Do You Remember These Restaurants? Check Out This Amazing List Of Defunct Restaurants

However, one thing that you will find is there’s been a common pattern in restaurants that have fallen by the wayside and are now closed that used to be some of the most popular you could find. In this article we are going to explore some of the restaurants that used to be so popular nobody thought they would fall and now they’re defunct or have so few available that most people thought the chain stopped existing.

 Sambo’s

if you ever want to see a restaurant that was mired in the controversy then you do not have to look any further than Sambo’s.  A lot of people thought it was a marriage of my first name and last name of the founders, but some people believe it was more of a derogatory term. That did not deter the restaurant from expanding to over 1,000 locations before it finally ended up having a lot of issues because of the negativity surrounding its name.

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The company would eventually shut down in the 1980s and would be forced to sell many locations to its rival Denny’s restaurants. Quite a few of the locations were just shut down because of Denny’s already having a restaurant in the town or they were an underperforming store. Sambo’s is one restaurant that has fallen by the wayside over time.

 Gino’s Hamburgers

Gino’s hamburger chain was open by a professional football Hall of Famer in 1957. Actually end up going to Route 300 locations Marriott Hotel chain the restaurant from the founder.

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Eventually, all of his restaurants will be turned into Roy Rogers locations and almost everyone knows what happened to Roy Rogers restaurants. It is a kind of amazing move but the restaurant chain would do really well up until the sale by the Marriott. Then after the chain changed hands and names the restaurant’s quality and the level of customer draw went downhill.

 Burger Chef

The Burger Chef restaurant chain used to be McDonald’s main rival and would actually expand over 1,000 locations. Eventually, the chain would fold up and be sold to the Hardees Brand back in 1981. The closure of Burger Chef was not because of the quality of the food however it was actually because of the way that they had business practices.

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Now one thing at the Burger truck did bring to the table is the toys in the kid’s meal. What else a lot of people do not realize is Burger Chef is one of the restaurants that actually brought most of the fast-food restaurant food to the main forefront of what people eat nowadays.

 Bob’s Big Boy

Bob’s Big Goy is one restaurant chain that a lot of people have heard of a lot of people see and does have several spin-offs of. However, one thing that all people do not realize is the chain has fallen from what it used to be the only server hunter locations now.

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Even with that being the case the restaurant still has had quite a few issues and has been in danger before I was going defunct but it is not nearly as popular as what it once was even with the classic double decker burgers that they’ve had and the mascot that everyone seems to know and love.

Bennigan’s

This restaurant chain is one that did not seem to keep up with the change of time. They are one of those places at Cena’s like casual dining for families and friends and it also has a sports bar type of atmosphere. The downside is for whatever reason this chain cannot really keep up with the changes that need to be made from their competition like Applebee’s and even Chili’s to a point.

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The restaurant does have 23 locations still open in America right now but even though they are in jeopardy of closing and the chain itself has had to file for bankruptcy several bankruptcy ones and has been sold multiple times.

Henry’s Hamburgers

This is a restaurant that was well known for the hamburgers and affordable pricing that they would have on the menu.

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The location would celebrate 60 years of being in business before it would be forced to close because of the lack of changes in the menu and failure to keep up with the times based on what people were looking to get in a meal.

 Ponderosa Steakhouse

Ponderosa Steakhouse is a place known for family dining and had an amazing buffet that seemed to be ahead of its time. However, the steakhouse with iconic buffet cannot last forever and they actually end up having to close the door on most of the restaurants that they had opened.  they’re actually still some Ponderosa steakhouses open but they do not have the same allure the steakhouse used to have.

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If you do want to get a throwback to a different time though it’s worth the chance to hunt down one of these rare steak houses and know that they still do have the top quality food that’s so many people grew to love.

 Bonanza Steakhouse

Bonanza Steakhouse is another restaurant that was kind of like Ponderosa where you’d have great quality food at a reasonable price for fine Family Dining. However, just like Ponderosa, the restaurant would fall in hard times would eventually have to shut her most of its locations. Bonanza Steakhouse currently you can go open and there are actually owned by the same parent company as Ponderosa.

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Ponderosa and Bonanza combined have fewer than 20 locations open and even if you can’t find one the food may not be the same quality that you grew up eating before. Still, though it is worth a shot to find the location and give the food a chance because if your memories are good then you will want to have those memories back again time and time.

 Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse

Back in the 1980s and even into the 90s Charlie Brown steakhouse for the very popular destination for families who were on the East Coast. This is one that started out in New Jersey in the 1980s and would eventually grow into a regional draw in one of those restaurants that seemed to be the place to go for food. Due to some misfortunes, the parent company of Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse ended up going out of business.

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However due to some of the way the franchise contracts are written some of the franchisees were able to keep their restaurants open under Charlie Brown’s name. The parent company is no longer in existence but that does not mean that you still cannot enjoy some of these wonderful steaks that are available from Charlie Brown’s today because of the franchisees that we’re able to keep their doors open.

 Naugles

This is the restaurant that you may recognize if you enjoy Mexican food. While it was open for 25 years and had a fairly decent run from 1970 until 1995 when it would eventually close.  This was one restaurant that was ahead of its time for Mexican food as fresh as possible they would always serve the customers quickly and what else is amazing is they always managed to keep the restaurant clean and looking presentable to the customers who would come in to eat.

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This is actually one of the precursors to what would eventually become Taco Bell which has grown tremendously and popularity however Margulies is one of those places that if you ever had a chance to go to you would not forget the mural that you were able to get.  From the 225 locations that were around in the 1980s, the restaurant has had a recent revival as in 2015 in entrepreneur brought the name and has opened two restaurants in California but it is unknown if he has plans of expanding or not.

Kenny Rogers Roasters

If you grew up in the 1980s then you know the name Kenny Rogers from country music fame. He actually ended up partnering with John Y Brown in the 1990s. The popular chicken restaurant did halfway decent, but never really managed to break into the market on a big run. That would actually lead to the restaurant having to be sold off Nathan’s in 1998.

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If you are a fan of Seinfeld then you will know that the restaurant is definitely popular and there is an episode from Seinfeld in this restaurant. The downside is even with the Seinfeld appearance it really could not be saved as the restaurant never broke even for the investors involved.

Minnie Pearl’s Chicken

Yet another country music singer would predate Kenny Rogers and get into the restaurant business. That singer would be none other than Minnie Pearl who would actually lend her name to a chain of restaurants that would serve all things chicken. First, the restaurant started off as wildly popular and would grow to over 500 locations but they have one issue at Minnie Pearls and that would be the lack of continuity as you could get some great food and then go to another Minnie Pearls even in the same town and not get the same food.

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This lack of continuity often led to confusion and delay for the people who were dining and trying to get some food at one location and not be able to find it or even remember which location it was they were at before. That would actually lead to the franchise falling apart after just a few years of reaching its peak.

The All American Burger

As you can imagine the All-American Burger is a chain that was known for serving great hamburgers. However, it is also a chain that never grew past regional status. Even when it was featured in Fast Times at Ridgemont High it experienced some growth but is not enough for the restaurant chain to keep it growing.

The last of the chain would be closed in 2010 and this is one chain that has not made a comeback yet. But it is also a chain that was wildly popular in the region that was situated in and in that region so many people have such a strong love for the location that it could come back under a rebranded name and under different ownership at some point in time.

 White Tower

White Tower is one location that is a blatant knock off of another popular restaurant chain that is still around today after being founded in 1921 and that is White Castle. If you ever get a chance to see some of the old pictures of White Tower it would actually be very interesting because you would not be able to tell White Tower apart from White Castle. What is even worse for White Tower is they didn’t just blatantly steal the copy of the White Castle building they decided that they wanted to go ahead and head on out and steal the actual way the food prepared and even the advertising and menu style of White Castle.‌

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Now, what else is quite interesting is even with this blatant stealing of the White Castle concept White Tower would expand to over 200 before they were finally given a cease-and-desist order from the court for stealing. White Tower would go on to make changes that were required by the courts to stop resembling White Castle but those changes were so drastic that after they were made the chain could simply not survive.

 Chi-Chis

This is one restaurant chain that followed the Mexican style food and would actually be more of like a rudimentary type of food that you would find in Mexico in a variety of locations. This is one restaurant chain that should have been up to the challenge of the changing of the American population in the taste for Mexican food. A lot of times people wanted Mexican food to be quick and be authentic Mexican food.

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That would actually lead to Chi-Chis starting to have issues in keeping their doors open. However, the one main factor that was the death toll for the restaurant was when a hepatitis outbreak that actually killed three people was traced back to the restaurant.

