What Happened to Minnie Pearl’s Chicken? 

You started this video wrong You were SUPPOSED to start this review with HOWDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Hmmm, so let's review: A lawyer/career politician in search of quick fortune/profits ruins countless lives of good people, then his principal regret is the damage to HIS "honest" reputation? That's rich.

Are you saying their accounting system was counting their chickens before they hatched? 😎

Why does it not surprise me a failed politician and lawyer had a hand in this... However, your examination of what happened is spot on.

FYI, Minnie Pearl was a regular on The Grand Ole Opry long before Hee Haw aired.

Thanks for this. I am 62 and my dad was a big hee haw fan and a fan of Minnie Pearl, so growing up I saw my fill of Minnie Pearl. But until now I had no idea that there was ever a restaurant named after her. Thanks again! =)

I always find the business history that shaped a lot of our national, culinary, and pop cultures incredibly fascinating. Thank you so much for doing these videos! I admit I’d love to hear about Rax Roast Beef sometime. I remember them when I was a child and then they seemed to have vanished.

Col. Sanders had invented and patented the pressure cooker for his chicken. So, most don't realize it wasn't just the recipe that made his chicken what it was.

I just discovered your channel after watching this video and I have to say, this is very enjoyable. The back story on these forgotten restaurants is either mind baffling or very interesting. This was something I never knew about, although I mainly grew up in New England in the 1980s. Hope you make more videos about past places in the future.

My first job was at a Minnie Pearl's Chicken in Raytown, MO. in 1968. Our boss was a retired Air Force colonel and he ran a great store. We were reportedly the # 2 store in profits, second to the initial store in Nashville.

Yay! You put this up! I feel special. No matter what happens from here between us, we will always have Minnie Pearl.

I actually ate a free piece of Minnie Pearl chicken when I was a small boy in Fort Worth, Texas during a grand opening where she was there in person. I still remember it was a chicken leg. Pretty much like Mom's fried chicken. Colonel Sander's chicken was fried in a pressure cooker and is juicier but not as crispy as chicken cooked in a fryer. So their research to find a niche chicken recipe was probably correct, KFC came out with an extra crispy version years later. But this venture was doomed the shortcuts they took. The reason for buying a franchise is you are buying the concept, recipes, methods, and EXPERIENCE of an already-successful venue that will train you in their own company-owned restaurants where they have worked out all the kinks and hard-earned lessons. But they had none of that to offer! And I am sure the $102,000 paid to Minnie Pearl for 2 years to be at grand openings, stockholder meetings, goodwill ambassador, film commercials, photo shoots wasn't worth the scorn she must have faced from stockholders, franchise owners and their employees when everything crashed.

When I was 15 I started work at the local JB's Big Boy (in Mississauga, Ontario). I would love to know the history of the chain especially the Canadian franchises.

I remember going to a Minne Pearl's chicken joint in Alabama I think it was, probably in 1968 or there abouts, the thing was Minnie herself was supposed to show to open it up, but she never showed, I remember the chicken was pretty good, but not much else, I was around 3 years old. I do remember my parents went there in the first place to see Cousin Minnie Pearl, but they were disappointed.

I have a memory of being on a family trip somewhere in the South, circa 1970. We pulled into a Minnie Pearl's Chicken place, all excited by the idea. On closer inspection the place looked sort of sketchy. Mom went in alone to check it out. She hurried back to the car looking disgusted. "Oh, law!" she said. "That place is just filthy!" Whenever Pearl appeared on TV mom and dad would renew their utter incredulity: "How could a nice celebrity like her lend her name to such a horrible restaurant chain?"

There's a scene in the Rolling Stone's documentary, Gimme Shelter, where Minnie Pearl's Chicken is mentioned. The Stones spent 3 days recording at the Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama and while listening to a playback of their song, You Got To Move, someone asks guitarist Keith Richards what he has that's sticking out of his shirt pocket. Keith pulls out a Minnie Pearl's Chicken coupon and reads, "Cousin Minnie says, "how delicious"". He then explains that he's bringing the coupon home to his son Robert. The doc was filmed by the Maysles brothers during the Stones 1969 tour, it was released in 1970.

