Lum’s
Who doesn’t like walking down the street with a delicious hot dog in hand? The Pearlman family clearly had the right idea when they opened the hot dog stand chain in Miami Beach, 1956.
Lum’s is a tale of caution for all of those who want to try their hand in the restaurant business, actually. They started off brilliantly, selling hot dogs steamed in beer, but much like Icarus, they tried to fly too close to the sun and eventually plummeted back to Earth.
In 1969, when the company went public, they managed to buy Caesars Palace in Las Vegas- no small feat, mind you. It all came to a sad end after being purchased by Wienerwald in 1978, filing for bankruptcy only a few years later when they tried to bite off more than they could chew.
Kenny Rogers Roasters
You may not have dined at Kenny Rogers Roasters, but you surely heard about the famous chain from a Steinfeld episode. The singer launched Kenny Rogers Roasters with the help of KFC mogul John Y. Brown in 1991. At its peak, the restaurant was running 425 locations.
Sadly, the overly saturated market did not allow Kenny Rogers to stand out. Though their rotisserie chicken was delicious, it simply wasn’t enough to keep the chain on the map. After being bought by Nathan’s in 1998, the restaurant went bankrupt.
Nowadays you can only enjoy this blast from the past chicken in Ontario California. Alternatively, if you’re ever in Asia you could pop into one of their 100 locations that are still open!
This next chain went from mini to major, then to non-existent…..
