Long before golden arches, stuffed-crust pizzas, and psychedelic tacos reigned supreme, America had a broad array of fast food and fast-casual establishments that served everything from “royal” burgers to “dial-a-pizza” and so much more. At one time or another, these fast-food chains appeared destined for long-term greatness. Yet, like the fast food they served, they were doomed to become memory-holed food fads.
Take a trip down memory lane with us that might make your stomach growl—or give you indigestion. Here are some nostalgic fast-food chains that once ruled America.
1. Roy Rogers
Originally RoBee’s House of Beef, this beloved fried chicken restaurant is still around but well beyond the peak of its popularity. When Mariott sold Roy Rogers to Hardee’s in 1990, a rebrand almost ended it for good. Luckily, it has bounced back somewhat—just in time for nostalgic 90s kids to take their families.
2. Chevys
Chevys, a nostalgic place to eat Tex-Mex food, filed for bankruptcy in 2018. This restaurant had a tortilla machine that would make fresh tortillas in front of customers. Popular dishes like the Chimichanga, a large fried burrito, were a go-to for many customers. If you’re lucky, you can still visit Chevys in a few states where it’s still open, like California and New Jersey.
3. Howard Johnson’s
Decades before Howard Johnson’s morphed into just another Wyndham hotel brand, it was America’s largest fast-casual restaurant chain. From its launch in 1925 through the 1970s, Americans flocked to Howard Johnson’s for fried clams, baked beans, and flavorful ice cream. But as a few competing chains began to dominate nationwide in the 1980s, “HoJo” lost its luster. The last one, in Lake George, New York, closed in 2022.
4. Chi-Chi’s
How on earth did a Tex-Mex chain launch in Minnesota, only for the one remaining location to operate in Austria?! Founded in 1975 with backing from Green Bay Packers veteran Max McGee, Chi-Chi’s became a fast favorite among Midwesterners.
Despite repeated attempts to make “salsification” happen, Chi-Chi’s rapid expansion into markets with long-established Mexican restaurant brands backfired spectacularly. That is, except in Europe, where one last branch in Vienna has somehow managed to hang on.
5. Krispy Kreme
When Krispy Kreme first launched in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1937, it made a statement by serving freshly made, piping-hot donuts. By the dawn of the new millennium, Krispy Kreme had adopted a new corporate strategy of rapid expansion, including a new grocery store donut line and the opening of international stores. This expansion later proved unsustainable, and Krispy Kreme now tends to close more stores than it opens.
6. Naugles
In 1970, former Del Taco partner Dick Naugle broke out on his own to start Naugle’s, a Mexican-American fast food chain that rapidly expanded across Southern California, and then eventually several more states. But in 1988, a new owner decided to merge Naugle’s with Del Taco, and the last remaining Naugle’s in Carson City, Nevada closed in 1995. Twenty years later, however, a group of dedicated fans relaunched the brand in Southern California.
7. Shakey’s Pizza
If you grew up in California during a certain era, you probably have a lot of childhood memories of Shakey’s. Founded in Sacramento in 1954, Shakey’s actually became America’s first pizza franchise.
During its early days, co-founder Sherwood “Shakey” Johnson entertained guests by playing jazz piano, and Shakey’s gained a reputation for “serving fun… also pizza.” But years later, after a series of different corporate parents and franchise controversies, Shakey’s gradually faded away.
8. Steak ‘n Shake
Launched in 1934 as a place where customers could see the steaks that would be turned into “steakburgers,” Steak ‘n Shake soon became an upmarket fast-food staple across the Midwest. Steak ‘n Shake later gained a dedicated cult following that allowed the chain to expand nationwide and even into Europe and the Middle East.
After a 2008 change in ownership and its failure to keep up with emerging competition from the likes of Chipotle, Steak ‘n Shake never fully recovered.
9. Doggie Diner
Promising “doggone good” grub, Doggie Diner first opened in Oakland in 1948 and rapidly gained popularity across Northern California for serving fresh burgers and hot dogs made with high-quality ingredients.
The smiling dachshund mascot with his iconic chef uniform helped create a recognized brand, and thus, for nearly four decades, Doggie Diner kept a fiercely loyal following. However, it wasn’t enough to keep Doggie Diner from finally going under in 1986.
10. D’Lites
Long before chains like Chipotle and Jamba promised “fast food that’s good for you,” there was D’Lites. Founded in the Atlanta suburbs in 1978, D’Lites served fast food that was meant to be nutritious, including burgers made with lean beef, high-fiber bread, and low-calorie cheese. Despite their trendsetting foray into health-conscious fast food, D’Lites stopped franchising in 1986, and the company went bankrupt just a year later.
11. La Petite Boulangerie
Decades before bakery brands like Panera took the world by storm, La Petite Boulangerie began in San Francisco in 1977, and junk food giant PepsiCo scooped it up five years later.
PepsiCo franchised La Petite Boulangerie to multiple companies, but two of those franchise operators sued, claiming PepsiCo misled them on the brand’s profit potential. PepsiCo actually bought one of these companies in 1987, but La Petite Boulangerie nonetheless fell into decline until it went defunct in 2000.