The company was probably using the accrual accounting method instead of cash accounting. Accrual accounting records income when it is earned (not when the customer pays) and when expenses are incurred (not when the company pays the bills). This allows people to have a better understanding of how profitable a company is when comparing it to cash accounting. For example, if you host some event that costs $500 but you will earn $1000, you record both at the same time to signify that you "made" $500 after the even, rather than recording the $500 in expenses and not recording the $1000 until you receive the cash. Normally, if the accrual accounting method is used, the company will also use the cash accounting method in order to make sure they always have cash on hand. My guess is that Minnie Pearl's Chicken only used the accrual accounting method and ignored the cash accounting method in order to make the company look more profitable than it really was.

I kinda remembered the franchise but up to now I didn't know the full story thanks.

Would this be called a *pyramid scheme??* 300,000 franchises sold but only less than a hundred stores opened. *WTF??*

Way before the internet I had a hard time making people believe that there really was a Minnie Pearl Chicken place I remembered when we lived in TN.

I only found out about this franchise a few weeks ago. Thanks for filling me in on what happened with it.

Thanks Troy! I subbed after seeing your first 5 vids yesterday! Great job and no shortage of content with all the defunct restaurants that filled my childhood!

Keith Richard mentioned it in the Gimme Shelter documentary. How-dee-licious!

I thought it qould have been more logical to hire a chef to make a recipe.

Another solid vid production. This case history should be taught at business schools. I do recall the Minnie Pearl store on our local commercial sprawl strip, Colerain Avenue in Cincinnati. It was close to Arthur Treacher's.

Great scene in Rolling Stones film 'Gimme Shelter.' Stones were recording in Alabama in 1969 and after a day in the studio back at the hotel, Mick sees something sticking out of Keef's shirt pocket. When asked what it is, a yellow toothed Glimmer reveals that it is a Minnie Peal Chicken restaurant card with the tagline - " Howdee licious" laughter ensued.

I grew up in Lexington, KY, so all your videos hit close to home. Keep up the good work!

There was a Minnie Pearl's Chicken on the corner of W. 12th street at S. Tyler in my home town of Little Rock, AR, back in about 1969. Mostly, we kids would just drop in for a fountain drink, once in a while, but once, my dad sent me there to pick up a family-sized meal, when we had several guests over for dinner, one evening. "Are you serious?" The lady asked me, when I ordered. It was like she was surprised to be making a sale at all, let alone one so large. But the chicken wasn't bad.

I am really loving these histories! The Research is amazing! A History of Gino's might be a good one. They even had a Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchise within many of their Hamburger restaurants. It's a Baltimore Maryland based chain that was sold to Marriott Corporation in 1982 and turned into Roy Rogers locations. The chain was restarted in 2010 with 2 locations remaining.

here in Nashville I loved Minnie pearls chicken. always went to the franklin road store. I miss it so much! great growing up in the 60's!

The Minnie Pearl's near our home in Ohio open and closed pretty quickly. We went a couple times and it was horrible chicken, so we stopped going.

I ate only once at a Minnie Pearls in Albuquerque, NM- they wer not in business long- the chicken was small(like KFC) which is traditional but the chicken was nothing to write home to Mom about. Sides were plain not good. Neither was service.

I remember trying Minnie Pearl Chicken... greasy and still had pinfeathers. Never had it again.

I had Minnie Pearl's chicken in Fort Lauderdale, and I was not impressed.

Ironically before Minnie pearl chicken was established cornel sanders and Minnie pearl were actually on screen together one time That’s a funny clip to watch while looking back at the history of Minnie pearl chicken

This New Englander only ate at a Minnie Pearl's once in 1970 in Ohio because my NYC roommate was from Cincinnati! I remember the fried chicken and the biscuits with honey, but felt like I was in a foreign country because each region of the country is very unique and has it's own special foods and culture! Her parents also took us out to eat at the famous Beverly Hills Supper Club in Kentucky which burned down to the ground several years later! That was an eerie thing to happen and I remember reading about it in the late 1970s and then watched videos here on RU-vid about it! Thanks for the interesting info~

Had a Minnie Pearl's in my town. I guess they found a sucker to franchise to. "Howdy"

winner winner chicken dinner ...great job

I'm kind of curious what the recipe was, that they felt "was as good or better than Kentucky Fried Chicken" .

