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McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Burger King weren't always the fast-food giants they are now.
2018-10-26
Before today's massive chains took over, there was Burger Chef, Pup 'n' Taco, and Henry's Hamburgers. Some chains were just regional, like the West Coast-based VIP's diner, and others had thousands of locations nationwide.
But like brick-and-mortar stores, not every restaurant can survive in the long run. Some chains, like Burger Chef, overexpanded and had to sell, some were purchased by bigger brands, and some just couldn't keep up with competition from McDonald's.
See what other once wildly popular fast-food and restaurant chains are no longer around:
Valle's Steakhouse was an East Coast chain that started in 1933.
Burger Chef, a McDonald's competitor that once had thousands of locations across the country, expanded too quickly and ended up selling to Hardee's in 1981.
A month after the bankruptcy filing, onions served at a Pittsburgh-area Chi Chi's reportedly set off a massive hepatitis-A outbreak, sickening 660 and killing four. The remaining 65 locations closed within the year.
It grew to over 500 stores before it was purchased by Marriott in the 1980s, and the restaurants were all turned into Roy Rogers. In 2011, 10 Gino's restaurants were reopened in Baltimore.
Kenny Rogers' Roasters, made famous by an episode of "Seinfeld," opened its first restaurant in 1991. Nathan's Famous bought the chain in 1998, but sold it again in 2008.
Minnie Pearl's Chicken, named after the famous country singer, grew to over 500 locations in the late 1960s and early 1970s. But it expanded too quickly, and it didn't have a set menu or recipe. Because none of the locations were really the same, the chain fell apart within a few years.
Lum's hot dog chain had over 400 locations and was so successful that the chain's founders purchased Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas in 1969. By 1982, they had divested from that business.
Jessica Tyler is a Visual Features Reporter at Business Insider. She joined BI from the music publication Mind Equals Blown, where she is a contributing photographer and writer covering music and pop culture. Before this, she interned in the Creative Services department at CBS2/WLNY-TV. She holds a BA in Photography/Digital Art from SUNY Oneonta.
