A favorite restaurant can disappear from your neighborhood almost overnight. Several chains are closing California locations this year, and some closings come with little notice. These are the restaurant chains closing California locations in 2026. 1. Red Lobster In September 2026, Red Lobster closed its Palm Desert location, ending a 14-year run at that address….
Some New York diners still look a lot like the ones from the 1990s. But a few things you used to count on are gone. These are the New York diner traditions that have disappeared since the 1990s. Ashtrays on Every Table Diner counters used to keep an ashtray close at hand, by the register…
Have you ever tried ordering a Spangles steakburger outside Kansas? The name means nothing elsewhere. Kansas has built a whole run of restaurant chains just like it, places that never bothered chasing customers past the state line. These are the regional restaurant chains Kansans defend to out-of-staters. 1. Nu Way Cafe Nu Way Cafe, a…
A federally funded food-sovereignty project set out to save the corn behind sofkee, one of Oklahoma’s oldest dishes. A survey found Muscogee Nation growers had gone an estimated 40 years without planting it. Growing the corn back was the easy part. That same project needed four classes just to teach the recipe back. Ask whether…
A line cook slides a plate of home fries down the counter at four in the morning, past three off-duty nurses and a cab driver still counting their last fare. Nothing about that counter is an accident. Every plate, every cup, and every rule at the counter traces back to a piece of New York…
Pull off the interstate anywhere in South Dakota and the gas station snack rack looks little like the one back home. Much of it didn’t come off a national distributor’s truck. So what’s stocked on that gas station snack aisle, and why does none of it travel? These are the regional snacks that only make…
Remember what a pancake breakfast cost in 2020? One study says IHOP’s menu prices rose 82% by 2025. That is close to double. Here’s how it got that number, and how North Carolina diners can check it against their own receipts. Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Restaurant menu prices are subject to…
For ninety-nine years, Garavelli’s carved roast beef to order for St. Louis lunch crowds. Then, in the summer of 2013, Garavelli’s turned off its ovens for good. It wasn’t the only one. These are the restaurant chains Missouri misses that never came back. 1. Forum Cafeterias The Forum Cafeterias chain started as a single ground-floor…
Order a bowl of chowder at a Rhode Island clam shack, and the person working the window may pause before ringing it up. They’re making sure you know Rhode Island chowder means a clear broth, not the cream-based bowl familiar at seafood counters in the rest of the country. These are the things Rhode Islanders…
North Carolina lawmakers once tried to settle a barbecue fight with a bill. The bill didn’t get far. That fight over whose barbecue deserved statewide recognition split lawmakers along the same lines pitmasters have argued over for decades. These are the regional barbecue styles that still divide North Carolina neighbors, plate by plate. 1. Eastern…
