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[Rothman]

I really miss Quiznos Subs.  That was my all-time favorite chain ever!  I don't know if they even exist anywhere else anymore.

Heh.  My wife and I got a Quizno's gift card as a gift...and there were no locations to use it at.

[jeffandnicole]

I really miss Quiznos Subs.  That was my all-time favorite chain ever!  I don't know if they even exist anywhere else anymore.

Had it once once or twice. Sending a hoagie thru the oven with the lettuce already on it will always remind me me why hoagies are supposed to be served cold.

[1995hoo]

I swear, every third restaurant chain that's mentioned anywhere on this forum gets a "recently opened up in middle Tennessee" reply.  Has anyone else noticed this trend?  I'm starting to wonder if there are any chains left that haven't moved into middle Tennessee.

I recall one of my college roommates, who was from somewhere near Nashville, used to rant about the lack of pro sports franchises there because, quote, "Middle Tennessee is the largest untapped pro sports market in the United States" (he really went berserk when the NBA announced expansion teams in Toronto and Vancouver). Perhaps he was onto something such that middle Tennessee is the largest untapped chain restaurant market in the United States?

[TheHighwayMan394]

I really miss Quiznos Subs.  That was my all-time favorite chain ever!  I don't know if they even exist anywhere else anymore.

There are still some in the Midwest (the one that always catches my eye is the one in Camp Douglas, WI)

[Flint1979]

Arby's - At least three Rochester-area locations have closed in the past decade and they're down to just three locations.

 It’s the same deal in Massachusetts. The closest Arby’s to my house is actually in New Hampshire up in Nashua. Otherwise, there’s only two locations in Massachusetts. One in Auburn near the Auburn Mall and another one in Chicopee on MA 33. There used to be one at the Solomon Pond Mall, but doing a search on that reveals that it has closed. I guess that’s due to the presence of several local roast beef sandwich shops in Greater Boston which are obviously better.
I mentioned this in another thread, but Krispy Kreme used to exist in very small numbers near Boston. I think there was one in Malden or Medford I forget which, but they’re still thriving in the Southeastern states.

And I think it's both Vermont and Rhode Island that have none.

[Scott5114]

I really miss Quiznos Subs.  That was my all-time favorite chain ever!  I don't know if they even exist anywhere else anymore.

Heh.  My wife and I got a Quizno's gift card as a gift...and there were no locations to use it at.

You think that's bad, my grandma got me a Kmart gift card once. (There was one right down the street from her at the time, but we never had one in the OKC area.)

[hbelkins]

Church's Fried Chicken and Lee's Famous Recipe Fried Chicken used to have quite a few locations in CT.  Now the nearest Church's locations are in Philly and South Jersey, with the nearest Lee's Famous in Richmond, VA (Lee's is alive and well mostly along the I-75 corridor and in Indiana).

Surprised no one brought up the couple of Hardee's (later rebranded as Carl's Jr) in the Hudson Valley that came and went in about 5 years.  They were supposed to move into New England, but it never happened.  Now the nearest Hardee's is in Bear, DE

I never knew Lee's was that widespread. They seem to be concentrated in Kentucky, although a few locations have closed in recent years. I'm a big fan of their food.

[XamotCGC]

Church's Fried Chicken and Lee's Famous Recipe Fried Chicken used to have quite a few locations in CT.  Now the nearest Church's locations are in Philly and South Jersey, with the nearest Lee's Famous in Richmond, VA (Lee's is alive and well mostly along the I-75 corridor and in Indiana).

Surprised no one brought up the couple of Hardee's (later rebranded as Carl's Jr) in the Hudson Valley that came and went in about 5 years.  They were supposed to move into New England, but it never happened.  Now the nearest Hardee's is in Bear, DE

I never knew Lee's was that widespread. They seem to be concentrated in Kentucky, although a few locations have closed in recent years. I'm a big fan of their food.

 H.B. has the Lee's in your area switched from boxes to styrofoam containers?

[hbelkins]

Church's Fried Chicken and Lee's Famous Recipe Fried Chicken used to have quite a few locations in CT.  Now the nearest Church's locations are in Philly and South Jersey, with the nearest Lee's Famous in Richmond, VA (Lee's is alive and well mostly along the I-75 corridor and in Indiana).

Surprised no one brought up the couple of Hardee's (later rebranded as Carl's Jr) in the Hudson Valley that came and went in about 5 years.  They were supposed to move into New England, but it never happened.  Now the nearest Hardee's is in Bear, DE

I never knew Lee's was that widespread. They seem to be concentrated in Kentucky, although a few locations have closed in recent years. I'm a big fan of their food.

