10 Vanishing American Restaurant Chains

[Flying Horse]

The majority of the restaurant chains on our list have filed for bankruptcy over the past decade. Parent companies close large numbers of restaurants, as was seen with Ground Round Grill & Bar, Big Boy, and Bakers Square. These bankruptcies have left 1000s of people without jobs. They also have, in some cases, lead to restaurant brands changing corporate hands.
Economic factors also contributed to this drop in restaurant attendance at these establishments. The recession has hit restaurants especially hard. Most of the bankruptcies declared by the companies on this list were filed in 2007 or later. When times are tough, small luxuries such as dining out may be cut. And restaurants whose customers no longer value them as relevant or exciting face the worst of this.
These are America’s disappearing restaurant chains
1. Bennigan's Grill & Tavern - an Irish-themed, casual dinning restaurant. The company closed its 160 corporate-owned locations, laying off approximately 10,000 employees in the process. Of the 138 franchised locations that avoided the bankruptcy filing, only 35 remained as of 2010.
2. Ground Round Grill & Bar - casual dining that served burgers, steaks, Tex Mex and more. In February 2004, the restaurant’s parent company cease operations at 59 company-owned restaurants on a Friday night before the dinner rush. The 72 franchise locations remained open. Ground Round is now owned by Independent Owners Cooperative, LLC, a group of 30 franchise owners. As of 2010, only 25 Ground Rounds remained in business.
3. Bakers Square - casual dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner, best known for its pies. The company, VICORP now American Blue Ribbon Holdgins, closed 56 stores, including the original Bakers Square in Des Moines, Iowa. Only 45 Bakers Square restaurants remain, compared to the 148 that existed in 2001.
4. Damon's Grill & Sports Bar - emphasized prime rib, grilled steaks, chicken, seafood, salad and Damon's award-winning ribs. The chain had 137 restaurants in 2001, but only 86 in 2007. The company has begun reformatting its restaurants, altering their interiors, menus, and logo. Today, however, there are only 38 Damon’s.
5. Don Pablo's - serves Tex Mex food. Avado Brinds, Inc. sold off a number of its assets, including many buildings that were subsequently auctioned off to other restaurants, such as Buffalo Wild Wings. From 2001 to 2010, the number of Don Pablo’s fell from 131 to 39.
6. Gloria Jean's Coffees - founded in Chicago and spead to Australia, where it is still a huge success. Diedrich Coffee sold off the international segment of Gloria Jean in 2005. In 2006, it sold a large number of cafes to Starbucks. In 2009, Diedrich sold the remaining Gloria Jean’s Coffees to Praise International North America. As of 2010, only 87 cafes remain.
7. Big Boy - the largest on the list and most well known. The restaurant, which specializes in double-decker hamburgers, has not done very well since 2000. In 2001 Big Boy had 405 locations. By 2010, that number had decreased to 141.
8. Tony Roma's - casual dining specializing in ribs, seafood and steak. The number of Tony Roma’s has dropped from 162 to 45 between 2001 and 2010. However, the restaurant maintains a large international presence.
9. Country Kitchen - rustic, home-style restaurant that serves self-described “comfort foods.” Owned by Carlson Companies, primarily deals with hotels, so not suprising that many are attached to travel plazas and hotels, with the number of restaurants dropping from 249 in 2001 to 64 i 2010.
10. Black Angus Steakhouse - Bought by Versa Capital Management, many are located in areas that were hit hard by the mortgage crisis in the west.













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