oh I forgot about that from a blazing start these 10 restaurant chains quickly faded into
the sunset for various reasons here are the 10 worst failed chain restaurants that no one misses
Bonanza Steakhouse and Ponderosa Steakhouse this steak is medium rare I asked for it medium Bonanza
Steakhouse blazed onto the scene in 1963 when Dan Blocker opened the restaurant in Westport
Connecticut Locker was well known for his role as Eric Haas Cartwright on the famed television show
Bonanza since the popularity of westerns were at an all-time high Bonanza Steakhouse became
an instant hit with families Bonanza was renowned for its sizzling sirloin and ribeye steaks aside
from steaks they sold buffet style items ranging from chicken to Seafood it says it's all you can
eat well it's all you can eat but what's the difference if I give to somebody else in the
mid 60s the small chain was sold and then expanded to over 600 locations across the U.S around the
same time Bonanza opened Ponderosa Steakhouse open it was named after the fictional Ranch on Bonanza
competition between the two chains was initially intense however the Rivalry came to an abrupt end
in 1989 when the two chains merged however after several decades of success interest faded in the
two restaurants in 1997 Bonanza Steakhouse and Ponderosa Steakhouse were purchased by Metro
media family steakhouses the company went bankrupt in 2008 closing down most locations while there
are still a few in existence they are sparse and mostly found in small towns on the east coast and
Midwest chichis we only really serve Mexican food Gigi's brought Mexican Cuisine to the American
Market in 1975 at the time if you wanted Mexican food you had to go to Taco Bell or you could
make it on your own recognizing the market void Gigi's became known for serving Tex-Mex food in
a brightly lit inviting atmosphere while the food wasn't considered traditional Mexican Cuisine it's
American spin made the chain very popular Chichi's first deer generated two million dollars in sales
after 10 years they expanded to 200 locations throughout North America however by the late 80s
and early 90s other mexican-inspired chains began to emerge nationally despite doing a brand revamp
and exploring newer markets in 2003 sales began to dwindle to further complicate matters three
people died and 600 customers became ill when they consumed green onions tainted with hepatitis A at
a Chichi's location it's all downhill from here attempting to overcome the bad publicity and low
sales the once vibrant Americanized Tex-Mex chain tried to survive by adopting various gimmicks the
restaurant quickly Fell From Grace as consumers were tired of their cringe-worthy commercials
they eventually filed for bankruptcy Kenny Rogers Roasters check it out wow Kenny Rogers
Roasters finally open in 1991 country music star Kenny Rogers joined forces with businessmen and
former KFC executive John Brown opening Kenny Rogers Roasters the restaurant first opened
in Florida becoming an instant success Kenny Rogers Roasters quickly became a pop culture
icon in fact the restaurant was so popular that it even featured on an episode of Seinfeld This
restaurant chain quickly expanded to 350 locations globally within a few years however their road
to success came with some bumps in 1992 Cluckers wood roasted chicken filed a lawsuit against the
company for stealing their wood roasted chicken idea not cool the suit was settled in 1994 when
Kenny Rogers Roasters bought a majority stake in the company in addition to the lawsuit they also
experienced competition from Boston chicken and their rotisserie chicken Kenny Rogers Roasters
ended up filing for bankruptcy in 1998 the restaurant chain was later purchased by Nathan's
Famous who sold it again in 2008 to an overseas franchise first time here then become an official
babbletopper by hitting that subscribe button hey it's free now let's get back to business The Show
Goes On Planet Hollywood Welcome to Hollywood when Planet Hollywood was launched people were
literally seeing Stars the restaurant began in 1991 when steamed restaurants were at an all-time
high this restaurant was all things Hollywood it started with the backing of actors Bruce Willis
Sylvester Stallone Arnold Schwarzenegger Whoopi Goldberg and Demi Moore who had a 17 ownership
each celebrity made guest appearances at openings and would drop in at various locations to dine
this generated customer excitement as guests wondered who would show up and when after a
year Planet Hollywood opens three more locations in Southern California London and Chicago each
subsequent year the restaurant chain continued to expand so with all this Fanfare what went wrong
to keep their stockholders content ownership quickly expanded by adding more restaurants
globally however this rapid expansion was too much to maintain opening new branches cost two million
dollars and the return on investment took two longer recover long long long long long long in
1999 Planet Hollywood stock was delisted forcing investors and the restaurant to declare bankruptcy
in response the company downsized and reorganized Planet Hollywood this decreased locations from 87
to 35 branches globally while it allowed the stock to be re-listed after a few years the
restaurant went broke again this leaves a measly six restaurant locations still in operation today
All-Star Cafe hello Hollywood when All-Star Cafe first opened it was a home run with sports
fans this sports themed restaurant opened in Times Square in 1995. All-Star Cafe appealed
to tourists and later expanded into the Las Vegas Strip and Cancun the owners of Planet Hollywood
conceived the idea of creating a sports restaurant to further enhance their existing theme restaurant
portfolio All-Star Cafe provided familiar Stadium Cuisine to its customers and sold sports souvenir
years as a side business well-known athletes like Joe Montana Wayne Gretzky Tiger Woods Andre Agassi
and Shaquille O'Neal were All-Star Cafe investors this brought in sports fans in droves however in
1998 themed restaurants began to lose their appeal furthermore of the bad service and overpriced menu
items were resulting in the chain losing customers sorry you guys but I can't pay that it's too much