 H.B. has the Lee's in your area switched from boxes to styrofoam containers?

Some have, some haven't. Last Lee's I got was from Morehead, and it was in a box.

[kphoger]

I really miss Quiznos Subs.  That was my all-time favorite chain ever!  I don't know if they even exist anywhere else anymore.

Heh.  My wife and I got a Quizno's gift card as a gift...and there were no locations to use it at.

You think that's bad, my grandma got me a Kmart gift card once. (There was one right down the street from her at the time, but we never had one in the OKC area.)

You think that's bad?  My sister gave us a gift card to a steakhouse for Christmas, but there was only like a dollar or two on the card.  Which we didn't find out until we'd already gone out for dinner there and were ready to pay for the meal.  Our best guess is that her job keeps a bunch of them for taking clients out to dinner, and she gave us one of those, not realizing it had already been used but not thrown away.

[Avalanchez71]

I really miss Quiznos Subs.  That was my all-time favorite chain ever!  I don't know if they even exist anywhere else anymore.

There are still some in the Midwest (the one that always catches my eye is the one in Camp Douglas, WI)

I thought Quznos was dead.  Didn't realize they are still in business.

[ErmineNotyours]

I really miss Quiznos Subs.  That was my all-time favorite chain ever!  I don't know if they even exist anywhere else anymore.

According to this video, Quiznos corporate got into the company store mentality.  Instead of just helping the franchisees do well to help the corporation do well, they overcharged on the supplies they sold.  I myself noticed something strange when I went to the Quiznos near my Washington DC hotel.  I wanted something sugar-free and caffeine-free to drink with my sub so I could get to sleep at night, so I selected a bottled Sprite Zero from the cold case.  Even though there was nothing else appropriate, the clerk tried to steer me to a fountain drink, twice.  (There's more of a markup for fountain drinks.)  When I worked for McDonald's, you could suggestive sell or up-sell once.  After that, you're being too pushy.  The Quiznos clerk didn't get the memo, and I suspect he had to do what he had to do to survive.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Church's Fried Chicken and Lee's Famous Recipe Fried Chicken used to have quite a few locations in CT.  Now the nearest Church's locations are in Philly and South Jersey, with the nearest Lee's Famous in Richmond, VA (Lee's is alive and well mostly along the I-75 corridor and in Indiana).

Surprised no one brought up the couple of Hardee's (later rebranded as Carl's Jr) in the Hudson Valley that came and went in about 5 years.  They were supposed to move into New England, but it never happened.  Now the nearest Hardee's is in Bear, DE

I never knew Lee's was that widespread. They seem to be concentrated in Kentucky, although a few locations have closed in recent years. I'm a big fan of their food.

I had no idea either! Apparently the Richmond location is the only one in Virginia. They also have three locations in British Columbia, interestingly enough.

[abefroman329]

Pizzeria Uno had some locations in Virginia about 20 years ago. It was there that I discovered my distaste for Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

They still do. There's one about a five- to ten-minute walk from my house (same shopping center as the Safeway mentioned earlier), although they call it "Uno Chicago Grill" now. I have to say that the pizza I've had at the franchised Uno locations was nowhere near the same as the pizza I had at their original location in Chicago—the latter was much better. I presume the franchised locations probably use some sort of shortcuts in the process that might make a difference. We have not been to Uno in a long time; I think the last time I had their pizza was on a trip to visit my late sister-in-law in Viera, Florida. There is, or at least was, an Uno on Wickham Road in Melbourne and another visiting relative went down there to pick up a carry-out order. We never do that at home because if we order pizza, we will almost always order delivery with one exception (that being if we place a pick-up order with a local Italian place and I get pizza while my wife gets something else).

There were at least two locations in DC, one at Wisconsin and M and one up in that strip mall adjacent to the Cleveland Park Metro stop, but they're both closed.  They served their purpose when the nearest Chicago-style pizza was in, well, Chicago, but then Alberto's opened and their deep dish pizza was to die for.

[abefroman329]

I've been trying to think of what the best big chain pizza would be.  I remember when Little Caesar's was edible back in the 1980s/1990s.  Too bad they went kaput in terms of quality.

Mellow Mushroom and it’s not close.

I loved MM when I lived in Georgia, but the pizza at the location in Adams Morgan in DC bordered on inedible, and the location I went to in Phoenix was nothing to write home about.

[Takumi]

I've been trying to think of what the best big chain pizza would be.  I remember when Little Caesar's was edible back in the 1980s/1990s.  Too bad they went kaput in terms of quality.

