Chain restaurant buildings that became another chain restaurant

[jakeroot]

In Federal Way, Washington, the chain Red Robin moved into a new location after their old location was condemned to make way for a light rail line.

The new location takes over a RAM Restaurant building that had previously been vacated. Though a small chain, RAM is another chain in the Pacific Northwest.

Bonus: before that, it was a Marie Callender's. So this particular building has been home to three separate chain restaurants in the span of 15 years.

Before (2007): https://goo.gl/maps/cs3AnJP7ABERs5nm6
Before (2012): https://goo.gl/maps/ALmiCjCHhNrKTvbu5
After (now): https://goo.gl/maps/vXRUzBCV9Ei98Fgw9

How often have you seen this happen, where a chain moves into another chain's former building? Specifically not looking for chains built on the same location as a previous chain, that is obviously quite common.

[lepidopteran]

Check out the subreddit "Not Fooling Anybody", a.k.a. "Recycled Retail Buildings".  They list restaurants along with other recognizable retail structures.

Examples
KFC turned diet center.

Burger King turned into Perico's (multiple pictures)

[Rothman]

Glad someone posted the Reddit.  This happens so often a thread couldn't hope to cover them all.

[Dough4872]

In Warminster, PA, there is a building that went from Friendly's to Steak 'n Shake to Popeye's.

[jakeroot]

Check out the subreddit "Not Fooling Anybody", a.k.a. "Recycled Retail Buildings".  They list restaurants along with other recognizable retail structures.

Examples
KFC turned diet center.

Burger King turned into Perico's (multiple pictures)

Glad someone posted the Reddit.  This happens so often a thread couldn't hope to cover them all.

So chain restaurants becoming another chain restaurant is common? Because the example I posted in my OP is the only one I knew of.

I'm not looking for any old repurposed buildings, like those damn Pizza Huts. I mean like, if Dominos moved into an old Pizza Hut building, not some local pizza chain.

Normally chains have a specific look that required remodelling or demolishing/rebuilding a structure.

In Warminster, PA, there is a building that went from Friendly's to Steak 'n Shake to Popeye's.

That is exactly what I had in mind with this thread, that's pretty crazy to me. Three different chains, one building.

Though it seems like Friendly's may have been a different building, or the Steak 'n Shake swallowed up the original building.



By the way, that is a great subreddit. Thank you for linking it, I have a few submissions for it!

[Scott5114]

Norman OK has a building that is said to have started as a Shoney's, became a Hooters, then a Burger King, and now it's part of a local sit-down Mexican chain. (I don't know how true this is, because I never directly observed the Shoney's or Hooters, but I was told of its history when I worked there when it was a BK. It certainly didn't look like a standard BK; for one thing it had wood paneling.)

[jp the roadgeek]

In my town, we have one building that went from being a Mr. Steak to a local Mexican place to a Ruby Tuesday and is now an IHOP.  In the same plaza, there's an Outback that used to be a Pizza Hut, but there are no remnants of Pizza Hut's distinctive roof. 

There's another one that was originally a local chain called Farm Shop which was bought out by and became a Friendly's.  The problem is there was (and still is) a Friendly's a half mile away (which was once a Sambo's; that location was even farther down the same road in a building that has been repurposed as offices but has maintained the trademark Friendly exterior).  The closed Friendly's became a Bertucci's, and is now a local upscale burger chain.

There's also a building across from ESPN's World Headquarters that went from being a McDonald's to about 5 different local restaurants (including one called Red Chili's that used the same font as the more famous national chain) and is now a parking hub for Amazon vehicles for the nearby distribution center.

[jakeroot]

Norman OK has a building that is said to have started as a Shoney's, became a Hooters, then a Burger King, and now it's part of a local sit-down Mexican chain. (I don't know how true this is, because I never directly observed the Shoney's or Hooters, but I was told of its history when I worked there when it was a BK. It certainly didn't look like a standard BK; for one thing it had wood paneling.)

