These Iconic 1980s Restaurants Are Nearly All Extinct

The 1980s was a special time for family-friendly dining in America. Lots of restaurants soared to new heights, with countless corporate and franchised locations opening up from coast to coast. It seems, however, that chain restaurants are a dying breed as locally owned boutique-style options open in cities throughout the nation. Here are seven iconic restaurants the enjoyed the height of their fame in the 1980s but today are nearly extinct.

Steak & Ale

• Founded in 1966 by Norman Brinker
• Filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2008 and closed for good
• Had as many as 280 locations in the 1980s
• Announced in April 2024 that Steak & Ale is being revived

Howard Johnson’s

• Began as a drug store/soda fountain
• The first restaurant in 1929 by 32-year-old Howard Deering Johnson
• HoJo’s was the largest American restaurant chain in the 1950s and ’60s, with more than 1,000 restaurants by 1979
• Today, after multiple company ownership changes, only one Howard Johnson’s restaurant is still in operation

Bonanza Steakhouse

• Founded in 1963 by Dan Blocker, who played “Hoss” on the show Bonanza
• First location opened in Westport, Connecticut
• Peaked in 1989 with nearly 600 locations
• As of April 2024, only three Bonanza locations remain in the U.S.

D’Lites

• Founded in 1978 in Norcross, GA
• Brought a nutritious flavor to fast food
• More than 100 stores open by 1985
• By end of 1986, all were closed due to bankruptcy, caused in large part by the fact other fast food restaurants began offering more nutritious options

Chi-Chi’s

• Founded in Richfield, MN, in 1975
• Co-founder’s wife’s nickname was Chi Chi
• Rose in popularity in the 1980s, and had 210 locations by 1995
• Filed for bankruptcy in October 2003
• In November 2003, Chi-Chi’s had the largest hepatitis A outbreak in American history

Rax Roast Beef

• Peaked in the 1980s with more than 500 locations
• The company has declared bankruptcy more than once
• As of 2024, there are only six Rax locations still in operation

ShowBiz Pizza

• The first ShowBiz Pizza opened in March of 1980 in Kansas City, Missouri
• The “house band” was called the Rock-afire Explosion
• By 1981, there were 90 ShowBiz Pizza locations — 42 franchises and 48 company-owned
• Today, there are only a handful of ShowBiz locations still open, none of which are in the U.S.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©"Tichnor Quality Views," Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Made Only by Tichnor Bros., Inc., Boston, Mass., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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