8 Iconic American Restaurant Chains That Went Out Of Business

daily pink slip from an unforgettable Mexican restaurant change of the donut shop the u.s. forgot we're asking a question what the hell happened to these eight iconic restaurants number eight Bennigan's when searching for genuine Irish pub fare who didn't look to this Pillsbury owned chain restaurant they were known for their world-famous Monte Cristo sandwich other food and of course who can forget that delicious deep-fried Monte Cristo sandwich mm-hmm plus sometimes there were hot girls as seen in this 2005 photograph still Bennigan's couldn't quite hang with the premium dining establishments like Chili's Applebee's and TGI Fridays among the problems cited were stagnant decor and too many menu items that warned the Monte Cristo sandwich they went bankrupt and closed all their restaurants in 2008 but what's this as of 2011 Bennigan's is back with a new attitude new logo and a certain crowd-pleasing menu item who knows where they'll be popping up next number 7 chi Chi's inside this weird building was some pretty delicious Mexican food and the best birthday dessert ever the fried ice cream that creamy cinnamon ice cream the playful yet flaky crust it was the best and yet it wasn't enough to save this chain from that big grease pin in the sky in October 2003 chi Chi's filed for bankruptcy one month later it wasn't just chimichangas featured on the menu it was hepatitis A the worst breakout of Hep A in US history now that's how you want to go out right there by breaking a record in 2004 chi Chi's closed their door doors forever I'm not sure if it's a happy ending but Hormel still sells chi Chi's brand chips and salsa and you can just buy it at the grocery store as for the restaurant itself it still operates in six countries outside the US oleh number six ground around the ultimate family restaurant their most famous gimmick was pay what you weigh you brought your kid in for dinner literally weigh them on a scale in front of everybody and pay only a penny a pound for their meal and let's not forget free balloons for the kids they also had a completely non-threatening totally not creepy clown named bingo oh my god yeah no idea how didn't last in 2004 the franchisor rounded up all the corporate locations and ground them into non-existence the change was immediate and some diners were asked to leave in the middle of their meal so the building could close rumor has it they made bingo the clown deliver the bad news to soften the blow it didn't work since then some franchise owners have banded together to buy the company outright have built back up to 30 locations nationwide bingo has since been fired number five Kenny Rogers roasters the story of this restaurant is pretty simple Kenny Rogers was quoted saying I can make music why not roasted chicken pretty soon a mega chain of these restaurants was born most famously Kenny Rogers Roasters was prominently featured in an episode of Seinfeld the restaurant pops up just across the street from Jerry's apartment building and Cramer gets addicted to the crispy juicy goodness Newman even others the tagline it's the wood that makes it good Kenny Rogers should have known once you're on Seinfeld you've peaked the last Roasters restaurant in the u.s. closed in 2011 but the brand continues to expand and flourish in Asia who knew Number Four Sambo's have you ever eaten in a Denny's well then you've eaten it a Sambo's the name itself came from combining the names of the two founders but most thought it was a reference to the book the story of little black Sambo so they embraced it and decorated the interior and menus with the characters from the book this proved to bite them in the ass later on because the name Sambo became racially offensive even with more than a thousand locations and the most scrumptious rootin tootin pancakes this side of the mason-dixon they had to close their doors most of those doors reopened as yep Denny's number 3 Burger Chef this was a hamburger chain that at its peak was second only to McDonald's in number of locations on top of that they came out with the fun meal a special meal for kids with a toy included sound familiar yeah they beat McDonald's to the punch on that one by nearly a decade and even sued them on it but lost the signature Burger Chef creations included the big chef and the super chef what the hell is up with that spelling anyway the whole brand was eventually sold to Hardee's with some locations being converted others completely abandoned you could say they really shift the bed on this one number two mr. doughnuts the founder of this donut joint worked with the under of Dunkin Donuts until there was a falling out I smell a sitcom mr. donut was huge the biggest competitor Dunkin Donuts ever had their claim to fame was the fact that they had 55 different types I gotta say I'm diggin the mascot just look at him eventually all mr. donut locations were converted into Duncan's at least in the US but wait there's more a Japanese company bought the franchising rights to Mister Donut in 1983 that's right to this day mr. donut is the largest and most popular donut chain in Japan number one steak and ale yet they served both those things they advertised a more upscale dimly lit steakhouse at reasonable prices steak and ale didn't fail so much as they got dragged through the mud along with Bennigan's you know that other Pillsbury owned gem in 2008 they closed the last of the steak and ales but don't count them out yet just as Bennigan's is making an epic comeback 2015 marks the return of the steak and ale with a sleek new design they're saying to be better than ever rather than just steak to eat nail to drink there will be more than just those two things on the menu watch out 21st century there's a new guy in town and his name is steak and ale 2.0 hey guys thanks for watching we put up brand new videos every week so hit that subscribe button and you won't miss a single one and remember if you watch this video work and you still have a job than you just dodged the daily pink slip you

Channel: [DAILY PINK SLIP]

Views: 511,681

Rating: 4.679431 out of 5

Keywords: food, doughnut, monte, cristo, fine, dining, americana, seinfeld, McDonald's, Burger King, Happy Meal, pillsbury, dunkin, chicken, delicious, yummy, eat, fast food, menu, clown, fried, ice cream

Id: DXlgDgCZ_IA

Length: 5min 52sec (352 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 16 2015