I did some backwards research on 110 Ed Noble Parkway; the Malls and Retail Wiki lists this address as a former Shoney's location.

https://malls.fandom.com/wiki/Shoney%27s/Locations#Oklahoma_2

I cannot find anything on the Hooters, except a single 1994 Oklahoman article about Hooters coming to Norman, but no location was listed in the story.

[jakeroot]

There's also a building across from ESPN's World Headquarters that went from being a McDonald's to about 5 different local restaurants (including one called Red Chili's that used the same font as the more famous national chain) and is now a parking hub for Amazon vehicles for the nearby distribution center.

I found it on GSV, holy cow it seems like every year it was a different restaurant or other service.

In my town, we have one building that went from being a Mr. Steak to a local Mexican place to a Ruby Tuesday and is now an IHOP.  In the same plaza, there's an Outback that used to be a Pizza Hut, but there are no remnants of Pizza Hut's distinctive roof.

Took me a while to figure out where these were; both plazas have Outback Steakhouse and IHOP .

The Outback in that plaza looks exactly like the Outbacks from the late 90s/early 2000s, are you totally sure? It looks too big to have been a Pizza Hut, at least of the distinctive roof variety.

[Rothman]

Check out the subreddit "Not Fooling Anybody", a.k.a. "Recycled Retail Buildings".  They list restaurants along with other recognizable retail structures.

Examples
KFC turned diet center.

Burger King turned into Perico's (multiple pictures)

Glad someone posted the Reddit.  This happens so often a thread couldn't hope to cover them all.

So chain restaurants becoming another chain restaurant is common? Because the example I posted in my OP is the only one I knew of.

Yes, it's common, especially given the quick responses to this thread.  Happens so often, I'd bet half the time the original chain is quickly forgotten.

Friendly's became a Smashburger in Colonie, NY...

Fairly certain a Fuddrucker's became the Hooter's on the other side of the street.

Both swaps happened fairly close to each other, time-wise, too.  Common, common, common...

[SectorZ]

https://goo.gl/maps/89q3Ex9yjcuTLEbaA

This place was a Dunkin' Donuts, then turned to a D'Angelo Sandwich Shop, and after Papa Gino's went bankrupt (taking D'Angelo with it) it's now moved onto an independent restaurant.

https://goo.gl/maps/SN168jSDJgZAq6tc6

A Friendly's now a Starbucks.

https://goo.gl/maps/vU6dWXBm67XRdtRh8

Not a chain restaurant now, but a chain restaurant (Friendly's) becoming a chain medical walk-in center.

I feel that Friendly's can move this thread by itself with minimal effort. Talk about a company that has taken the Sears/KMart scenic route to its own obliteration.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/3CcwBnTnMQfJFgEM7
First Ruby Tuesday





https://goo.gl/maps/tDhMpc84aY2WwQecA
Then another Restaurant.

https://goo.gl/maps/2fhTJdoZfXBze5yK6
Now a Mr. And Mrs. Crab.

[Scott5114]

Norman OK has a building that is said to have started as a Shoney's, became a Hooters, then a Burger King, and now it's part of a local sit-down Mexican chain. (I don't know how true this is, because I never directly observed the Shoney's or Hooters, but I was told of its history when I worked there when it was a BK. It certainly didn't look like a standard BK; for one thing it had wood paneling.)

I did some backwards research on 110 Ed Noble Parkway; the Malls and Retail Wiki lists this address as a former Shoney's location.

https://malls.fandom.com/wiki/Shoney%27s/Locations#Oklahoma_2

I cannot find anything on the Hooters, except a single 1994 Oklahoman article about Hooters coming to Norman, but no location was listed in the story.

Nice detective work. If the Hooters was opened in that location in 1994, it didn't last long; Burger King was there by about 1996 (in my earliest memories of Norman from that year, it was already a BK). I don't remember Norman ever having a Hooters anywhere else, either (though I suppose it could have been in the campus area or on the east side, because I didn't have much reason to go to that side of town until the late 2000s).

