One common thread for many of these restaurant brands is that, if they are associated with a famous name, as that name fades from the public consciousness, so does the restaurant brand's fortunes.
@@ssfc117 Not the company, the name. Tim Horton started a coffee and donut franchise bearing his name that enjoyed sufficient success that everyone knows about "Tim Horton's" brand coffee; even though, few people can tell you anything about Tim Horton, himself. Ponderosa, named for the Ponderosa ranch in the TV series "Bonanza" basically began to fade after "Bonanza" left syndication. Nothing distinguished Ponderosa from its competitors except for its association with "Bonanza", so, when the show was off the air, it lost the free advertising.
@@ssfc117 He's saying like since nobody knows who Roy Rogers is anymore, the restaurant chain of the same name has also faded from the public consciousness
@@slizzysluzzer The thing about "Tim Horton's" is that it is differentiated from even other coffee shops. Yes, Tim Horton endorsing his franchise may have launched "Tim Horton's", but it is as famous for its coffee as "McDonald's" was for its fries, before they removed the beef stock (If you want to bring back some echoes of the greatness that was the old "McDonald's" fries, add some beef stock to your mashed potatoes). In many ways, "Tim Horton's" is the exception that proves the rule. I confess that I may cry a little, when the promotion ends, and "Tim Horton's" stops selling the "Bailey's" flavoured coffee, but their regular coffee will keep me coming back.
@@alwillk Almost all the other sub chains are better than Subway, but Subway is still well cheaper and even if they closed 90% of Subway, it'd still be bigger than just about every chain.
@@504ever4If I had to guess, their owners just can't compete with the mega-conglomerate that is Darden foods. Bloomin' Brands is Outback, Bonefish, Carrabba's and Flemings - Meanwhile, Darden is Olive Garden, Longhorn, Cheddar's, Yard House, Capital Grille, Season's 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V's, Ruth's Chris, and at one point Red Lobster too. That kind of synergy and bargaining power means they probably have a stranglehold on most markets that Outback would want to exist in.
As a kid, I always loved going to Bennigan's. I thought the chicken tenders were so good and that shamrock cookie at the end of the meal was always such a highlight. Looking back, though, it probably wasn't anything all that special, but it was still just fun and had a fun atmosphere. At least it got to make a cameo on South Park that one time.
I loved hanging out and drinking the specials at Bennigan's when I was in my 20's... I guess I felt like I was at a "bar"...lol. In reality, I was in a McDonald's for young people who were of drinking age. Still fond memories.
bro, when i was in high school i made fake IDs, and me and my friends joined the Copper Clover Club. we’d skip lunch in Lakeland and hit up that 30 minute lunch guarantee thing they used to do and pound rare imports. lol
Ah, you forget the Rax in Joliet, Illinois! Honestly, after your last video, you inspired me to drive an hour to go there, and I gotta say... I think that was the closest I'll ever be to experiencing what the 1970s or '80s looked and felt like.
I ate there once while on a road trip that sent me through Chicago. I liked it a lot, made a mental note to go back there if I'm ever passing through Joliet during daylight hours.
There was a Rax in my hometown up until around 2015 or 16, always loved the mushroom melt. I miss it, on the good side a locally owned coffee shop expanded to a second location at the sight and it's really good!
So, it must’ve been awesome because fast food restaurants were way better then. Either that, or since people didn’t eat out nearly as much back then, it was more of a treat.
a lot of these franchise places are just like mcDonald. they do not cook anything from scratch. they just cook the frozen food. They are also pre made in pouches and reheated in water to cook. they want to franchise anything to make money, they do not care about the quality of the food.
Whole idea of franchising is to try to make it "turnkey" whereas various books have noted McDonald's and only a few other mega-corps are super successful at the formula. The rest are second-tier at best. While this video of course wouldn't focus on a single exceptional restaurant (or few locations by design) by committed top-notch chefs.
