15 Forgotten Fast Food Chains

in today's culture the fast food industry is a staple that makes millions and millions of dollars most everyone is familiar with mcdonald's taco bell and kentucky fried chicken but over the years there have been many other successful chains unfortunately some of these have disappeared and are no longer with us in today's video we'll take a closer look at some of those restaurants that are no longer around winkies was founded in 1963 by the erenstein brothers who really didn't plan on opening a fast food chain they started out as meat suppliers and one particular restaurant began having an increase in orders that restaurant was mcdonald's which ended up serving as an inspiration for the first winkies since they supplied meat to their own restaurant they could cut out the middleman at their peak they had 42 locations in three states but ultimately they filed for bankruptcy in the early 1980s showbiz pizza place was founded in 1980 by creative engineering and robert brock at its peak it had 280 stores early on the chain was successful because it capitalized on the popularity of video games the animatronics that showbiz had separated it from chuck e cheese the company was headquartered in irving texas but it was not able to survive on its own so it merged with chuck e cheese in 1992 and all locations were rebranded childs was one of the first restaurant chains in the united states they began in 1889 at a location in new york city and soon expanded to 29 cities across the country and even into canada their business model paved the way for restaurant giants such as mcdonald's with food options service and sanitation during its peak in the 1920s and 1930s they operated 125 locations but they struggled the following two decades they tried introducing new items such as the hot dog machine the ice cream machine and even flipping flapjacks however this did not help them and all locations were closed in the late 1960s minnie pearl's chicken was named after a country comedian who was also known as mini pearl but her real name was sarah ophelia cammon mini pearl had nothing to do with the restaurant other than lending her name it was founded in 1960 and it was meant to compete with kentucky fried chicken and did so in its early years it didn't take long before there were 567 locations opened and franchised kfc proved to be too much to keep up with and when the owners revealed that they were 1.2 million dollars in debt the chain folded in 1968. carol's was an early fast food chain founded in 1960 that had a yellow slug as a mascot later on the mascot changed to a little blonde boy sporting a fedora when herb schlotnik purchased the rights the company began franchising he saw potential in offering 15 cent hamburgers the last carroll's location closed in 1980 but the holding company saw burger king and jumped on the opportunity to own and franchise locations they now own over a thousand burger king and popeye locations [Music] by now most people in america have heard of the walgreens drugstore but did you know that they also owned and operated a 24-hour diner restaurant in the 1970s it was known as wags and it is based on the denny's concept there were 91 locations that were spread along busy highways between 1970 and 1991 the menu consisted of breakfast platters and hamburgers walgreens sold all of its restaurants except for a few located in malls to marriott corporation in 1988 ownership changed hands a few times before it permanently shut down in 1991. some of the locations were turned into ihop [Music] royal castle began in 1938 in miami florida and they primarily served burgers and root beer they were open for lunch and dinner but they also served breakfast and people love their freshly squeezed orange juice at their peak they had 175 locations in florida louisiana georgia and ohio they were bought out by performance systems in 1969 and they had steady yearly losses thanks to places like mcdonald's however there is one restaurant left which is located in miami florida bob's big boy was a restaurant chain that started in southern california in 1926 and it was originally called bob's pantry their mascot is not only recognizable but it has become a huge american icon the chain is now defunct but the parent company bob's big boy restaurant group is still around today only five big boy restaurants remain [Music] dee's drive-in began in 1932 when d frederick anderson opened his first restaurant in salt lake city utah he was inspired to start his own burger joint after selling hamburgers at the university of utah the chain would later grow to 53 restaurants and bring in 20 million dollars a year in the early 2000s the chain had a slew of sexual harassment lawsuits which cost the company millions of dollars the last location closed in 2005 and some of the restaurants were converted into walgreens pharmacies farrell's ice cream parlor was founded in 1963 in portland oregon by bob farrell and his business partner ken mccarthy by 1975 the company peaked with 120 locations farrell's was known for giving out a free ice cream sundae to kids on their birthday all of the parlors had an early 20th century theme and employees wore boat hats during the 1980s the chain ran into economic trouble the last locations were open in california and the last parlor closed in brea california on june 8 2019. marcus lamonis still owns the brand but we'll have to wait and see if it ever comes back [Music] kenny rogers roasters was started by the country music singer kenny rogers in 1991. this chain of restaurants served chicken and at its peak there were 425 locations rogers decided to start his own restaurant after he was one of the early investors in kentucky fried chicken which helped make him millions of dollars in 1999 the company closed down its u.s operations and now it only operates in asia where it has 156 locations [Music] howard johnson started out in 1925 in queenie massachusetts as a single soda stand it would become one of the first fast food restaurants to offer dine in service not only that but it also became one of america's first franchises when it opened its second location following the great depression there were over 400 locations across the united states at its peak in 1954 the restaurant decided to get into the hotel industry they transformed their restaurants into motor lodges for those on long road trips looking for affordable places to stay the last restaurant closed in 2017 but the motor lodges are still open and owned by wyndham steak and ale was started by norman brinker who owned the first location in dallas texas in 1966. the restaurant's goal was to serve quality steaks at a price that any american could afford they were also known for their sandwiches hamburgers and salad bar their restaurants were in a tudor style building with dim delighting this setting made patrons feel like they were in a more upscale restaurant rather than a fast food place at its peak they had 280 restaurants and they remained independent until it was purchased by pillsbury which soon followed by the creation of s sna restaurant corporation in 2008 the market crashed and the company filed for bankruptcy as a result all of the restaurants were closed for good [Music] gino's hamburgers was started by a professional football player named gino marchetti in 1959. he was a defensive end for the colts but he founded the restaurant with teammate alan amichi in baltimore maryland they were known for their burgers and chicken and eventually they grew to 359 locations across the country the chain was bought out by marriott who rebranded the restaurants as roy rogers in 1986. a few of those roy rogers are still around today but not the genos chi cheese is a chain of mexican restaurants owned by hormel and it began in 1974. at its peak there were 210 locations across the united states however all of these locations closed down in 2004 as a result of bankruptcy in 2003 just one month after it declared bankruptcy chi-chi's had the largest hepatitis a outbreak in the history of the united states there were four deaths and 660 infections in total which caused millions in lawsuits that chi-chis could not recover from the interesting thing about chi-chi's is it still has locations that are open in austria kuwait and uae although these food chains are no longer around they still hold special memories for those that visited them the fast food industry is constantly changing and what's here today could be gone tomorrow what are some of the places you enjoyed but are now gone forever let us know in the comments below as always thank you so much for watching [Music] you

Channel: Rhetty for History

Views: 1,057,130

Keywords: 15 forgotten fast food chains, forgotten fast food, defunct restaurants, fast food chains, rhetty for history, showbiz pizza, bobs big boy, food history, history, trending, remembering the past, nostalgia, recollection, remember, yesteryear, memories, golden age, viral, remembering, remember when, howard johnsons, minnie pearl, wags, carrols, dee's drive in, farrells ice cream, kenny rogers, kenny rogers roasters, steak and ale, ginos, gino marchetti, chi chis, popular fast food, food

Id: Dm20K7k_Pgw

Length: 11min 3sec (663 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 25 2022