10 Forgotten Restaurant Chains That Made a Huge Comeback In 2024
From fan-favorite Chick-fil-A to fast-growing Wingstop, many of America's most iconic restaurant chains continued to thrive throughout 2024. Several struggling chains, however, weren't nearly as fortunate as they contended with lagging sales, declines in guest traffic, and store closures. Red Lobster and TGI Fridays were among the companies that struggled particularly hard in 2024, with both shuttering dozens of locations and resorting to Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
But if the past has taught us anything, declines in a chain's sales and popularity don't necessarily mean that it's doomed. In fact, some struggling restaurant brands have previously been able to mount successful comebacks by bringing in new leadership, implementing smart recovery strategies, and making other tactical decisions to improve their fortunes in the long term.
This year, several struggling chains have risen from the ashes and showed strong signs of a resurgence thanks to these types of efforts. Read on for the 10 restaurant chains that have made a huge comeback in 2024.
Chi-Chi's
Out of all the comebacks the restaurant industry has seen in 2024, few have garnered quite as much attention as Chi-Chi's resurgence. In early December, the iconic Mexican chain announced plans to start opening locations again in 2025—roughly 20 years after it disappeared.
A series of ownership changes, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, and a deadly Hepatitis A outbreak linked to green onions in its salsa all led to the closures of Chi-Chi's last remaining restaurants in 2004. But Michael McDermott, son of Chi-Chi's co-founder Marco McDermott, is reviving the brand after inking an agreement that allows him to use the Chi-Chi's name on physical restaurants.
Chi-Chi's reopening announcement did not say exactly how many locations it will build and what it will serve. However, it did say that McDermott "is determined to honor his family's legacy by combining the classic Chi-Chi's restaurant experience with modern influences."
Fuddruckers
A few years ago, Fuddruckers's future looked uncertain after its parent company went out of business and sold off the burger chain to one of its franchisees. But as of 2024, Fuddruckers is not only still around, but beginning to open new locations again.
Over the summer, Fuddruckers announced plans to open two new restaurants in Silver Spring, Md., and the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington D.C. during the fall of 2024. (Both have yet to open or be assigned exact opening dates, though the Chinatown location has since announced that it will open in December 2024.)
This is a huge step for Fuddruckers, as the chain's footprint has dwindled to just 44 locations in the United States and a few others across Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico, according to its website. However, Fuddruckers still has a long way to go if it wants to reach the 100+ restaurant total it used to boast in the States.
The Ground Round
The Ground Round—known for its Bingo the Clown mascot, classic American fare, and casual family atmosphere—is finally beginning to expand again after its unit count dwindled to practically nothing. This resurgence is thanks to Joseph Shea and his wife, Nachi Shea, who purchased the chain's intellectual property rights and are developing a new Ground Round location in Shrewsbury, Mass. Construction is already underway, and the restaurant is anticipated to open in January 2025, Restaurant Business Magazine reported.
The Ground Round was founded in 1969 and operated more than 200 locations at its peak. However, it eventually started losing market share to popular rivals like Chili's and Applebee's, leading to significant closures and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The brand was acquired out of bankruptcy that same year, and its then-owners attempted to revive it by trying several spinoff restaurant concepts. The chain continued to shrink despite these efforts and currently comprises just four locations across North Dakota and Ohio.
Joseph Shea and his wife are currently focused on the upcoming Shrewsbury opening and don't have any additional restaurants in the works yet, but told Restaurant Business that they'll be open to franchising in the future.
Grumpy's Restaurant
After years of ownership changes and uncertainty about its identity, Grumpy's Restaurant has successfully rebounded and carved out a stable space for itself in the restaurant industry. The regional southern-style diner chain started out in 1999 as a single Florida restaurant headed by an ex-U.S. Navy chef known as "Chef Grumpy." But Chef Grumpy stepped down as owner and operator after two years, setting off a long period of instability for the concept.
It changed hands six times and struggled to find an identity that worked, serving French-style cuisine one year and focusing on dinner service the next. But that all changed when Grumpy's current owners, husband and wife Daniel and Morgan DeLeon, took over in 2017. They brought Grumpy's back to its roots by focusing on serving classic diner fare at affordable prices. They also launched a franchise program for Grumpy's, leading to four new restaurant openings across Northern Florida.
Over the summer, Grumpy's announced that it wants to continue expanding in Florida and Georgia and is looking for franchise partners in Orlando, Gainesville, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Savannah. It also set a goal to sign three more development deals by the end of 2024.
Sweet Tomatoes
Sweet Tomatoes customers never truly stopped grieving the salad buffet chain's demise after it went out of business during the COVID-19 pandemic. And in April 2024, fans finally got the news they'd been waiting for since 2020.
A shuttered Sweet Tomatoes location in Tucson, Ariz., officially reopened its doors on April 1 to plenty of fanfare. Pictures posted on social media at the time showed long lines of customers waiting to enter the restaurant, which is located at 6202 East Broadway Blvd.