@Paulftate just because your limited education didn't give you the tools to distinguish between Quick Serve and Fast Food restaurants, doesn't give you an excuse to leave a rude comment.
I used to DJ at Bennigans in Mount Laurel NJ back in the mid eighties. Place was packed every weekend. And the Saint Patrick celebrations were multi day and legendary.
My first job, too! I remember the food being overpriced and not particularly good. Most of the "food" in the salad bar were dried powders that we just added water to 🤮
I’ve lived in Florida for over 25 years now, but my parents live in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, very close to where I grew up. One of those 9 Bennigan’s locations is actually there, and it always catches my eye, makes me chuckle, and triggers memories of the 80’s and 90’s. It has the newer logo on the building, but the very large sign near the road is still the classic and more artistic loooking one, complete with neon throughout the whole thing. It’s actually kind of beautiful, and I hope it gets saved if the restaurant ever goes away. My taste in restaurants has changed greatly since the 80’s and 90’s, and I’m also very health-conscious today. So Bennigan’s really doesn’t suit me anymore. But I have fond memories of going there growing up. I can remember them being all over the place. Just in the large metro that I live now, I can still name where about 4 or 5 used to be. Coincidentally, my parents also have one of the very small handful of locations for Ponderosa restaurants there in Mount Pleasant. It’s like a time warp that town. Also have fond memories of TCBY in the mid to late 80’s. My mom was working on her Masters at the university, and would bring me along with her. There was a TCBY right next to campus, and we’d regularly stop there. Back then, frozen yogurt was kind of a new thing, so good, and TCBY was the only place for it anywhere remotely close to us. So it was kind of this modern and cool attraction to go there. I remember they had a root beer flavor one time that was SO good. 😋
I went to CMU and left in '07, am pleasantly surprised to know that it's still there. I found one in Busan, South Korea back in '08, but it's long gone now.
This is funny because I'm from Michigan too and have lived in Florida for about 18 years. Was just talking about the remaining Bennigans with my fiance and how there is one in Mt. Pleasant. Only went to the CMU campus once and it was the dead of winter and pretty gross out so not the fondest memories 😂
Bennigans had the best Monte Cristo sandwich. Deep fried, powdered sugar and a cup of jam to dip it in 😍 P.s. I also spent some time hanging out in the kitchen due to a tornado in the area, that wasn’t as pleasing…
Their Monte Cristo was the first one I'd ever had and I've never had another that is half as good as theirs, I miss them for that and the memories of the people I was with when I went there! Some time ago it looked like they were poised to made a comeback, sounds like that isn't gonna happen. Sad!
Came here to say the same. First ever Monte Cristo and they set the standard for my taste buds. There is a restaurant named "Cheddar's" which is in many states that serves up a decent Monte Cristo.
There is one Rax restaurant in Illinois near me. I've been there, the food is decent if not locally enjoyed and they've gotten a little busier now that the nearest Arby's closed up.
Maybe look into the Bill Knapp's chain in the Midwest. They were popular among the geriatric, Krohn's disease and traditional gentle fare crowd, but at some point the family sold it to a venture capital corporation or something similar, which decided to change the décor and menu to try to make it appeal to younger people as a sports bar. The previous customers were offended, the younger people never showed up, and it was collapsing. The family took it back over, apologized all over the place on the radio, restored the old menu and the atmosphere as best they could, but it was too late and they it's now a grocery store bakery brand.
No Fuddruckers? No Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse? I think a part 3 should be made. Because I am in a bit of disbelief that the two places I just mentioned didn’t get mentioned in these 2 videos.
Grew up in Michigan and Fuddruckers was one of my fav places as a kid. Their footlong hotdog was amazing. Not just because the hotdog was good, but the bun was unique and toasted to perfection.
