I declare bankruptcy no matter how good some restaurants just weren't meant to survive with
that said here are 15 chain restaurants that vanished Across America cheat cheese we only
really serve Mexican food you'd be hard-pressed to find someone out there that doesn't enjoy the
occasional stop at a good Mexican restaurant after all Mexican Cuisine is one of the most
beloved styles of cooking in America oh Mexican food so it may have come as a bit
of a shock when the well-established Mexican food chain chichis began to vanish Across the Nation
debuting in Minneapolis in the mid-1970s their slogan was the celebration of food and chichis
soon expanded to over 200 locations across the country unfortunately a series of poor management
decisions stiff competition and an outbreak of hepatitis A led to the once prosperous Mexican
food chain going the way of the dinosaur with popular items such as fried ice cream adorning the
menu chichis was not only a fun Mexican experience but also a delicious one fortunately hope is not
entirely lost for those who love Chi-Chi's has a select few locations can still be found across the
pond in Europe Red Barn there's a barn what is your fascination with Barnes Fred Barn was one
of those chains that stood out from the rest with its restaurants resembling well you guessed it red
barns obviously the chain debuted in the early 60s and came complete with a self-serve salad
bar and signature Burgers they're big Barney and the barn Buster resembled the most recognizable
burgers in the country the Big Mac and the Whopper respectively at its peak Red Barn had hundreds of
locations nationwide and even a few International locations in both Australia and Canada however
due to multiple changes in ownership and changes in customer eating habits Red Barn was all but
finished by the end of the 80s while the franchise did attempt to revamp its menu and update its
image it was too little too late for Red Barn Howard nonsense so I must make my hotel of dreams
like every other Howard Johnson it may be hard to imagine now but at one time Howard Johnson's
is one of the largest franchises in the country started as a small news stand and soda fountain
shop in the 1920s the future chain would undergo a complete overhaul when Howard Dearing Johnson
took over the business after his father passed away Johnson renamed the future chain turning
the small Outlet into a giant franchise with a secret weapon a revamped ice cream recipe the
ice cream sandwiches is business exploded soon after with a large expansion across the country
as eager customers lined up to sample the 28 radically different flavors of ice cream and
enjoy a casual dining experience unfortunately the franchise fell victim to the streamlining
and evolution of the fast food business model with chains like McDonald's leading the way this forced
Howard Johnson's to lose momentum and eventually disappear Steak and Ale you know what they say
about tenderloin I was a risky options got to be done just just right there's a large portion
of the country that enjoys a nice juicy steak however your average Steakhouse can be a bit
on the pricey side sorry you guys but I can't pay that it's too much money fortunately a man by the
name of Norman Brinker the same man responsible for other successful franchises such as Chili's
and Jack in the Box founded Steak and Ale in the mid 60s this place for steak served up Steakhouse
quality for an affordable price Steak and Ale was also responsible for men any restaurant
Innovations such as the introduction of free refills dinner items at a lower cost during lunch
and an all-you-can-eat salad bar with the many Innovations and reasonably priced steak it's no
wonder that Steak and Ale locations started to pop up all over America unfortunately there's a reason
those fancy steakhouses charge as much as they do for their quality cuts of beef this combined with
the growing competition meant that Steak and Ale wasn't able to continue with the low-cost stake
business model closing entirely in the late 2000s first time here well we're not going to vanish so
take a quick second to hit that subscribe button thanks so much beefsteak Charlie's so then I went
over to beef steak Julie's please take Charlie's yes two words unlimited everything add to that a
specialty steak sandwich with a lineage going back to the first decade of the 20th century and you
have the racing themed new york-born beef steak Charlie's noise the chain grew to include over
60 locations across the east coast of the United States and prove that there isn't a
person out there that doesn't find the prospect of unlimited salad beer wine and sangria very
appealing unfortunately the practice of offering unlimited supplies of food can get rather costly
which the chain found out the hard way while beef steak Charlie's lasted a respectable 60-plus years
satisfying customers with their never-ending food supply the chain ended up filing for
bankruptcy in the late 1980s the last remaining location finally closed in the late 2000s with
the endless everything finally coming to an end VIPs just waiting for my breakfast
Louis it can be tough pulling an all-nighter on the road especially if you find yourself
wanting something to eat that isn't a fast food Burger that's where VIPs came to the rescue not
fast food good food quickly VIPs was one of the first 24-hour restaurant chains in America with
strategically placed locations along major interstates VIPs offered popular truck stop
food all along the U.S Northeast and would eventually make its way as far west as Nevada
and California the chain was also beneficial to road tripping tourists offering free maps and
encouraging their staff to inform visitors of the best places to visit unfortunately the chain was
far too similar to rival restaurant chain Denny's and ultimately VIPs vanished across the country
somewhat ironically Denny's bought up most of the VIP Restaurant locations thank you for asking Rosa
it's for my hot dog when your establishment is known for such cooking practices as beer steamed
hot dogs it's a safe bet that you're going to create a buzz and that's exactly what Lums was
able to do the restaurant chain first opened in Miami and offered the aforementioned beer-themed
hot dogs along with other tasty Classics such as Sherry infused sauerkraut which topped the drunken
hot dog and the 32 spice blend Ollie burger from 1956 to 1969. Lums was doing so well that the
founding brother Duo Clifford and Stuart Perlman decided to buy Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas for
60 million dollars before ultimately selling the chain unfortunately a fun and unique menu
wasn't enough to save the doomed franchise once again we can thank the changing owners for Lums
finally filing for bankruptcy and disappearing into the sunset Henry's Hamburgers hamburgers
the Cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast sure hamburgers are plentiful across the country now
but in the mid 50s it was pretty much just about a few promising upstarts Burger King McDonald's
