List of defunct fast-food restaurant chains explained

This is a list of defunct fast-food chains. A restaurant chain is a set of related restaurants with the same name in many different locations that are either under shared corporate ownership (e.g., McDonald's in the U.S.) or franchising agreements. Typically, the restaurants within a chain are built to a standard format through architectural prototype development and offer a standard menu and/or services.

Defunct fast-food restaurant chains

• Ameche's Drive-in Five suburban locations in metropolitan Baltimore.
• Burger Chef
• Burger Queen/Druther's chain based in Louisville, Kentucky. It was originally named Burger Queen until 1981 from when it was renamed Druther's. It became a regional Dairy Queen franchise in 1991; a lone franchised location in Campbellsville, Kentucky, is the only survivor
• Carrols chain in western New York State and Pennsylvania with 150 stores at its peak in the 1960s; featured the Club Burger and sold popular Looney Tunes drinking glasses^[1]
• Chicken George
• Chooks Fresh & Tasty
• Clock
• D'Lites
• Dee's Drive-In
• Doggie DinerDoggie Diner was a small fast food restaurant chain serving hot dogs and hamburgers in San Francisco and Oakland, California that operated from 1948 to 1986, owned by Al Ross.
• Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour
• Forum Cafeterias
• Geri's Hamburgers
• Gino's Hamburgers
• Henry's Hamburgers, with the only remaining location in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
• Horn & Hardart
• Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S. throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with more than 1,000 combined company-owned and franchised outlets.^[2] Today, the chain is defunct—after dwindling down to one location, the last Howard Johnson's restaurant (in Lake George, New York) closed during the 2022 COVID pandemic.^[3]
• Judy's Home Style Hamburgers & Fixins identical in all aspects to Wendy's with blue being the main color instead of the red of Wendy's. Mascot was named for a girl Judy. Lawsuit from Dave Thomas of Wendy's shut the franchise down ^[4]
• Kenny Rogers Roasters still active outside the USA but no American franchisees exist today.
  • La Petite Boulangerie Little Tavern
• Lum's
• Mighty Casey's
• Naugles acquired by Del Taco in 1988;^[5] all locations were closed or converted by 1995; fans and new investors attempted to revive the brand in 2015^[6]
• Noon Mediterranean
• Pioneer Chicken
• Pizza Haven Australian pizza chain^{[7] [8] [9]}
• Pumper Nic chain in Argentina; founded in 1974 and closed in 1999
• Pup 'N' Taco
• Red Barn
• Royal Castle one franchise location survived after chain was liquidated in 1975^[10]
• Sambo's
• Sandy's
• ShowBiz Pizza Place Merged into Chuck E. Cheese
• The Training Table was a regional chain of fast food restaurants in the U.S. State of Utah. Founded in 1977, the chain focused on gourmet burgers. The chain had five locations in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area.
• Steak and Ale
• Two Pesos
• Wag's
• Wetson's
• White Tower Hamburgers one location remains in Toledo, Ohio
• Wimpy Grills founded in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1934, it eventually grew to 25 locations within the United States and 1,500 outside of the US. The international locations were eventually sold to J. Lyons and Co. in the United Kingdom, which remains open, while all of the American locations eventually closed by 1978.^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}
• Winky's a Pittsburgh institution in the 1960s and 1970s that filed for bankruptcy in 1982^[15]
• Yankee Doodle Dandy

See also

• List of defunct restaurants of the United States
• List of defunct retailers of the United States
• List of fast food restaurant chains
• List of restaurant chains
• Lists of restaurants

Notes and References

1. News: Whatever Happened To ... Carrols? . . January 23, 2014 . Morrell . Alan.
2. News: The last Howard Johnson's restaurant is for sale. The Economist. 2020-04-14. 0013-0613.
3. News: Chandler. Adam. The Very Last Howard Johnson's. 10 September 2016. The Atlantic. 9 September 2016.
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxRq8d13MXo "Jim Cornette on Fast Food"
5. News: Ganging Up on Taco Bell: Restaurateur Will Merge Del Taco, Naugles to Battle Industry Leader . . February 2, 1988 . Mary Ann . Galante.
6. News: Fast food hero or failure? Naugles' co-owner faces fan support and backlash . . August 5, 2015 . Nancy . Luna . There was a possibility that we could have opened and had a small trickle of customers come only once or twice and then forget about it. Then Naugles would have breathed its last dying breath and be gone for good..
7. News: Eagle Boys devours Pizza Haven . 2008-07-18 . . 26 June 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120221225513/http://news.smh.com.au/business/eagle-boys-devours-pizza-haven-20080718-3he0.html . 21 February 2012 .
8. News: Đồ chơi gỗ . Đồ chơi gỗ . April 30, 2010 . Hằng . Nguyễn.
9. News: Đồ chơi gỗ Mother Garden . Đồ chơi gỗ . April 30, 2010 . Hằng . Nguyễn.
10. News: Polk's Business: Royal Castle Wants To Quit . . April 10, 1975 . 6B . Peter . Fiero.
11. News: Edward V. Gold, 70, the Founder Of the Wimpy's Restaurant Chain . . October 16, 1977 . 42 . . subscription. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
12. News: Restaurant Chain Formed . . April 5, 1957 . 50 . . subscription. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
13. News: Wimpy's for sale; is there 2d Ray Kroc? . . July 28, 1978 . D9 . George . Lazarus . Alternate Link via ProQuest.
14. News: Edward V. Gold, 'Wimpy' Entrepreneur . . October 17, 1977 . C6 . . subscription. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
15. News: Winky Woes: Sewickley-Based Chain Is Trying To Make The Best Of Bankruptcy . . July 8, 1982 . S9 . Tim . McDonough.