I think one of the fundamental flaws in this series is that you seem to assume all of these restaurants did something something wrong to cause their decline, and if there’s no well known reason you have a tendency to assign a phantom reason like “they weren’t modern enough” or “they weren’t unique enough”. Some had issues for sure, but brands come and go with the tide for all sorts of random reasons, such is the nature of business. A&P was the biggest supermarket chain in America for decades, they essentially invented the concept in the 1920s, yet now only a handful are left. It’s not like they did anything wrong, all supermarkets are essentially the same, brands just come and go as time moves on.
Another one is Tastee Freeze, they have 4 stores compared to 1500 in the 60's, with the brand mostly being an ice cream name for pretzel stands now. One of those four is in Alaska of all places and is a community treasure.
Bennigan's was one of my go-to places when I lived in Hampton Roads, VA. It appeared like it would be an Americana mainstay as the one I frequented was always busy.
Bennigan's had a wonderful chocolate birthday cake and who could forget their birthday song "Happy, Happy Birthday from all of us to you, happy, happy birthday from Bennigan's to you HEY!" One time, we were having dinner at a very popular one in Raleigh, NC and there were something like 10 birthdays that day and the song kept getting faster and less peppier over the course of the evening.
I remember Tony Roma's, There was a location near me in Queens NY which closed down. Was also able to purchase their ribs at Costco. They were really good on the BBQ.
There's still one location about 2 miles from where I live but it's like the last in the entire city and going to it is like dining on a ghost ship in the Atlantic.. It seats 150 in the dining room and you're lucky to see about a half dozen people at any given time. It's so weird. The food is still decent which helps but nobody really eats in anymore... especially since the "unpleasantness"... 75% of orders to this day in restaurants are to go... That speaks volumes to the way the world is going...
Good memories with my family eating breakfast at Country Kitchen. Sadly, as a kid I doubt I appreciated the rest of their food. Looks like I'll never know if I would as an adult...
I live in Ohio and completely forgot Rax even existed! I was pleasantly surprised they still do and are only over 2 hours away. Next month I'll have to try them out when I take a break from my diet!
I ate several times at a Tony Roma's in Franklin TN in the 1990s. They had a BBQ chicken & BBQ Rib platter that was insanely good. My favorite meal at the time. Sad to see them headed for oblivion.
I live near Hartville, Ohio and an extremely popular restaurant there was called Country Kitchen. It had no affiliation with the chain and had opened well before then. However, as the Country Kitchen chain spread, they sued Hartville’s Country Kitchen. It lost, so it was renamed to Hartville Kitchen. It has moved from its original location to a much larger one and has been a destination restaurant ever since. Every day that it’s open, it’s not unusual to see one or two tour busses parked there as tours from out of state bring people in. Part of that is because there is a regular flea market that has evolved into a permanent market as well as antiques and memorabilia.
A Country Kitchen I was in at another state was renamed Country Grill. In the 1970's I also remember eating Shakees pizza. Shakees also had a lot of locations at one time. They also had good fried chicken.
I truly miss TCBY! It was a family favorite. Haven't found any frozen yogurt place that's nearly as good. Everything else you mentioned is no great loss
Bennigans copper clover club was my life for a year. I still have my gold plated pint glass and the t shirt. The monte cristo was legendary, and I still make mine the way they do--fully submerged in oil rather than just using French toast slices. RIP
@@DugrozReports Yup; remember that rib injury that Romo had 1 season vs. 49ers? I'd b sarcastic w/that & say "Tony Romo; the place 4 RIBS". After all; the original slogan was "Tony Roma; the place 4 RIBS".
Even at my age I can't remember ever going to any of the ones mentioned in either video. Hadn't even heard of some of them. The ones I sometimes went to but haven't seen in thirty years or more are Bob's Big Boy and Long John Silver's. Amazingly, I recently saw Shakey's Pizza all over the Philippines - I thought they were extinct decades ago.
There used to be a TCBY sign at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. Every time a team kicked a field goal or an extra point, there was The Country's Best Yogurt.
I was going to suggest Schlotzsky's as an endangered restaurant chain, but I just looked them up and apparently they still have 336 locations around the country, with over 200 of them in Texas. The ones that used to be around me all closed up, but 300+ is still pretty good.
