Kettle Restaurants is Texas-based American restaurant chain.
The first location was opened by founder Harry Chambers, Sr. and his brother, Danny, in 1968 in Nacogdoches,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He gained experience managing Toddle House restaurants in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

while obtaining an engineering degree at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. Soon they opened additional locations. The chain began offering franchise locations some years later and reached a peak of over 265 locations (combined total of company owned + franchisee owned restaurants). These were concentrated in the southern half of the United States, from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

west to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. The brothers sold the Houston-based chain and 119 locations (predominantly located in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

) to private equity investors Stephen Portis and Eric Porten in September 1995. This move took the company from a publicly registered company to a private one. Most of the restaurants have since closed. As of 2008, there were 21 locations in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. As of April 2024, the company operates 3 locations in

, and

. In 2016, officials from the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigated several restaurants in Austin, Texas. Among the restaurants accused of wage and hour violations was a Kettle Restaurant at 2617 South Interstate 35 in Austin. The Tucson location at 748 West 22nd Street failed food safety inspections at least twice in 2018.

References

{{reflist Restaurants in Texas Economy of the Southwestern United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1968 1968 establishments in Texas