Once-Popular '80s Fast Food Chains We Desperately Miss

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With so many fast food options lining the streets of America, it's easy to forget the chains that have come and gone through the years. In particular, the 1980s was a high traffic decade for fast food chains that doled out their final meals and shuttered their doors for good. Maybe it was due to the proliferation of competitors vying for customer dollars, or maybe it was due to concepts that had either outlived their popularity or just couldn't meet the needs of the rad diners of the era. Whatever the reason, there was a glut of closures that nostalgic food fans still pine for when their appetite for fast food of yore strikes.

Many fast food chains that closed in the '80s were regional favorites that still live on in the hearts and memories of those who had the privilege of eating there. Others were more expensive enterprises known across the country, companies that sent shockwaves through the dining community when they finally pulled the plug. From roast beef joints that tried to put Arby's in its place to chicken shacks that couldn't shake a tail feather enough to compete with KFC, these are the '80s fast food eateries we've never gotten over and would love to see make a roaring comeback.

In the world of fast food burgers, McDonald's and Burger King are two names that are instantly recognized pretty much everywhere. But there was a third competitor in the ring early on, a chain called Burger Chef that held purchase with the big guys while grappling for dining dollars from customers in the United States. It was no small endeavor, either, amassing over 1000 locations by the early '70s and even expanding overseas. That's quite an accomplishment for a burger joint that started out in Indianapolis in 1954 by the Thomas brothers, who had the foresight to patent the flame broiler they used to create their Big Shef and Super Shef burgers (which were misspelled on purpose).

Eventually, Burger Chef was shoved out of the kitchen; the chain was bought up by General Foods first, hanging on for a while and growing to 1,200 locations as it scrapped against its bigger national competitors. After a horrific incident in 1978 in which four employees were abducted and killed, General Foods sold Burger Chef to Hardee's, another burger buster that elbowed its way onto the scene. The chain shuttered locations until it ultimately closed the remaining Burger Chefs in the mid-1990s.

Burger Chef, Burger King, and the golden arches weren't the only fast food outlets slinging burgers in the 1980s. Gino's Hamburgers established a presence starting in Maryland and moving through the mid-Atlantic states, providing regional diners an alternative to the usual brands in a drive-in format. The chain was started in 1957 by a few NFL players, getting the name Gino's in 1959, and had risen to a location count of 330 by 1972. 

The twist in the Gino's story is that most of the owners were KFC franchisees, even though locations in the Midwest and New England provided its own take on fried chicken rather than using the Colonel's secret recipe. Add to this the confusion caused by Papa Gino's, a pizza chain yoked with the same first name, and keeping the whole history straight gets a little gnarly.

But for bargain lovers, the prices were primo. A 1981 print ad for Gino's shows the chains burgers being advertised as larger than ¼ pound and prepared with a homestyle touch. It also shows a coupon pricing the burgers at 50 cents, evidence for anyone who's become accustomed to the ever-increasing prices of fast food that at one time you could buy lunch with a change in your pocket. Too bad the company sold to Marriott in 1982 and largely became Roy Rogers Restaurants (which is another story altogether.)

Southern California in the '80s was serving up Tex-Mex and all-American dogs in a combo restaurant chain whimsical named Pup 'n' Taco. The mixed menu also featured hamburgers, naturally, but there were pastrami sandwiches and burritos listed, too, giving patrons an unexpectedly diverse array of options to choose from. Part of the kitschy fun of Pup 'n' Taco were the promotional opportunities the restaurant took to draw in customers of all ages. One such campaign showed free hand puppets of Pup 'n' Taco mascots provided with the purchase of every 29 cent hotdog or taco. Clearly, this was an era of wildly affordable fast food and incredibly cheap swag.

As with all businesses, if you're not the big dog, you end up taking a pounding. Though it had an almost 20-year run after launching in 1965, by the mid-80s,Taco Bell swooped in and bought all 99 locations. Anyone looking to relive the glory days of this special SoCal staple of a bygone era can check out the collection of Pup n' Taco ads, conveniently stored on YouTube for generations to come.

Riverside, California was the site where Naugles Tacos and Hamburgers launched its very first location, all the way back in 1970. The 24-hour drive-thru taco eatery became well-known in the area, running its own game until it hooked up with Del Taco in 1988. Through the early 90s, the Naugles locations slowly shuttered, until the last of the restaurants closed down in 1995. Facebook users still pine for their Naugles, which made a deep enough impression on the youth of the '80s to cause serious longing for the chain's famous cheese burritos.

In what might have been the fast-food comeback story of the new century (spoiler alert: it wasn't), Naugles mounted an effort to resurrect its restaurants in 2008. The endeavor resulted in five new locations opening between 2015 and 2024, though two of those subsequently closed again. With a little left in the tank, Naugles has used 2025 as its food truck era, launching a mobile kitchen that serves to remind Southern Californians what '80s fast food was all about.

If you've seen the teen comedy classic "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," you may remember a restaurant where Judge Reinhold and Jennifer Jason Lee worked called All American Burger. Though it may have seemed like a fictitious restaurant, it was actually a very real burger joint that gave the 1982 film a layer of California-based authenticity. Reddit users love tossing out quotes from the flick, all centered around the restaurant and the characters it employed.

The All American Burger became a four-location chain by 1970, but filed for bankruptcy in 1981, a move helped along by the owner's fraudulent endeavors. Fans could still find locations as recently as 2010, but thanks to the magic of digital media, you can always queue up "Fast Times" for streaming and relive the glory days of SoCal burger shop that made it big before its star fizzled out. You'll have to order your burgers from somewhere else, though.