and Henry's Henry's actually opened its doors a year before McDonald's and was well on its way
to opening more locations with 35 restaurants popping up in the Chicago area alone Chicago
oh the Big Apple by the time the 60s rolled around there were more Henry's locations than
both McDonald's and Burger King across the country sadly nothing lasts forever and in
Henry's case the hamburger chain eventually succumbed to the Giant Burger franchises and
began to vanish Nationwide by the 1970s however not all the Henry's locations have gone the way
of the dodo there is one Henry's still serving up hamburgers shakes and Fries but you'll have to
take a trip to Michigan to eat there Burger Chef sounds good boss please call me Chef that's funny
Chef thank you Burger Chef was one of the fast rising Burger chains to first open its doors back
in the mid-1950s at its peak the chain had over 1200 locations with McDonald's being the only
other franchise that boasted a larger number of outlets Burger Chef was also responsible for many
fast food Innovations such as the Flame Broiler which gave the chain the ability to serve up close
to 1 000 Burgers per hour the franchise was also the first to offer a burger fries and drink combo
which it called the triple threat long before the other chains game and a fun meal for kids
hmm sound familiar unfortunately the growing competition was too much for the once Mighty
Burger chain and the company was sold to Hardee's at the beginning of the 80s for 44 million big
ones Little Tavern the promissory will continue to serve horrifying artery clogging hamburger most of
us find Burgers to be enjoyable relatively cheap and maybe even a tad fun this has made all the
more true when you sink your teeth into the tiny palm-sized burger that is the slider you won't
find many franchises that specialize in sliders nowadays and the same could be said about days
gone by however there were two chains proudly serving up many burgers in the U.S White Castle
and Little Tavern what was Little Tavern in many ways Little Tavern was the East Coast's answer
to White Castle both chains had a similar castle building construction and both Burger franchises
offered sliders of the squared variety I see what you did there but while White Castle continues
to thrive little Tavern wasn't able to carve out enough of a niche to survive despite once having
over 40 locations to its name Little Tavern was forced to close all locations in the late 2000s
Brown Derby Welcome to Hollywood one of the most iconic restaurants due in no small part
to its instantly recognizable building shape was definitely the Brown Derby debuting in Los
Angeles back in 1926 the Brown Derby served up delicious food to the biggest Hollywood stars
of the early 20th century while becoming an LA Landmark the hat-shaped restaurant spawned three
additional locations and was responsible for some Classics such as the cobb salad and the
Shirley Temple all while displaying a myriad of celebrity caricatures on the walls however as
time changed the Allure of the Brown Derby began to fade and combined with increasing La rents as
well as other Financial setbacks the restaurant ended up fading away You're a month late again
again luckily anyone out there wishing for the Brown Derby experience there exists a Brown Derby
tribute at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando so the Brown Derby Spirit lives on all thanks to
the house of mouse Pizza Haven look at this thing it's all hot and glowy I'll never have cold pizza
again Pizza is one of the most popular foods in America and there's definitely no shortage
of pizza options to be found the modern day Pizza Pie is also enjoyed overseas with many
countries offering their own National chains one of those chains was the Australian and New Zealand
franchise Pizza Haven Australia Mike the pizza chain from Down Under first opened its doors in
the early 80s and thrived for 20 years serving up hot slices to Hungry Aussies and Kiwis alike
unfortunately the chain was eventually sold to the two biggest pizza chains on the planet with
Domino's purchasing the New Zealand locations in 2006 and Pizza Hut buying the Australian locations
in 2008 the four Cristo Brothers responsible for the creation of pizza Haven worked hard to build
up their franchise and hopefully the two largest pizza chains paid a hefty sum for the efforts
wetsons matter of fact is the best burger I've had in years wetsons first appeared on the burger
scene amid the rising chain such as McDonald's Burger Kings and a few others in the early 60s
by that time the fast food Burger Market was thick with competition but wetsons was able to hold its
own offering a 15 cent signature burger called the Big W and 10 cent fries to Hungry customers for
16 years the chain experienced a large expansion during those years with 70 locations opening up
across New York however wetsons would eventually be taken down by the other larger chains forcing
the restaurant to completely disappear in 1975. how sad is that while the company did attempt to
merger with Nathan's Foods it wasn't enough to stop the competition from dominating the market
White Tower there's a difference between being similar and a flat out rip-off unfortunately
White Tower falls under the category of rip-off Shameless the Milwaukee chain debuted just a few
years after White Castle and shares the same castle design and even similar name choices
as the aforementioned mini burger chain however this was something White Castle also noticed and
they didn't take the similarities lightly White Castle sued White Tower in the 30s which forced
the franchise to change its image surprisingly this didn't stop White Tower from thriving as
the franchise ended up with close to 300 locations at its peak unfortunately the chain finally came
to an end in 2008 Kenny Rogers Roasters check it out wow Kenny Rogers Roasters finally open
what's the first thing you think of when you hear the name Kenny Rogers The Beard
The Voice classic country songs like The Gambler likely all of the above but how about a 9 nice
rotisserie chicken likely not however the country singer-songwriter was involved in more than just
the singing business in the early 90s Rogers along with a former KFC CEO created Kenny Rogers
Roasters a rotisserie chicken restaurant that served up wood roasted golden Birds
unfortunately the chain suffered a minor setback when rival chicken chain Cluckers
sued Rogers for using the wood roasting cooking method Rogers responded by purchasing a majority
stake in cloggers sadly the bad fortune didn't end there due to stiff competition
from the established chicken chains like KFC and Popeyes Kenny Rogers Roasters ended up filing for
bankruptcy in the late 90s the chain was bought and sold a few times before finally disappearing
Nationwide however all is not lost as there are a few locations that are still thriving
internationally Gotta Stay optimistic you know stay right here and tap or click another
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