Nostalgia often tastes like a crispy fried clam strip, an unlimited salad bar, or a powdered sugar-dusted Monte Cristo sandwich. While modern dining prioritizes fast-casual convenience and app-based delivery, millions of adults still miss the distinctive character of the family-style restaurants that defined the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Some of these once-dominant chains pioneered entirely new ways of eating out—from the first kids’ meals to self-serve buffets—before vanishing due to corporate bankruptcies, changing tastes, or over-expansion.
A few have managed to hang on by a thread or are plotting unexpected revivals, but most live on strictly in our memories. Here is a look at 10 iconic, forgotten restaurants that Americans miss the most.
A vintage station wagon sits beneath the glowing orange roof and turquoise steeple of this classic restaurant.
01 Howard Johnson’s: The Iconic Orange Roofs
If you took a family road trip anytime between the 1950s and the 1980s, you almost certainly stopped under a bright orange roof. Howard Johnson’s—affectionately known as HoJo’s—was once the largest restaurant chain in the United States, boasting around 1,000 locations at its peak. It offered weary travelers a reliable place to stretch their legs, grab a hot meal, and indulge in the chain’s famous 28 flavors of ice cream.
The restaurants were also renowned for their fried clam strips, which popularized the New England seafood staple across the rest of the country. Unfortunately, as faster drive-thru options gained dominance along the interstate highways, the classic sit-down diner model struggled to compete. Marriott Corporation purchased the brand in 1985 and gradually dismantled the restaurant division to focus on the hotels.
According to historical timelines, the last standalone Howard Johnson’s restaurant, located in Lake George, New York, officially closed its doors in 2022.