Mellow Mushroom and it’s not close.

I loved MM when I lived in Georgia, but the pizza at the location in Adams Morgan in DC bordered on inedible, and the location I went to in Phoenix was nothing to write home about.

That’s a shame. There are three in Richmond, and I’ve had consistently good food and drink every time I’ve gone to any of them. But they’re also the only three I’ve been to.

[Avalanchez71]

Church's Fried Chicken and Lee's Famous Recipe Fried Chicken used to have quite a few locations in CT.  Now the nearest Church's locations are in Philly and South Jersey, with the nearest Lee's Famous in Richmond, VA (Lee's is alive and well mostly along the I-75 corridor and in Indiana).

Surprised no one brought up the couple of Hardee's (later rebranded as Carl's Jr) in the Hudson Valley that came and went in about 5 years.  They were supposed to move into New England, but it never happened.  Now the nearest Hardee's is in Bear, DE

I never knew Lee's was that widespread. They seem to be concentrated in Kentucky, although a few locations have closed in recent years. I'm a big fan of their food.

I had no idea either! Apparently the Richmond location is the only one in Virginia. They also have three locations in British Columbia, interestingly enough.

Lee's exited Middle Tennessee in the 90s or maybe the early 2000s.  They had a couple things I liked that weren't available at the other chicken outlets.  I think they competed with Mrs. Winners in the market.  Mrs. Winners also exited the market as well.

[hbelkins]

Noticed yesterday: A new Popeye's in Winchester, Ky. Within spittin' distance of where the old one was that closed years ago.

[Scott5114]

If a chain becomes defunct in one region, then comes back to it, does that make it refunct?

[abefroman329]

If a chain becomes defunct in one region, then comes back to it, does that make it refunct?

Good question, I've been reading this all along as "chains that had a national presence at one time, but are regional now" (see, e.g. Big Boy).

[adventurernumber1]

I've been trying to think of what the best big chain pizza would be.  I remember when Little Caesar's was edible back in the 1980s/1990s.  Too bad they went kaput in terms of quality.

Mellow Mushroom and it’s not close.

I loved MM when I lived in Georgia, but the pizza at the location in Adams Morgan in DC bordered on inedible, and the location I went to in Phoenix was nothing to write home about.

That’s a shame. There are three in Richmond, and I’ve had consistently good food and drink every time I’ve gone to any of them. But they’re also the only three I’ve been to.

Mellow Mushroom is a strong contender for best chain pizza restaurant IMO. I've never had a bad experience there, but my experience has indeed been with restaurants in the Southeast (such as Georgia and Tennessee), so I can't speak for the locations in states farther away. But I love the food there, it's definitely in a higher league than the main popular chains, although I enjoy those as well.

[Rothman]

Noticed yesterday: A new Popeye's in Winchester, Ky. Within spittin' distance of where the old one was that closed years ago.

When I was down there for the solar eclipse, Winchester was a food desert.  Frisch's was really the only option.

[Avalanchez71]

I've been trying to think of what the best big chain pizza would be.  I remember when Little Caesar's was edible back in the 1980s/1990s.  Too bad they went kaput in terms of quality.

Mellow Mushroom and it’s not close.

I loved MM when I lived in Georgia, but the pizza at the location in Adams Morgan in DC bordered on inedible, and the location I went to in Phoenix was nothing to write home about.

That’s a shame. There are three in Richmond, and I’ve had consistently good food and drink every time I’ve gone to any of them. But they’re also the only three I’ve been to.

Mellow Mushroom is a strong contender for best chain pizza restaurant IMO. I've never had a bad experience there, but my experience has indeed been with restaurants in the Southeast (such as Georgia and Tennessee), so I can't speak for the locations in states farther away. But I love the food there, it's definitely in a higher league than the main popular chains, although I enjoy those as well.

I will also say that Mellow Mushroom is good in the Southeast as well.  Same experience with locations in Tennessee and Georgia.

[planxtymcgillicuddy]

Bojangles had a number of locations in Florida, but yanked most of them in the 90s. But they are slowly but surely making a comeback in the Sunshine State

[algorerhythms]

A&W seems to be rare in the U.S., but it’s everywhere in Canada.

Sonic olny lasted about a year in Green Bay.

The worst Sonic I ever had the displeasure of going to (I can’t say I ate there, because I never received my order) was in Middleton, Wisconsin. It didn’t stay open long.

I don’t know if Sonic doesn’t manage their franchises well or what, but in general I avoid Sonic outside of Oklahoma, because despite being okay there, they’re usually bad elsewhere.