 Lum’s

Hot Dog chains tend to come and go on a regular basis. However, Lum’s is one chain that was actually launched in 1971 and the one thing that they had going for them when they were the ones that were making the beer steamed hot dogs. Now what else is interesting is this is one restaurant chain that stood out from others because of the way that the glass doors on the storefront. This is one thing that nobody really expected them to stand out for. However, the glass doors stood out and that made him unique and made it easy for people to remember.

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The food qualities tend to be fairly good and actually the founders would sell the restaurants to the KFC chain for about four million dollars. Now that would last for a little bit however KFC eventually decided that they wanted to go a different path and eventually the restaurant would close in 2009.

 Steak and Ale

Steak and Ale is another restaurant that seems to be ahead of its time. They would use a concept there was more of like a steak and salad bar type of concept and its one that was actually affordable because the price of their meat was rather cheap. The concept would actually be a huge success and it would actually be one that others would use the model to lead to the demise of the original founder of the concept.

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Now, this is one restaurant that would make some changes but they were already behind the times by the time they recognized that they were losing some of their customer bases to these other restaurants. This is one restaurant that would actually end up losing all of its locations in the 2010s but it is one restaurant that still brought a lot of smiles to people’s faces as they remember being able to go out and afford a steak dinner with his house bar and not have to worry about their budget too much.

Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour

The ice cream parlour is one that is well known to children from all over. Farrell’s is a chain that was also known for giving out tremendous portions for the amount of money that you paid for the food.

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What would actually spell disaster for the chain was the improvement of ice cream and the old style that a lot of people could no longer identify with. Even with heavy investments from outside sources the chain would eventually close in 2019 and have not made a comeback later on in the same year.

Red Barn

The Red Barn was a hamburger style restaurant that a lot of people have known to love. The Red Barn is a chain that would actually get to over 400 locations before it would finally exhaust all that it had going for it and have to close.

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The downside is the hamburger joint was ahead of its time and would have one idea that its competitors did not have and that was a salad bar, that was unheard of and served fried chicken along with fish. The chain was simply outspent and unable to compete with the billions served.

Official All-Star Café

Now, this is one location that a lot of people would have thought would have made it. However, the restaurant chain did not have the allure that would be keeping people around for a longer period of time. Even with the locations being backed by Hard Rock Café and in major tourist cities the chain only had mediocre food.

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That was the downfall of the locations as the food was not that good and the way the restaurants were situated did not help as the novelty of the restaurant quickly wore off.

Carrols

While not a national chain, Carrols is one place that was region based in the Northeast and often would allow people that grew up in the 60’s and 70’s to recall the good food and atmosphere they could find at a Carrols restaurant.

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Now, the downside is just like The Red Barn, Carrols whose food was often considered quite a bit better than what you could find at McDonalds or Burger King would eventually be pushed out by the larger chains that had more money and could undercut the pricing.

Fashion Café

The Fashion Café that you see here is going to be one that you may have never heard of before unless you were inside the fashion world. The Fashion Café is one place that the original owners convinced some of the biggest supermodels in the world to endorse and claim that they were an investor.

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However, the chain is one that would experience quite a few problems as the connection between the models and the food was never really made, but also the brothers were convicted of fraud in 2000.

Scholl’s Colonial Cafeteria

Scholl’s is a location that was very popular for a variety of reasons and it is one location that did not discriminate against anyone. The restaurant chain would be one of the more popular locations when it came to feeding the homeless and even government workers.

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What else is impressive is anyone who was a clergyman of any religion would be served free of charge.. Not to mention, it was easy to see the location serving government workers besides the homeless which in turn would help build up community among the people. Still, after the 9/11 attacks, the restaurant saw too much of a drop in traffic to keep the doors open.

Beefsteak Charlie’s

Beefsteak Charlie’s is a place that has allowed a lot of people to enjoy a lot of great food and have been known for larger than life portions and even having free beer that was unlimited on the refills.

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The restaurant would expand to over 60 locations on the East Coast before the founder of the second location Larry Ellman would sell the location. After Ellman sold the company it would remain open for only a couple of years before it would finally close.

Horn & Hardart Automats

While an automat was put into the fame during the Frank Sinatra song around Christmas, it is a location that would be very popular with the selection of the foods that were available. The location was also known for having so much food that it would take you longer to make the selection of the food you were going to eat than what it would take for you to eat the food.