money with fewer people coming to the restaurant multiple closures ensued and Planet Hollywood
eventually sold the chain the change in ownership didn't do much good as the chains soon vanished
completely from the landscape ESPN Zone ESPN baby ESPN Zone was an entertainment center and
theme restaurant chain across the United States this restaurant contained TV studios arcades
and radio Studios it was also operated by Disney Regional Entertainment to increase Pleasure Island
attractions it was designed to give people an ESPN experience at Disney World game changer however
despite initial discussions with ESPN the project took time to approve ESPN Club did come to Walt
Disney World in 1996 containing 13 000 square feet of Television screens as a boardwalk entertainment
space at this time Disney purchased ABC and ESPN was part of the deal the restaurant project got
the green light originally called ESPN grill with openings across major cities it was later renamed
ESPN Zone denoting more than one venue in 2009 their Denver and Atlanta locations closed one
year later only two restaurants existed while the ESPN Zone restaurants are no longer up and running
ESPN club and ESPN Grill locations can still be found at Disney World Rainforest Cafe Welcome to
the Jungle essay this jungle themed restaurant was first opened in the Mall of America in 1994
and was designed to generate an atmosphere of a tropical rainforest the Rainforest Cafe
contained fog machines plant growth rainforest animals brick textures to did ancient ruins while
support fillers were tree trunks waterfalls containing a fountain were in the dining area
aquariums containing tropical fish dotted the restaurant and gift shop simulated thunderstorms
occurred every 20 minutes and used strobe lights with thunder effects coming through subwoofers
you thunder you can suck my the Rainforest Cafe was unique and captivating to customers its most
famous dish was the sparkling chocolate volcano in 1997 they had six restaurants with another
12 restaurants planned to open the following year however Rainforest Cafe struggled to remain ahead
of other themed restaurants after a splashy start to date only one half still exist in the United
States in an interview in the year 2000 with the San Francisco Chronicle the location's former
director of operations cited that their demise was due to the challenge of animatronic repairs since
they required someone with specialized skills Howard Johnson's so I must make my hotel of
dreams like every other Howard Johnson did you know that Howard Johnson's began as a pharmacy
taking a slow path to success it was founded in 1925 by Howard Deering Johnson the store's format
only changed once the owner noted the success the soda fountain was bringing in Johnson soon
created an ice cream recipe to capitalize on its popularity by increasing the butter fat
content it was soon added to their offerings to increase sales the ice cream sandwiches
in 1935 his roadside soda fountain was born the pharmacy soon grew to include concession stands
later evolving to sit-down dining restaurants and even hotels in the 60s and 70s the Howard
Johnson's restaurant chain was launched as time progressed they began selling franchise rights
to those who agreed to copy the main restaurants every detail including the orange roofed buildings
eventually Howard Johnson said 28 different flavors of ice cream which later became their
claim to fame while the restaurant became a huge success it started to slowly Decline and by 2009
870 locations had been paired down to three in New York State and Maine the final restaurant shut
down in 2017. however there are still over 200 Howard Johnson hotels scattered Across the Nation
Red Barn there's a barn what is your fascination with Barnes America was quickly becoming a fast
food nation during the 60s Red Barn was among the companies that attained notoriety during
this decade 8. this restaurant was known for its burgers and while popular this chain was smaller
than its competitors who were more prominent nationally in addition to their hamburgers
this restaurant featured fish sandwiches fried chicken and a salad bar with a country theme
and barn shaped locations customers were initially attracted by their catchy jingle when the hungrys
hit hit the red barn the restaurant was launched originally in 1961 during the restaurant's Heyday
they boasted 400 restaurants in 22 States Australia and Canada however despite their
growing popularity they couldn't compete with larger restaurant chains unlike the others Red
Barn went out of business simply because it didn't have the finances to compete with the
larger more popular chains in 1986 they filed for bankruptcy protection I declare
bankruptcy by then they had dwindled to operating only 22 Outlets despite trying
to revive the restaurant with a new marketing plan new products and Renovations Red Barn closed its
doors for good in 1988. Burger Chef sounds good boss please call me Chef that's funny
Chef thank you almost as big as McDonald's at one time the American fast food chain Burger
Chef opened in 1954 and reached its peak in the 70s Burger Chef was known for its signature items
like the super chef and Big Chef flame broiled Burgers they began opening restaurants across
the U.S with the strategy of only going into smaller towns however 1972 marked Burger Chef's
downfall as their number of locations were surpassed by rival McDonald's McDonald's was
their fiercest competitor and they now had 1600 locations versus Burger chefs 1200 Burger Chef
tried to remain competitive by introducing the fun meal their signature kids meal offering a
burger fries drink and a toy this was almost one decade before the McDonald's Happy Meal
they also added the works bar where people could customize their burgers with their own
condiments in 1979 McDonald's introduced their version of the fun meal calling it The Happy
Meal this caused Burger Chef to Sue I was you for all your worth ultimately Burger Chef lost
eventually the restaurant just couldn't compete with McDonald's growth in 1982 Burger Chef was
sold to the company that owned Hardee's and most Burger Chef locations became Hardy's restaurants
those which didn't get converted were closed how sad is that first time here then leave us
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