Even the most beloved names aren't immune to the cutthroat restaurant industry. Once-popular
chains can go belly-up and restaurants helmed by the biggest celebrity chefs in the business
can fail to thrive. Here's why these restaurants closed in the past decade.
When you get a craving for take-out chicken these days, chances are you'll head to KFC,
Popeyes or Boston Market. But beginning in the '90s, there was another chicken option
on the market: Kenny Rogers Roasters. The chain was started by country singer Kenny
Rogers, who was inspired by John Y. Brown's success with KFC, and who wanted to provide
a healthier chicken option to hungry diners.
Kenny Rogers Roasters specialized in rotisserie chicken, and at one point was so famous that
it was even featured in an episode of Seinfeld. But the last U.S. location of the once-popular
chicken chain, which at one point in the 1990s had more than 300 restaurants, shut its doors
in 2011.
"Kenny? Kenny!"
However, even though Kenny Rogers Roasters has disappeared from the U.S. market, it has
found a second life in Asia. There are now more than 400 Kenny Rogers Roasters spread
across the Philippines, Malaysia, China, and India, and the chain is still expanding. Kenny
Rogers Roasters may have disappeared from the USA in 2011, but those who still crave
a rotisserie chicken meal with all the fixins just have to book a plane ticket to the other
side of the world to get their fix.
The Four Seasons restaurant inside the iconic Four Seasons hotel in New York City opened
in 1959, and for decades was one of the fanciest spots in town to catch a meal. It was frequented
by celebrities including John F. Kennedy, Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters, Norman Mailer,
Warren Buffet, and Nora Ephron. It seems like such a famous restaurant would never face
the same perils of other businesses in the industry, but the Four Seasons Restaurant
closed in 2016 after a lost lease forced the owners to relocate.
The restaurant reopened just three blocks away from its original location in 2018, but
unfortunately, a Four Seasons Restaurant not located in the actual Four Seasons hotel just
couldn't make it in today's restaurant world, not even with the $30 million in help from
their investment partners, and the new location shut its doors in 2019. Diners who still want
to get a meal at the Four Seasons hotel can do so at The Garden or at Ty Bar.
Tom Colicchio may be best known these days as one of the judges on Bravo's Top Chef but
he's also a celebrated chef in his own right. He opened his restaurant, Craft, in New York
in 2001. He's even been the recipient of the James Beard "Outstanding Chef" award, and
is also known for his philanthropic work around food insecurity and school lunches in the
US. Since opening the highly regarded Craft, he's opened a few other successful eateries,
but one of his projects, Colicchio & Sons, wasn't so lucky.
Colicchio & Sons opened in 2010 in an attempt to rebrand a pricey steak restaurant during
the economic downturn, but it turns out that even lowering costs and reducing portion sizes
couldn't make the restaurant turn a profit. The restaurant was forced to close in 2016.
Softening the blow, Colicchio opened up his New York restaurant Temple Court a month later,
an eatery which is still thriving, in spite of a scandal when it first opened with the
name Fowler & Wells, after a publishing company that, it turns out, was a proponent of the
racist pseudoscience phrenology.
Colicchio fans can also enjoy the celebrity chef's food at one of his other Crafted Hospitality
restaurants, or by picking up one of his cookbooks.
The popular Kogi Korean BBQ food truck in Los Angeles is the brainchild of chef Roy
Choi, and he tried something new when he teamed up with Daniel Patterson in 2016 to open Locol.
Locol was intended to be a healthier alternative to fast food restaurants, offering high-quality,
healthful, casual food like chili, burgers with tofu, and tacos called "foldies." The
restaurant initially opened up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, and Choi said
that he hoped that someday there would be a million Locols across the country. His employees
were hopeful, too.
"We tryin' to be here for 20, 30, 40, 50 years. Like McDonald's, you know?"
But it wasn't meant to be. Just two and a half years after the first restaurant opened,
all of their brick-and-mortar locations closed.
Choi may not be entirely done with Locol, however. In late 2019, he announced that he
was starting a delivery app called Chewbox, and that the food from Locol's original menu
would be available to order through the app.
In 2013, Chipotle secretly invested in Denver-area fast-casual pizza chain Pizzeria Locale. The
company fought to keep the partnership secret for almost two-and-a-half years, apparently
because it didn't want news of the experiment to affect its stock price.
Pizzas at Pizzeria Locale were made in a Chipotle-like assembly-line model, with several pre-made
topping combo options. The pizzas cooked up in just two minutes after being assembled,
and could be enjoyed with wine served on tap.
The pizza chain expanded outside of Denver and eventually had restaurants throughout
the Midwest. But in 2018, the chain announced that it would be closing five Pizzeria Locale
restaurants, keeping just two of the Denver locations and the original Colorado location
open. According to the head chef, they decided to close the out-of-state restaurants to focus
on expanding in Denver.
Pizzeria Locale wasn't Chipotle's only foray into the restaurant world beyond burritos.
In 2011, it opened Shophouse Asian Kitchen, a chain The Motley Fool called Chipotle's
"next huge opportunity" at the time. It was a fast-casual restaurant that served noodles
and rice bowls inspired by the cuisines of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Unfortunately, it seems that customers weren't ready for the chain's take on Asian flavors,
which featured fresh ingredients and nuanced flavors a far cry from the sweet, fried orange
chicken at Panda Express.
