artificially inflating
stock prices by misreporting franchises fees for locations that never opened.
• They became the subject of a federal fraud investigation, and that was the end of Minnie
Pearl's Chicken.
4 –G.D. Ritzy's • G.D. Ritzy's was a Columbus, Ohio-based
chain of 50's diner-themed burger joints.
• The restaurants grew out of a management dispute with a number of local Wendy's franchisees,
who eventually split and opened their own chain together.
• The first location opened in 1980, but all the local restaurants were closed by 1991,
leaving only three operating franchises – in West Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky.
• Plans are currently in motion to re-open a Ritzy's in Columbus at the site of a former
used car lot.
3 –Shrimp Boats • For some reason, this Southeastern US
seafood chain went by two names: The Shrimp Boat – that's BOAT, singular; and Shrimp
Boats – that's BOATS, plural.
• Adding the "S" was apparently an attempt at re-branding… but why?
• And the history of this franchise is even more confusing than that.
Most of the franchises were independently owned, and simply re-branded to become Shrimp
Boats, which means this was barely a chain at all.
• It was more like just a bunch of seafood restaurants that happened to share a name.
Five of them still exist, and the only thing they seem to share in common is the sign.
2 –White Tower • White Tower was a blatant rip-off of White
Castle, developed after its creators investigated the White Castle franchise, and then hired
one of its operators.
They even designed the restaurant with the twin castle towers.
• Despite the obvious infringement, White Tower was fairly successful, expanding even
during the Great Depression and eventually opening 230 locations.
• Eventually, White Castle won a court ruling against their blatant copycats, forcing them
to change their design.
The company eventually imploded, and now the last White Tower sits alone in Toledo, Ohio.
1 –All-Star Cafe • At most, there were only ever 10 locations
of the "Official" All-Star Café.
But you'd never know it, because there was an ALL-OUT BLITZ of advertising about it in
the 1990s.
• It was basically a Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Café, but for sports.
Shaq, Ken Griffey Junior, Wayne Gretzky, and Joe Montana all invested in it and advertised
for it.
• But despite the star power behind it, the All-Star Café opened in 1995, and closed
its final location in 2007, for a total of 12 years
in business.
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