Some of the chains that I remember as a kid 40-50 years ago that have either declined drastically or gone out of business: Straw Hat Pizza, Mr. Steak, Sam's (ex Sambo's), Lyon's, Doggie Diner, Foster's Freeze...
My former mechanic on my race car once turned wrenches on a car that won a race sponsored by Rax. He still has his Rax jacket he got as being part of the winning crew. Really cool, old school logo.
I'm in Canada so we didnt have "Country Kitchens" but I do remember in the 80s a TV "Bloopers and Outakes" special with footage from attempts to film a commercial there. Repeated camera takes but the spokesman/actor kept saying "Country Chicken" in his lines.
I remember Chicken Delite.Thete were all over the place.Now they are only in Canada and maybe one or two in the Northeast.Really liked them.Rhere was a chain called Copper Kettle .They had one in New Braunfels, .
I remember a lot of those restaurants. I especially had a fondness for Tony Roma's and Rax. We used to go to Mud Hen games in Toledo and would stop at Rax on the Ohio Turnpike toll plaza.
I had completely forgotten about TCBY until this video. Bennigan's was one of the places my friends & I (and sometimes my family) would jokingly call "TGI Rubygan's" because the three chains in that fake name were almost literally on top of each other nearby and it was common practice for people to wander back & forth between them looking for the one with the shortest wait.
Here's one on the near-extinct list: Hot 'n Now Hamburgers. There used to be a bunch of them in the Northeast but now there's ONE left. It's in Sturgis, Michigan.
You just unlocked a memory three minutes into the video when you mentioned Tony Roma's. I lived in London, Ontario, Canada from 2009-2013 - myself and my girlfriend at the time LOVED Tony Roma's (we went there at least twice a month). Man, I miss that place. Googled it just now and saw that it was permanently closed between 4-5 years ago, likely a Covid-19 casualty. Such a shame :(
Bingo! It's the #1 chain the nation and is available in every town of 5000 people and every mall in the nation... Plus I really like that Spicy Dill Mama burger they brought back! Tangy!!!@@DouglasEdward84
Y'all need to road trip to Canada. Here A&W didn't disappear, it's the #1 burger chain the nation by a country mile... It was always a family favorite and remains so due to their love of using spice on their burgers... Cayenne, Paprika, Garlic Powder... Which also used to be in the onion ring mix but seems to have disappeared lately...
4:05 many places serve fries. Country kitchen has the best, it's like they are battered or something, it's wonderful. The bemidji location also has a well kept salad bar. Also the best grilled cheese of my childhood. A+.
I used to beg my mom to take me to Tony Romas because I loved their baby backs so much. Haven’t heard that name in two decades. I can still taste those ribs and their BBQ sauce was my absolute favorite.
My hometown of Wooster had a TCBY and a Country Kitchen. Both are long gone. There was a Bennigan's in Montrose (between Medina and Akron), and it shut down around 2008. It's now a restaurant called Tres Portillos. Never eaten there, never will.
Here in Alberta, both Tony Roma's and Arby's are basically extinct despite being mall staples for years. Red Robin and Chili's also bit it back in 2015 when the first wave of sit down restaurants began a death spiral... Montana's and Kelsey's along with East Side Mario's all but disappeared from Alberta too... And over in BC? Swiss Chalet was once a dominant force in middle-class family dining is gone entirely. It's also on the decline here since COVID when a bunch of franchises went bust despite only being open 2 or 3 years... And of course most of these locations are either still empty or are being demo'd entirely which doesn't bode well for the future of the industry as a whole when that happens...
Oddly, I just stayed at a motel in Illinois with a Bennigan's inside earlier this month. I guess it's one of the 9!!! EDIT: There is also one in Des Moines, Iowa!!! Close to where I live!
There's an extinct restaurant in the South that used to be very popular and deserves a deep dive. It was called Po Folks, and it focused on Southern-style home cooking, such as fried chicken and catfish. I miss it.
