Restaurant franchises have become part of consumer culture in the US in the last few decades. Chains like Friday’s, Outback, Applebee’s, Red Robin, Chili’s, and others dominate mall and highway locations, but it seems that for every success story, countless other chains fail. Some now-defunct restaurant chains rose to great heights prior to dropping down to earth, while others were never able to really get off the ground. Let’s take a look at some of the iconic restaurant chains that many people might not even remember and some that you might still cruise by the next time you go on a road trip.
Iconic Restaurant Chains That You Might Not Remember
Howard Johnson’s
Launched in the 1920s, the Howard Johnson’s grew along with the car culture in America. By the 1960s, more than 1,000 of the distinctive orange roofs of the restaurant/hotel chain dotted American highways. However, they disappeared within a few decades. The hotel part of the business had been sold off and still exists in name but it does not have the classic design elements HoJo. The restaurants, on the other hand, died a slow death, and as of 2017, only one Howard Johnson’s is still in business.
Howard Johnson’s
Sambo’s
The first Sambo’s restaurant opened in 1957. The name of the chain became controversial although the company claims the chain’s name was a portmanteau of the names of founders Sam Battistone and Newell F. Bohnet. According to the company, it is not a reference to Sambo, which can be used derogatorily to mean African Americans, but the fact that the restaurants’ decor displayed the racist caricature of Li’l Black Sambo did nothing to help their cause. Despite the chain having around 1,000 locations at its height, the company closed in the ’80s since it was dogged by the controversy. Denny’s purchased most of the locations, and the rest were shut down.
Sambo’s