[WillWeaverRVA]

810 West Grace Street in Richmond, VA began life as a Lum's diner. After Lum's went out of business, it became a Pizza Hut that I frequented when I was in college, at least before the celiac started.

After the Pizza Hut moved to a location on West Broad Street (across from the Science Museum of Virginia - now a Chicken Fiesta, which I say is an upgrade), the building was extended and subdivided and became a Chipotle, a Panera Bread, and a Verizon store. The Verizon store is now a Cava.

On another note, 7021 Hull Street Road started as a Donut Connection and became a Dunkin' Donuts after Donut Connection ended operations in Virginia.

[IowaTraveler]

Here's a former KFC that was turned into a Starbucks.

[hotdogPi]

This place I call the "Defense Against the Dark Arts Restaurant" because it keeps changing in the same way the professor of that class in Harry Potter keeps changing. I remember it being an Applebee's, then a Joe's Crabshack, then a Brick House, and now a Miller's Tavern.

[jeffandnicole]

In Deptford NJ we had an old Ground Round become a 99 Restaurants during their relatively brief (3 years or so) foray into the Philly market. They kept much of the original restaurant's looks, especially inside. It's now a Longhorn Steakhouse, and they did a substantial remodel to knock out the original layout and facade of the building.

[MATraveler128]

In Burlington, MA across from the Burlington Mall, one of the restaurants was a Macaroni Grill and has since become Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, a more high end chain.

[hbelkins]

There are more than a few Burger Queens that became Druther's that became Dairy Queens. 

One of them is now a Wendy's (Irvine, Ky.) that has been extensively remodeled but is still the original building.

[Stephane Dumas]

A former Burger King in Sherbrooke that became a KFC or PFK as we said in Quebec.
2011: https://goo.gl/maps/JHX1TYMv7pD3VDiRA
2022: https://goo.gl/maps/oq3GkcW6jPxDUokz8

[roadman65]

In Clark, NJ we had a Gino's, that later got turned into a Roy Rogers, that presently is a Wendy's.

For those of you millennials, Gino's was a chain in DE, MD, and NJ that got bought out by Marriot to become Roy Rogers. Of course Marriot sold Roy Rogers except on the NJ and PA Turnpikes ( because those were making money) and the new owner cut back on its markets.  I believe NJ still has a couple of stores left, and believe the NJTA still operates them in service areas on its turnpike.

[SectorZ]

This place I call the "Defense Against the Dark Arts Restaurant" because it keeps changing in the same way the professor of that class in Harry Potter keeps changing. I remember it being an Applebee's, then a Joe's Crabshack, then a Brick House, and now a Miller's Tavern.

Proud that I have been to all four places in that one location.

I didn't even know until recently that Joe's Crabshack and Brick House were owned the same company.

[SectorZ]

https://goo.gl/maps/iz1sXXJyANx1MAuDA

I had mocked Friendly's for all their dead locations, but forgot about this one until this afternoon. This is a closed McDonald's that is now a Friendly's. As you can see on GSV, 2012 it was a McDonald's, 2015 it was closed completely, and by 2018 was the Friendly's.

I also can't conceive how a restaurant that sometimes takes an hour to serve dinner can have a drive thru.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/iz1sXXJyANx1MAuDA

I had mocked Friendly's for all their dead locations, but forgot about this one until this afternoon. This is a closed McDonald's that is now a Friendly's. As you can see on GSV, 2012 it was a McDonald's, 2015 it was closed completely, and by 2018 was the Friendly's.

I also can't conceive how a restaurant that sometimes takes an hour to serve dinner can have a drive thru.

Ask Steak & Shake. 

[roadman65]

Shoneys in Neosho, MO became a Dennys. Shoneys in Lake Buena Vista, FL is now a Mr. & Mrs. Crab.

Though Shoneys in LBV was the last of its brand, as most stores closed in FL. I believe Covid drove the final nail in its coffin to give the once booming chain a final mercy killing.