Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2007, Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and was headquartered in Orlando, Florida, until April 2018, when the corporate offices were relocated to Davie, Florida. As of July 2018, Hard Rock International has venues in 74 countries, including 172 bar or cafe-restaurants, 37 hotels, and four casinos.
Rainforest Cafe is a jungle-themed restaurant chain owned by Landry's, Inc., of Houston. The first location opened in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, on February 3, 1994. By 1997, the chain consisted of six restaurants, all in the United States. The first international location opened in London, England in June 1997. In 1998, it was planned to build 12 additional restaurants in the United States, seven in Mexico, and five in the United Kingdom, for a total of 22 restaurants by 2008.
Shari's Cafe & Pies, originally known as Shari's Restaurants, is a chain of family dining restaurants in the western United States based in Beaverton, Oregon. Its restaurants are pie-oriented. The franchise's original restaurant was opened in Hermiston, Oregon, in 1978. Shari's are known for their familiar hexagonal building design. As of October 2024, eleven locations appear in the store location listing.
Culver Franchising System, LLC, doing business as Culver's, is an American fast-casual restaurant chain. The company was founded in 1984 by George, Ruth, Craig, and Lea Culver. The first location opened in Sauk City, Wisconsin, on July 18, 1984, under the name "Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers." The privately held company is headquartered in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The chain operates primarily in the Midwestern United States, and had a total of 930 restaurants in 26 states as of October 2024.
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. It operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under the Cheesecake Factory brand and 7 under the Grand Lux Cafe brand, not including the number of restaurants operated under the North Italia nor any of Fox Restaurant Brands' names. The Cheesecake Factory also operates two bakery production facilities—in Calabasas, California, and Rocky Mount, North Carolina—and licenses two bakery-based menus for other foodservice operators under the Cheesecake Factory Bakery Cafe marque. Its cheesecakes and other baked goods can also be found in the cafes of many Barnes & Noble stores.
The Billy Goat Tavern is a chain of taverns located in Chicago, Illinois. Its restaurants are based on the original Billy Goat Tavern founded in 1934 by Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant. It achieved fame primarily through newspaper columns by Mike Royko, a supposed curse on the Chicago Cubs, and the Olympia Cafe sketch on Saturday Night Live.
O'Charley's is an American casual dining restaurant. As of April 2024, the company operated 62 locations in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is a United States–based hospitality company that manages and franchises a casual dining American restaurant chain, retail stores selling Jimmy Buffett-themed merchandise, and hotels.
The Olympia Café was a fictional greasy spoon featured in a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch. The staff, led by John Belushi as Pete Dionisopoulos, were Greeks. Staff also included Bill Murray as Nico, a busboy who does not speak English, Dan Aykroyd as short-order cook George, and Sandy, a waitress played by Laraine Newman. Series regulars Garrett Morris, Gilda Radner, and Jane Curtin had recurring roles as regular customers.
"Cheeseburger in Paradise" is a song written and performed by American popular music singer Jimmy Buffett. It appeared on his 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor and was released as a single, reaching No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Cheeseburger in Paradise" became one of Buffett's signature songs, and was selected as the first track on his greatest hits album Songs You Know by Heart.
Cheeseburger in Paradise was a casual dining theme restaurant chain in the United States that operated between 2002 and 2020. The chain started in 2002 as a partnership of American musician Jimmy Buffett's company, the Orlando, Florida-based Margaritaville Holdings LLC, and OSI Restaurant Partners, with Buffett licensing the name and Outback Steakhouse operating the franchising of restaurants. After a change of ownership in 2012, most of the restaurants were closed by 2014. The last location, located in Secaucus, New Jersey, temporarily closed in March 2020 and this was made permanent in September 2020.
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, known also as L&L Drive-Inn or colloquially as L&L, is the only Hawaii-origin, Hawaii-themed franchise restaurant franchise from Honolulu, Hawaii, centered on the plate lunch.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe, also referred to as Tropical Smoothie, is a restaurant franchise in the United States. It operates more than 1400 locations nationwide.
Tubby's is an American restaurant chain and franchise based in Clinton Township, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1968 in nearby St. Clair Shores, the chain operates more than 70 stores throughout Michigan, primarily in the Detroit metropolitan area. The chain primarily serves submarine sandwiches and salads, own specific chips, along with soft drinks, french fries and soup, and is known for its grilled subs.
Kahala Brands is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada-based MTY Food Group Inc. of Montreal, Quebec. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kahala is one of North America's largest holding company of franchise fast food restaurant companies. In May 2016, the publicly traded Canadian MTY Food Group announced a friendly takeover deal with the Kahala Brands. MTY agreed to pay about US$300 million to acquire Kahala. The two companies generated nearly $2 billion in revenues in the previous year. Jeff Smit was chosen to lead the US operations of MTY.
McDonald's Israel is the Israeli master franchise of the fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. Previously operated and licensed by Alonyal Limited, McDonald's Israel is the largest of Israel's burger chains with a 60% market share. It was the first Israeli outlet to be opened in 1993 and a major competitor of the local restaurant chain Burger Ranch. The world's first kosher McDonald's was opened in Mevaseret Zion in October 1995. After a sales decline attributed to consumer boycotts as part of the BDS movement, McDonald's Corporation announced in 2024 that it would buy Alonyal pending regulatory approval.
Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries is a fast casual restaurant chain that operates primarily in the state of North Carolina and other neighboring states on the east coast of the United States. Founded by Kenney Moore as Andy's Cheesesteaks and Cheeseburgers, the first location opened in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in 1991. In 2012, seeking to expand beyond North Carolina, the company changed their name to Hwy 55 and opened their first out-of-state restaurant in May of that year. As of February, 2022, the chain has a total of 108 locations in the United States, primarily in North Carolina (81) and South Carolina (12), with 15 other locations in the states of Florida, Georgia, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The restaurant serves hamburgers, cheesesteaks, sandwiches, salads, hand-dipped ice cream and milkshakes.
Newk's Eatery is an American chain of fast casual cafés which operates over 100 restaurants in 13 states.