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Over time, though, the concept started to lose popularity and would eventually end up failing as people started to enjoy the fast-food restaurants with a limited selection than what the automatic offered.

ESPN Zone

The ESPN Zone restaurant is one that was a concept idea that would become more like a sports bar on steroids type of location. The restaurant would let you pick from different levels to eat and have a chance to go out and watch a game on one of the many televisions inside of the restaurant.

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The downside is that is all everyone talked about was the party and game-like atmosphere of the restaurants. No one that you run into remembers anything about the food and that along with the recession is what would be this location’s downfall as Disney, the parent company of ESPN, would start to close locations in 2010.

Chicken George

Chicken George may not be well known outside of Baltimore unless you do some research on the show Roots and see that Chicken George was included it will be very difficult to see the place. However, the restaurant would expand to 12 different stores and would be the largest fast-food restaurant ever under African American owners.

What else is an interesting concept is it is also one of the few fast-food types of places that was known for its great quality of food. The chain would eventually close in 1991 leaving the world missing a great chicken restaurant.

Wimpy Grills

Wimpy’s is a place that is named after the same character that fans of Popeye will know for paying you later for a hamburger. Well, you can imagine what the chain was known for and that is nothing more than the amazing hamburgers that Wimpy would have been proud of.

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The location would be starting out with 26 locations in the United States, but it would actually become a worldwide franchise with 1,500 locations around the globe. The founder of the chain would die without releasing the trademark name and soon after he passed away the entire chain and his legacy would quickly follow.

Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill

With most restaurants, the focus would be on the food that was being sold. However, that was not the case with Bikinis. This is a restaurant that had some of the worst food that people could imagine eating and was not inspiring at all.

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However, what a lot of people do remember is the scantily clad women who would not really be wearing much more than a bikini, short shorts, and cowgirl boots. The owner even got in some hot water after offering a breast augmentation surgery to a waitress. Eventually, the chain would close and by 2018 all the locations that had been opened had their doors closed.

Don Pablo’s

This is one chain that actually did not fail because of the food quality. Instead, the restaurant chain failed because of the poor management of the parent companies. The Tex-Mex style food that was made from scratch was very popular and good and often would be the food that dragged people back to it time and time again.

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However, after being sold multiple times the parent companies would want to expand the chain from its high of 120 stores and then the parent companies would go bankrupt, really disrupting the hopes and dreams of the employees and patrons alike.

Royal Canadian Pancake House

Oddly you would think with the name in the restaurant the menu or the food would revolve around Canada. However, this is not true and the location was based in New York of all places. What else is interesting is most of the food did not even come from the Canadian menu at all, even with the breakfast foods.

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What made this chain famous was the fact that it was well known for serving pancakes that were as large as a pizza. Often, people would take home the pancake because they were that large and would take it home in a pizza box. The owner was charged with ethics violations and that would force the closure of the location in 1998.

The Original House Of Pancakes

Now to be confused with the restaurants that are operating now, this is a regional chain that was based mainly in Texas.

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The restaurant would experience quite a bit of growth over time, but would quickly become a chain that had to settle lawsuits from the franchise owners and those would eventually be what brought the company to its downfall as the lawsuits were expensive to settle and cost the company quite a bit of money.

Boston Sea Party

While trying to bring a nostalgic feel to the Boston Tea Party, the restaurant would open in 1976 and have the waiters and waitresses dressed to the time period that was meant for the older time.

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The food quality as fairly decent from the older reviews, but the chain would be built mainly around the convention centers that were in the area.  Not to mention the restaurant focused mainly on the seafood style of food that a lot of people would enjoy eating. The last location close in 2000 before closing its doors in Atlanta.

Koo Koo Roo

Chicken is a food that a lot of people enjoy for a variety of reasons. However, Koo Koo Roo really took the food to the next level as it was one place that ended up getting some great food that allowed people to enjoy a meal without really having to worry about getting fat from.

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The food here was a vegetable oil-soaked chicken that would be broiled. The chain only had 2 side dishes as well. The downside is the chain was located in California and would eventually be crushed by the rising cost of rent in California.

Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse

This is a place that is known for having the talking trees, the buffalo and another animal that would talk to you. However, the creepy part would be the raccoon who would eye you from the hole in the tree stump and look like he had evil intents.

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The chain would eventually close as the location seemed to lose its luster and appeal to younger kids and people who were too engrossed in their electronic devices.