12. Milligan’s Beefy Burgers
Elmer and Dorothy Milligan launched something in 1942 that was a first for Florida: a drive-thru burger joint. Over the next two decades, Milligan’s not only served its signature “beefy burgers” to hungry fans across Jacksonville, but they also expanded to 16 locations across the Sunshine State, including Orlando and St. Petersburg.
However, as another Jacksonville-based fast food chain (Burger King) was rapidly expanding in the 1970s, Milligan’s couldn’t keep up. Their last store closed in 1974.
13. Little Tavern
From its initial debut in Louisville in 1927, Little Tavern made a big name for itself with its Tudor castle-esque exteriors and “buy ‘em by the bag” sliders. Little Tavern eventually became a revered institution in the Baltimore-Washington “DMV” region, but the chain ultimately closed in 2008. A former Little Tavern in Laurel, Maryland, later reopened under a new owner as a donut shop.
14. Lum’s
Lum’s started in Miami Beach in 1956 with a very unique offering: hot dogs steamed in beer! The menu also included fried seafood, roast beef sandwiches, and burgers, but it was the 35-cent beer-steamed hot dogs that really helped Lum’s surge in popularity and expand across the U.S. (so much so that the Lum’s founders bought the iconic Las Vegas casino Caesars Palace in 1969).
Two years later, the founders sold Lum’s restaurants, and Lum’s floundered until it went defunct in 1982.
15. Pizza Haven
Before Pizza Hut and Domino’s began to dominate the fast-food pizza market around the world, Pizza Haven launched as a pizza restaurant near the University of Washington in Seattle in 1958. It quickly made a name for itself with its then-novel “dial-a-pizza” delivery service. Pizza Haven grew into 42 locations throughout the West Coast, but a series of corporate blunders led the company to file for bankruptcy in 1998.
16. Burgerim
Launched in Israel in 2011 and arriving in America in 2016, Burgerim quickly gained steam as a unique spot to try all sorts of Middle Eastern-American fusion burgers with different meats (including “meatless meats” like falafel) and toppings. But when franchise owners started publicly complaining about the corporate headquarters’ constant failures to deliver on its lofty promises for franchisees and consumers, the fast food chain just as quickly fell out of favor.
17. Boston Market
Founded in 1985 as a convenient spot to pick up rotisserie chicken and a variety of side dishes, Boston Market expanded its offerings in 1995 to include other meats and deli sandwiches. It even launched its own fast-food breakfast chain called Einstein’s Bagels.
As for Boston Market itself, its debt-fueled rapid expansion backfired into bankruptcy in 1998. After a series of various corporate owners, it’s dropped from its peak of 1,200 locations to around 285 as of early 2024.
18. Steak and Ale
You’ve probably heard of Chili’s, but have you heard of its one-time steakhouse-style sibling that offered $6.99 lunch specials? Founded by Norman E. Brinker in 1966, Steak and Ale offered a number of deals on fast-casual renditions of steakhouse classics. At its peak, Steak and Ale had 280 locations across the U.S. But when its parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2008, Steak and Ale quickly vanished from the fast food landscape.
19. Bennigan’s
Also founded by fast-casual visionary Norman E. Brinker in 1976, Bennigan’s was supposed to evoke an Irish pub while serving up standard American fare. In the 1980s, Bennigan’s gained steam as a bar for singles to mix and mingle. It failed to distinguish itself from the growing competition, however, and Bennigan’s gradually dwindled to the 10 locations that remain open today.
20. Quiznos
In 1981, Quiznos first launched in Colorado and stood out with its offering of hot, toasted submarine sandwiches. The company eventually expanded, peaking at around 5,000 locations worldwide in 2006. But when the Great Recession hit in 2008, it hit Quiznos hard. When corporate attempted a viral marketing ploy in 2009 offering coupons for free sandwiches, franchisees felt blindsided, and Quiznos quickly began to dissolve.
21. Krystal
Founded in 1932 as a place where people could find good food at low prices, Krystal expanded across the American South during a time when people really appreciated cheap food that they could count on.
For a while, Krystal impressed customers with its ability to deliver classics like its slider-style square burgers and small “pup” hot dogs alongside newer, bigger burgers and a growing breakfast menu. But by January 2020, Krystal’s luck ran out, and they filed for bankruptcy.
22. Wag’s
Wag’s was pharmacy giant Walgreen’s attempt to break into the fast food business in 1975. Despite Walgreens’ backing, Wag’s struggled to gain popularity, leading to Walgreens selling the chain to Marriott in 1988. Just three years later, the entire chain shut down, though some former Wag’s restaurants were eventually converted into IHOPs.
23. Sambo’s
This California-based fast-casual chain that peaked at 1,117 restaurants in 47 states in 1979 comes with an infamously racist name. The stores attracted a ton of protests, boycott campaigns, and lawsuits. The company tried multiple rebrandings, but nothing saved it from bankruptcy in 1981. One restaurant remains in Santa Barbara, which finally renamed itself in 2020.