Kenny Rogers Roasters
If you best remember Kenny Rogers Roasters from a classic Seinfeld episode, you’re not alone.
This chain, which the singer launched in 1991 along with KFC mogul John Y. Brown, expanded to 425 locations, but a country singer’s name and a focus on rotisserie chicken didn’t exactly make it stand out in an already crowded field, and it went bankrupt in 1998 after being bought by Nathan’s.
While there’s only one U.S. outpost still in business, in Ontario, California, it’s doing surprisingly well in Asia, where there are more than 100 locations.