What happened to Shakey’s pizza to go from several hundreds of locations across the USA to way less than 100 now? And the remaining ones are almost exclusively in CA ??? Seems kind of strange considering how well Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and many other pizza places still do. Love your vids!

I just discovered your Channel today! I really like it you have good production while you I wish you all the success in the world and I am subscribed

2:50 SPOILER ALERT!!!!! Minnie did not actually come up with the recipe for the chicken. Part of me died when this came up... 😏

Great video! My grandparents used to run a few Farrell's ice cream parlors back in the late 60s. That chain was huge in the western U.S (over 100 locations and owned by Marriott), would love to learn more about them.

Excellent. Consise and brought back many memories. Thanks.

I wonder about doing some food chains that evolved with the times like "Steak n Shake." I mean they were all black & white drive-ins with hundreds of flashing clear bulbs all along their buildings. Now, most are all brick & very colorful and in-house eating only.

Do Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips

Love your vids! How about Long John Silvers and Lee's famous recipe chicken (I know there are a few left but, What happened? They used to be big in the mid west)

It's pretty sad to think that a company applied the same mark-to-market scheme that allowed Enron to fleece hundreds of millions off investors some thirty years later. Great to see regulator were really on top of things.

Always wondered what happened, this spells it out pretty well

Funny, same thing happened to Enron, mainly with the accounting practices.

Thanks, it took me a few days to get around to watching Minnie's Yard Bird. LOL!!! For the life of me; I can't remember if my family took us to Minnie's place. I'll ask my Mom tomorrow if she remembers. I know one thing; it's twelve thirty am here & I'm starving for some freshmade fried chicken.

Right after I was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1968, a Minnie Pearl's chicken restaurant opened in Jacksonville FL on Blanding Blvd adjacent to Cedar Creek. I lived just a short distance from the restaurant. Minnie Pearl was there on opening day. I was a Country Western music fan so I went to the opening mainly to see her. The restaurant eventually went out of business and was replaced by KFC; which it remains to this day. I don't recall that her chicken tasted particularly great. KFC was better. Thanks for the history on this.

I can still remember that jingle from their TV commercials: "Minnie Pearl's fixin' chicken, fryin' it golden brown; And the way she fries her chicken brings the rest the country 'round ".

I worked at a Minnie Pearl's and at KFC when I was a kid. Minnie's was better chicken and was much easier to cook.

Pleasant narration..No cheesy music..I like it.

Now I know why Minnie Pearl's Chicken didn't make it to my part of Canada (Saskatchewan).It didn't even survive that long in the States. We did had one of the first KFCs in Canada and a brand called Dinah's Chicken. The earliest burger chains of the fifties/early 60s were A&W, Dog N' Suds and Burger Baron. McDonald's didn't arrive until 1970.

These videos are terrific--well done! I want to offer two suggestions for future episodes: the Rax Roast Beef chain that (I think) came from the Midwest, and the Pappy's Pizza chain that began in Ocean City, MD, but now only one exists, in Johnstown, PA. Both had pioneering features and both seemed very successful in the Mid-Atlantic region, but Pappys began disappearing around 1980 and Rax in the 1990s. Maybe, like the burger joints you highlight, they ultimately couldn't compete with more market-savvy national chains?

Fascinating story here. Thanks for the great video. I’d enjoy a video on “Po Folks” and “Bojangles” which are two places I enjoyed eating at many years ago. Keep up the good work. 👍

I didn't hear this before but thanks for sharing it.

PONZI CHICKEN....

Just an idea: What happened to the Stuckey's? I heard they're still around, but they're not as big as they once were. When I was a kid more than 50 years ago their stores were up and down the interstates.

Loving this series, will you be covering Red Barn at some point? :)

What happen to Ray's Drive Inn ??? I remember Richard Petty back in the early 70's promoting this place ....

This was great. Can you do one on the "Laugh In" restaurants?