The restaurant's interior was revamped with new colors and a new look, but many of Sweet Tomatoes' classic food and drink options are still available to customers. The returning offerings include Joan's Broccoli Madness salad, chicken noodle soup, Caesar salad, soft serve, strawberry lemonade, and a salad bar filled with fresh-cut ingredients.
In great news for Sweet Tomatoes fans outside of Tucson, COO Mike Malone told Restaurant Business in February that the chain might expand to even more markets in the future.
Burger King
Burger King has faced its fair share of challenges in recent years between lagging sales, franchisee bankruptcies, hundreds of annual store closures, and the loss of its title as America's second-largest burger chain to Wendy's. However, the worst of these struggles could very well be behind Burger King now.
After shuttering close to 300 restaurants throughout 2023 to eliminate underperforming stores from its system, Burger King is expected to close fewer restaurants in 2024.
"We believe most of these closures are behind us and expect a more normalized level of closure activity in 2024," Josh Kobza, CEO of Burger King parent company Restaurant Brands International, said during a February earnings call.
The chain has also been working to revitalize its business through a $400 million investment campaign called "Reclaim the Flame." This sweeping initiative includes modernizing the Burger King brand, enhancing its kitchens, remodeling hundreds of restaurants, developing innovative new menu items, and ramping up advertising. Recent earnings data indicates that these efforts are starting to pay off.
Burger King's same-store sales increased 3.8% in the first quarter of 2024, while system-wide sales increased by 2.6%. Kobza said during an April earnings call that the investment campaign "is driving strong early results and positioning us well to outperform in any consumer environment."
Friendly's
Friendly's footprint—like Burger King's—has shrunk significantly in recent years amid plummeting sales and multiple bankruptcies. The family dining chain currently operates around 100 restaurants throughout the East Coast, a far cry from the 500 locations it once boasted in its heyday, according to Restaurant Business. It shuttered about six locations in 2023 alone amid an 8.1% decline in systemwide sales.
However, the spate of extensive Friendly's closures may finally be coming to an end. Sherif Mityas, CEO of Friendly's parent company Brix Holdings, recently told Restaurant Business that the brand only expects to shutter around three more stores due to leases not being renewed or the restaurants themselves no longer being feasible. Friendly's has also started to open locations again with the recent debut of a store in Orlando, Fla.—and it expects to open three to five additional units next year amid its comeback.
Corner Bakery
Corner Bakery's future looked uncertain when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2023, a move meant to keep it in business while it reorganized tens of millions of dollars in debt. A little over a year later, things are starting to look up for the bakery-café chain.
The restaurant and real estate operator SSCP Management bought Corner Bakery out of bankruptcy just a few months after the filing last year. The company began revamping the Corner Bakery business soon after by bringing in a new group of executives to run the company, improving employee training programs, and enlisting the marketing agency Champion to help promote the brand, among other initiatives.
These comeback efforts have already begun to pay off. In a February 2024 update, Corner Bakery announced that average unit volumes (the sales each individual store sees on average) had increased by $200,000 in the previous six months. Looking ahead, the company plans to remodel most of its company-owned locations to improve the dining experience and open five to seven new restaurants in 2024.
"Our plan from Day One was to invest back into the business in virtually every area, from developing and providing growth opportunities to our people to ensuring that our cafes are refreshed and inviting to our guests," SSCP President and Corner Bakery Cafe CEO Chris Dharod said in a February statement. "We see so much potential for the Corner Bakery Cafe brand, and we're thrilled that our efforts are already paying dividends and have laid a strong foundation for growth in the year ahead."
Steak and Ale
Roughly 16 years after Steak and Ale filed for bankruptcy and closed all locations amid declining popularity, the once-beloved steakhouse chain made a major comeback and opened a new location.
News initially emerged in early 2023 that parent company Legendary Restaurant Brands planned to revive the Steak and Ale brand, which was best known for its steaks, salad bar, beer, wine, and Tudor-style decor. Finally, this past July, a brand-new Steak & Ale restaurant opened its doors inside a Wyndham hotel in Burnsville, Minn.
The new location serves several contemporary and regional offerings, as well as all the old fan favorites: table-side Caesar salad, the Kensington Club, Hawaiian Chicken, Oh Baby Back Ribs, and the 20-ounce "Norman Cut" Herb Roasted Prime Rib. The franchisee running the Burnsville restaurant also has a 15-unit agreement in the Midwest with exclusive rights to expand Steak and Ale and its sister brands (Bennigan's and Bennigan's On The Fly) in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. So, fans in these markets should keep an eye out for even more potential restaurant openings in the future.
Clover Food Lab
The Massachusetts dining scene took a major blow last fall when the Boston-based Clover Food Lab declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to lagging sales and insufficient financing. But, as of spring 2024, Clover's bankruptcy days are officially behind it.
The chain—known for serving veggie-forward foods made with seasonal ingredients—exited bankruptcy this past April and is already planning to start growing again. Clover was left with 13 locations after closing two restaurants during the bankruptcy process. But, in the next five years, it hopes to expand to 60 restaurants throughout New England, Restaurant Business reported.
Clover will focus on expanding in urban spaces and university areas. It's also planning to open more smaller-format stores as it grows.
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