Sure, Arby's holds the title on the roast beef sector of the American fast food industry, but there was a time in the '80s when Rax Roast Beef was doing its darndest to establish its place in line. The sign proclaiming "Fast Food with Style" may have been a bit of an overreach, but at least you had options for your drive-thru sandwiches. 

What might have been the nail in the coffin — or perhaps an indicator of a 500-location company that's simply given up — is an advertising campaign that goes no further than stating, "You can eat here" (via YouTube). No, really. That's the whole slogan. Rax may have ramped up its offerings with pizza and baked potatoes by that time, but it was clear that after a several-decade run, the company was out of steam.

Though Rax Roast Beef filed for bankruptcy in 1994, there's still a trace of the original influence flitting about on the fast food scene. These days, you can find Rax Roast Beef's six remaining restaurants in the Midwest, if you're sharp-eyed enough to spot one (or Google the locations). It's the Rax Roast Beef rise and fall story that cleared the way for Arby's to remain America's roast beef — you know how the rest goes.

KFC and Church's may have ruled the roost as far as fried chicken fast food outlets in the '80s, but Pioneer Chicken certainly gave the circuit a run for its money. The confusing cartoon Conestoga wagon driven by an Italian chef carrying a tray filled with wings and thighs made for a humorous and odd mash-up that diners in California in the southwest could see down the block, a signal that hot, affordable food was within reach. The Pioneer Chicken landgrab that started in 1961 was in full gold rush mode by the time the decade of sky-high hair and neon leggings arrived, and the brand even made appearances in DeBarge music videos and the intro sequence for the sitcom "Full House."

By 1989, there were 270 Pioneer Chicken locations peppering the West Coast, largely. But by 1996, two bankruptcies and an acquisition by another company forced the covered wagon signs to haul it in. Two locations remain open in Southern California, preserving a bit of the fast food wild west in which a once-popular chicken restaurant with a frontier motif couldn't keep its place on the landscape.

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If lived in visited Atlanta in the 1980s, you may have been familiar with a fast food restaurant called Mighty Casey's, a spot where easy-going culinary creativity was delivered in generous portions. Classics like Grand Slam burgers, hot dogs, onion rings, and shakes comprised a familiar and popular menu, though it's signature dish of Cajun chicken wings became its best known offering. The chain first swung for the fences in 1980 and became a hit with Georgians hungry for fast food reminiscent of drive-thrus like The Varsity, another Georgia classic serving all-American creations.

In 1994, Mighty Casey's was purchased by another Atlanta restaurant chain, Krystal, which resulted in Casey's locations being converted to Krystal eateries. Fans who can't let go of their favorite '80s spot for quality fast food can grab a Mighty Casey's t-shirt as a vintage souvenir online. It may not be as evocative as a burger and fries, but it also doesn't count against your total cholesterol. Take the wins where you can find them.

Central Ohio was home to the 20 location chain called Sisters Chicken and Biscuits, a Southern style fast food favorite that was initially owned by the Wendy's restaurant company. Though the chicken gets top billing, word has it the biscuits are the stuff of legends, still spoken about by locals who remember all too well the joy these fluffy bakes brought. After launching in 1980 and being sold to Wendy's in 1981 by original owner Jim W. Near (who became Wendy's COO in 1986), Wendy's ended up selling the locations to its largest franchiser in 1987, allowing Sisters to eke out almost another decade of business.

The story of Sisters Chicken and Biscuits may have come to a close in 1994, but the buildings live on, embedded in the Ohio landscape to remind residence of their former glory. Pitched roofs and covered porches that emulated farmhouse style architecture are a standout around the state, even though the structures have been repurposed over the decades.

When your restaurant is well-known enough to inspire an SNL parody, you know you've reached peak culture awareness. Beefsteak Charlie's holds this unique distinction, appearing as "Pre-Chewed Charlie's" in a gross-out sketch featuring Bill Murray that ripped on the eatery's old-timey feel and apparent tendency toward serving easy-to-digest dishes. The unique eatery, which had been evolving since its inception in the early 1900s, combined all-you-can-eat dining with live entertainment for a buffet that satisfied all the senses. It was just the sort of maximalist culinary encounter the '80s diner with tons of disposable cash was looking for.

After achieving an apex of nearly 70 East Coast locations in 1984, the chain seemed poised for long-lived success. But by the late '80s, poor business choices drove 20 of the locations into closure. Though two restaurants hung in until the dawn of the new millennium, by 2001, the dining world bid goodbye to Beefsteak Charlie's. Has there been an attempted relaunch of this '80s favorite? Well, of course there has, a single-spot locale in Massapequa, New York that opened in 2009. It quickly succumbed like the others had nearly a decade prior.

Not every fast food restaurant from the 1980s can lay claim to providing inspiration for the horror video game and movie franchise "Five Nights at Freddy's"; that distinction belongs to Showbiz Pizza, the animatronic eatery that turned pizza dining into an immersive entertainment experience. If creepy robotic characters performing onstage was your kind of good time, Showbiz Pizza was the place to be, though the frame of reference of the average '80s kid was a bit more innocent, and the figures drew more comparisons to Disneyland's Country Bear Jamboree than to slasher film fodder. Anyone who was present in a Showbiz for a pizza party (me included) was dazzled by the idea of having a slice of animated wonder to go with a slice of sub-par pizza.

Naturally, Chuck E. Cheese's stepped in to become the mascot-bearing pizza chain of choice, snatching up the remaining Showbiz properties and rebranding them in 1984. But for those who took a seat in this one-of-a-kind '80s restaurant, the visions of zombie-eyed critters playing prerecorded tunes won't be fading anytime soon; nor will the haunting slogan "Where a kid can be a kid." Happy nightmares, children of the '80s.