Do a what happened to “G.W. Jr’s”. Church’s fried chickens second side business. Still miss those burgers.

When I was a kid (in about 1970) my family bought some Minnie Pearl Fried Chicken and some mashed potatoes and gravy. The chicken was ok but the gravy tasted like pickle juice. It was vile! We never went back. Love Minnie Pearl, but that food was disgusting.

What happened to the " Orange Julius " franchise ????

Was Minnie Pearl’s Chicken the victim of “fowl” play?

Actually, apparently my area of the country in '69 to 70 or '71 was one of the few where Minnie Pearls worked. They opened sometime in around May of '69. (I actually looked back in the paper to be sure) AT the time they were pretty amazing. The food was decent, the quality adequate. And as a kid, I really was amazed by the little wet washcloths. (I had never seen them before at that time) They stayed open for about a year to year and a half. There were about five locations around town that survived for a while. The distinct buildings may still be seen in parts of the city. But most are now falling to the wrecking ball. Hated to see them go, but after watching your video, I am surprised they made it that long. Apparently a more incompetent franchise was ever conceived. Truly sad.

How about a video on Kenny Rodgers Roasters?

Anyone remembers Frank R Burger? It lasted for about ten years I believe. There was one on Wilkerson Blvd in Charlotte NC.

There were Wishbone and Henny Penny chicken joints in Ballwin, Mo. in 1969, would love to hear about them.

Great channel!

You sound like TheWolfePit

We Never Had Dem Dar, Minnie Pearls.....in Californy

Sounds like they cooked the books

Are you going to just do Fast Food or other chain restaurants like Steak and Ale etc.

Fascinating. Very detailed. Thank you.

I didn't know Kermit the 🐸 started a RU-vid channel. Good job BTW keep it up.

We had one Smyrina Ga. North of Atlanta. Best potatoes I ever had. Small siliced Potatoes lightly batterd, salt and pepper and fried. Great Fried Chicken.

The picture of the Minnie Pearl/Coldwell Realtors store looks like it's in my home town. Even the Broadway sign is eerily correct. We had a Minnie Pearl's Chicken place here for a short time but I don't remember if I liked their chicken or not. I was in grade school I think.

It was a revolving triangle an how the government didn't step in because of this is beyond me!!!!

yes we ate there every sunday after mass.

I have never seen a Minnie Pearl chicken franchise where I lived at. Actually I have never known there was a Minnie Pearl chicken franchise

the biggest red flag was when the stock doubled from 20 to 40 bucks a share. accounting practices should have been audited at that point.

My parents stopped with my sister, brothers and I at a franchise in Alabama when I was 10. (1968). It was good chicken but the biscuits sucked and the gravy tasted like library paste. We never ate there again.

Awesome vid. Way before my time but so interesting. Subscribed!

We almost had one in San Bruno Ca. the building was completed but never opened it was 1974.

Whatever happened to the A&W Drive-ins?

There were 3 or 4 successful Minnie Pearl's Fried Chicken locations in the Oklahoma city area around 69 or so. The chicken seemed good to a 10 year old kid, but I remember little else about the product. I do recall they were unique at the time as they boxed the meal and gave you pre packaged hand wipes. Not much of a issue to remember a restaurant on.

Basically Minnie Pearl’s Chicken pulled an Enron.

Celebrity endorsed resturants only last as long as the actor/actress is in their prime........( look at your watch)

Like a lot of others I’d like to see one on Shakeys Pizza !!! And to add another request how about one on Naugles Tacos & Burgers!

There was briefly one in Tallahassee. It had frog legs on the menu! Booking future cash flow as current income was one of he things that brought Enron down.

Great job Mr. Troy, another winner of a video.

I just remember the billboard advertising 'no wings.'

Great job on this video series!

Kenny Rogers had a chicken chain?

I got some ideas 7. Gino's Hamburgers 8. Red Barn 9. Wetson's 10. Beefsteak Charlie's 11. Steak & Ale 12. Roy Rogers 13. Howard Johnson's 14. Chi-Chi's 15. Sambo's 16. Kenny Roger's Roasters

neat, that last Minnie Pearls was only a few streets from where I live