In 2017, the chain closed all of its locations, and announced on its website that it was,
quote, "Closed. Like, forever closed." That's sad news for fans of Shophouse Asian Kitchen
who may have hoped that the chain would someday see the light in another form. Chipotle may
have been looking to cut costs after a few years of health scandals. Or perhaps Shophouse
locations were too dispersed across the country, so it never achieved the brand recognition
it would have needed to be a success.
Jamie Oliver is a British chef and television star known for his cooking shows, cookbooks,
and involvement in programs that give culinary experience opportunities to underprivileged
youth. He's also known for advocating for healthier school lunches both in Britain and
the U.S. One thing he wasn't able to do? Keep his Italian restaurant chain, Jamie's Italian,
afloat.
The chain first reported trouble in 2017, when it was hurt after the Brexit vote. The
cost of imported ingredients rose and the value of the British pound fell. Oliver invested
12.7 million pounds of his own money to keep the chain afloat, and also secured a loan,
but it wasn't enough. He was forced to put his business into administration to protect
against bankruptcy in 2019, closing all but three of his restaurants in the UK, which
also meant that more than 1,000 workers found themselves without a job.
"I've been so stressed. I've been-"
Those who really fancy Oliver's take on Italian cuisine can still get a taste at one of his
25 international locations of Jamie's Italian, thanks to contracts with food service giant
Aramark and other franchisees.
Like we need to tell you, Gordon Ramsay is one of the biggest celebrity chefs in the
world. He's received multiple Michelin stars, both as a chef for hire and at his own restaurants.
So how did his Los Angeles restaurant, Fat Cow, fail so spectacularly?
Fat Cow opened in Los Angeles in 2012 and immediately faced problems. Not only was the
food panned by critics in LA Weekly, who said it wasn't worth the high price tag nor better
than your standard mall restaurant fare, but there were personnel problems to deal with,
too.
Though the restaurant allegedly closed due to trademark issues over the name, it was
mired with legal troubles while it was open. First, Ramsay was sued by a contractor who
claimed they were shorted about $45,000 for their work. Then, a class-action lawsuit was
filed by employees who said they weren't paid minimum wage, didn't get overtime pay, and
were forced to skip meal breaks. Even after the closure, the restaurant caused trouble
for Ramsay, who was sued by one of his business partners for $10 million.
Carla Hall started out as a runway model, tried her hand at catering, competed on two
seasons of Bravo's Top Chef, became a co-host on the food talk show The Chew, and, eventually,
opened up her own restaurant. Carla Hall's Southern Kitchen was a fast-casual restaurant
specializing in Nashville hot chicken in a trendy Brooklyn neighborhood. But the restaurant,
which was in the works for two and a half years before opening, closed after just a
year, in 2017.
The restaurant faced several challenges, including a fire that caused a temporary closure, followed
by the general manager leaving, followed by a temporary closure to "retool" the restaurant
that turned into a permanent closing. Hall says that there were several factors that
contributed to the restaurant's closure, including the fact that she didn't have a traditional
investment partner to begin with. She initially relied on Kickstarter funding, which caused
a huge social media backlash.
"Hootie hoo, Kickstarters!"
She also said that the location, though it came with a reasonable rent, was too far from
the center of the city to attract the number of customers needed to keep the business afloat.
Hall also acknowledged that though she's got serious cooking chops, she had never opened
or run a restaurant before, meaning there was a huge learning curve for her. Next time,
and she doesn't rule out there being a next time, she says she'll be sure not to make
the same mistakes.
Some celebrity-helmed restaurants end up closing because they open in locations with too little
foot traffic. Other times, the price of scoring a primo location is so high that it causes
an otherwise successful restaurant to shut its doors.
Such was the case with Guy Fieri's American Kitchen & Bar in New York City's Times Square.
The restaurant itself seemed like a financial success, raking in $17 million in sales annually,
but it turns out that with a rent of an estimated $1.8 million a year, it just couldn't sustain
itself in its location. The restaurant would have needed to make $30 million annually to
turn a profit, considering its other operational costs.
Still, the restaurant was open for five years before it closed in 2017. And though the food
at the restaurant was critically panned, the New York Times called the Awesome Pretzel
Chicken Tenders "very far from awesome", it managed to weather the reviews and stay in
business for nearly half a decade.
These days, Fieri fans have a wealth of dining options outside of Time Square, at 17 restaurants
nationally and as far away as Mexico and South Africa. Or, they can enjoy the chef's antics
from their couches, watching him on his shows Guy's Grocery Games and Diners, Drive-Ins,
and Dives.
Mario Batali was one of the biggest names in the food world, starring in shows on Food
Network, co-hosting the popular ABC talk show The Chew, and running several popular restaurants.
But his name became infamous after an expose published by Eater revealed that four former
employees were accusing the chef of sexual misconduct. The story became graver still
after a 60 Minutes piece uncovered more allegations, and the New York Police Department opened
an investigation into the accusations.
Soon, it was announced that Batali's three Las Vegas restaurants would be closing, after
the Palazzo and Venetian resort casinos decided to end their relationship with the Batali
& Bastianich Hospitality Group following the allegations.
Then, in 2019, it was announced that Batali would be giving up his stake in all of his
restaurants and in Eataly, after being bought out by his partners. His former partners in
the B & B Hospitality Group said that the chef, quote, "will no longer profit from the
restaurants in any way, shape or form."
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