Sat 21 Nov 2009
What is the oldest and largest casual dining restaurant in the United States?
Posted by admin under Other - Dining Out
[2] Comments
joshua_m_carpenter asked:
I’m just trying to get some ideas for publicly traded casual dining restaurants or companies whose main business is from casual dining. I wanting to do some research. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
I’m just trying to get some ideas for publicly traded casual dining restaurants or companies whose main business is from casual dining. I wanting to do some research. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
That’s really hard to say, because a lot of family restaurants are regional. For example, I’d never heard of the Waffle House until I heard Larry the Cable Guy refer to it in one of his routines. I thought he was making it up until I was visiting family in Kansas City and saw one.
If I had to make a guess, I’d say Denny’s and Old Country Buffet have been around a really long time, but that’s not to say they’ve been around the longest.
If you’re looking at investing in stock, steer clear of restaurant chains. They are historically unpredictable and volatile. I worked for Ruby Tuesday and invested in company stock through a payroll deduction. The stock had split right before I started working for the company, and it split again right before I quit. I held onto the stock, which was a huge mistake. The owners sold it off to a restaurant conglomerate who subsequently quit paying much attention to the growth of the restaurant chain. When I finally sold the stock it was worth about what I had originally invested.
I’ve got this one!
Denny’s is 56 years old, and in second place is Cracker Barrel’s at 41 years old.