The era of mid-level dine-in restaurants appears to be ending, as multiple brands close their doors across the country.
Sit-down dining options have seen a dramatic drop in sales in recent years as more and more customers seem to be staying away. There’s a variety of reasons for this, most prominently a change in consumer behavior following the pandemic.
People tend to rely more on delivery apps, curbside pick-ups and take away restaurants, instigating the rise in popularity of fast-casual restaurants like Sweetgreen and Chipotle. This new way of eating makes sit-down joints, like Red Robin and TGI Fridays, a thing of the past. It comes as Macy's is just one of the US stores closing as retailers face a bloodbath.
The latter has been around for over 60 years, debuting in New York in 1965. TGI Fridays has closed over 130 restaurants in 2025 after filing for bankruptcy in November of last year.
TGI Fridays once had 386 restaurants across the country. As of this March, there are only 123 left.
This most recent slate of closures took place in New York, New Hampshire, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Ohio. Customers wanting to dine in were met with signs on locked doors citing the “difficult decision” to close.
Between 2008 and 2023, the company closed 55% of its U.S. locations, with sales dropping by more than 60% over that same period.
Jack in the Box closures
But TGI Fridays isn’t the only burger joint seeing closures. While still in a healthy position financially, Jack in the Box has shut down several restaurants this year, reports suggest.
The company closed six restaurants in February, according to Mashed.
Unlike TGI Fridays, Jack In The Box has been able to pivot, shuttering their underperforming stores and opening new ones in more strategic areas. Jack In The Box provides customers with the drive-thru option, allowing it to compete with other quick-service restaurants.
Not only is the company building new restaurants in the Chicago area, but it is entering a completely new market with its first location planned in Florida.
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