I worked for one of the few remaining Country Kitchens in Wisconsin from 2008-2017. That location was finally done in by covid. The tired and dated thing is apt, the menu almost never changed the whole time I was there, except the prices kept going up. My location was attached to a hotel, so we did get business from that to keep us going, but it wasn't enough. The guy who ran the place took over from his father. His dad used to have a lot of cks, but by the time I got there it was down to the one. There are still a couple near where I live, but I have no idea how busy they are.
There's one Tony Roma's left in Germany and it is in Berlin. The other three in Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne are permanently closed since the pandemic, IIRC.
They used to have a TCBY next to the theater me and my parents went do when I was a little kidlet. On a weekend here and there we'd drive over from our middle of nowhere town to the bigger town nearby, see a movie, and then go have some TCBY! Good memories. I don't remember when that exact location closed but I THINK it's section of the building turned into a jewelry store for a while, before eventually just getting absorbed into the theater itself.
I was trying to figure out where I had Tony Roma's before and found that they opened in Myanmar of all places- i remember the experience being great there but to to surprise it's failed there too
It's so strange, I knew of absolutely none of rhe restaurants in your first video but know three in this (Bennigans, Country Kitchen, and Rax) were never as large as the ones in the other video at their peak.
I'd pitch in Hot n Now. used to have 150 locations, but are now reduced to just one in Michigan. Went there once not knowing until later it used to be a chain.
I’ve eaten at all of these, too. See my comment on the other for a list of other extinct or forgotten places, but I forgot Red Barn, Sizzler, 76 Truck Stop restaurants, Western Sizzlin, Der Weinerschnitzel, Tastee Freez, and i’m sure more.
from the seventies through the nineties I found affordable in both Canada and the USA sit down restaurants. Today, after 25 years of hostile takeovers and head office shennanigans draining the value and jacking up prices, even though I know make more money and have various pensions coming in as income streams, I find going out RARE. And when I do (except for Vancouver, BC Asian style places) I find the experience disappointing.
I live within walking distance of a TCBY... I wonder how they stay in business... the only time they are busy in on 99 cent waffle cone wednesdays. How do they still sell a large cone for such a low price is mind boggling.
@@forgottenplaces9780 indeed... but the location is dead at all other times... except for a few scorching hot days in the summer. I still don't see how this location remains profitable at all.
Country Chicken was wonderful. Excellent fried chicken, great breakfast buffet. Their Columbia location had a number board for summoning wait staff. Not certain if used in their final years.
Years ago, I used to always go to Tony Roma's on my birthday for ribs. The last time I went there ( I think it was in the mid 90's) I was served ribs that were COLD in the middle! I've never been back to any Tony Roma's since and that particular Tony Roma's was out of business within a year.
When I was a kid in the 80's we had a Cornell's roast beef a Rax and an Arby's. We never went to Arby's but it's the one that's still here. Not sure if Cornell's was a chain or local.
Rax was crazy! Mostly they were like Arbys. Then at other times they salad bar, pizza, burritos, pita sandwiches, burgers, tacos, soups, and other stuff I'm probably forgetting. I grew up close to a few locations. We however lived close to two 24 hr Arbys. As a teenager, Arbys was the obvious choice.
A near-extinct restaurant you have to include in part 3 is Hot n Now. There used to be a lot of locations in several states but now there’s only one location left in Sturgis, Michigan. That last location has become a sort of tourist destination for people who miss Hot n Now.
I don't know about Rally's but most of the Checkers locations around me have been shutting down. Wouldn't be surprised if they were endangered in the next decade or so.
I have one for you. How about a restaurant called Hot 'N Now. Back in the mid to late 80'sand 90's, they grew to have 150 locations, but today only have 1 left, in Holt, MI.
I miss Hops Grill and Brewery. They were my favorite national chain growing up, and it turns out they're from where I'm from. They just way overextended their business and collapsed.
