These 53 Restaurant Chains Are on the Brink of Disappearing Entirely

Can't say that I will greatly miss any of these except maybe IHOP. Do have fond memories of the self serve"whipped cream machine" at Marie Callenders in Arizona back in 1975.

The market for fast food and casual dining has been way over saturated. Many restaurants serve crappy food and deserve going out of business. Many are mismanaged, cost too much to operate, or are not in a good location. Service is often poor, due in part to the low pay of the wait staff. After all, you get what you pay for. Why not offer profit sharing? My employer does. When will businesses realize that if they want to compete, they have to constantly reevaluate the market, pay wages and benefits that would attract good workers, and simplify their menus which simplifies the operation?

Well, Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen, I can’t say I’m surprised. I liked some of them, I didn’t like some of them, and some of them I never tried.
Unfortunately, O’Charley’s made the list and I was saddened somewhat to read that the chain may disappear. I was friends with the founder, Charlie Watkins. We weren’t super close, as he was much older, but I had drinks and dinner with him and a very small group of veterans many times. I felt fortunate and honored to be included in their group.
My wife and I took our grandchildren to O’Charley’s for dinner last night. I’m glad we did, as I’ll let it be my unknowing homage to my late friend.

“Charles H. Watkins Jr., founder of the O’Charley’s restaurant chain, died Tuesday [August 16, 2011] in Nashville, Tenn. He was 87.
Watkins formed O’Charley’s Inc. in 1971, which opened its first restaurant in Nashville. He sold the company 11 years later and then developed several other concepts, including co-founding Cheeseburger Charley’s with his son in 1988.
‘We are saddened by the passing of Mr. Watkins, and we appreciate his entrepreneurial vision in setting standards in the first O’Charley’s restaurant that we work hard to live up to every day,’ David W. Head, O’Charley’s president and chief executive, said. ‘Our sympathy and prayers go out to his family.’
O’Charley’s Inc. now operates or franchises 227 of its flagship brand in 18 states, 106 Ninety Nine Restaurant locations and 10 Stoney River restaurants.
The family said Watkins had been in ill health and that he died peacefully in his sleep.
Watkins, a native of Paris, Tenn., served for 20 years as a Marine Corps pilot and retired as a major in 1963. He became the assistant to Kemmons Wilson, founder and chairman of Holiday Inns of America, and moved to Nashville in 1966 to open a Shakey’s Pizza franchise. He later founded Al Hirt’s Sandwich Saloon before starting O’Charley’s.”
-Ron Ruggless, August 18, 2011
1SG Dan Capri SSgt Joseph Baptist PO2 Marco Monsalve SFC William Farrell SGT Mark Anderson

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75054315/charles-holmes-watkins