Grandy's Country Cookin' (shortened to Grandy's) is a homestyle cooking and

comfort food Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone and may be characterized by its high caloric nature associated with childhood or home cooking. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual or it may apply to a ...

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

chain based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

History

Walter E. Johnson and Rex E. Sanders had met working together as teenagers at a restaurant in

Oak Cliff, Dallas Oak Cliff is an area of Dallas, Texas, United States that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; established in 1887 and annexed by Dallas in 1903, Oak Cliff has retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older establ ...

. In the early 1960s, they opened a fried chicken stand on Grand Avenue, which expanded. In 1969, Host International purchased the 14 outlets to use for their expansion of Jim Dandy Fried Chicken. After launching and selling a successful chain of restaurants, the two young men created Grandy's, hoping to combine the efficiency of

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

with the ambiance of a full-service restaurant. Johnson and Sanders waited until a

non-compete clause In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...

before renaming the chain to Grandy's in 1977. Under the ownership of Saga Foods, Inc. a multi-concept restaurant firm who acquired Grandy's in 1983, Grandy's experienced its greatest growth surge, primarily in the 1980s, having at its zenith almost 200 stores. A buyout of Saga by

Marriott Corporation The Marriott Corporation was a Hospitality industry, hospitality company that operated from 1927 until 1993. It was founded by J. Willard Marriott and Frank J. Kimball as Hot Shoppes, Inc. In 1957, it opened its first hotel in Arlington Count ...

led to a sell off of the Grandy's chain, along with other concepts owned by Saga, to American Restaurant Group. In the late 1990s, Grandy's, now over 20 years old, began to close older locations and remote markets that were underperforming. They retreated to the core markets of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

with a strong presence in southern

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and northern

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. The Asia Pacific operations of Grandy's was operated by MBf American Foods Ltd, incorporated in Hong Kong, in turn owned by MBf Holdings Berhad of Malaysia. Its offices were in Kuala Lumpur with a training center located in Petaling Jaya. Grandy's first Malaysian outlet was at Subang Parade, opened in December 1988. MBf American Foods planned to have 50 outlets in Malaysia opened by late 1989 and open an outlet in Jakarta, Indonesia and Singapore in April 1989. In 2000, American Restaurant Group sold Grandy's and three other subsidiaries to Spectrum Restaurant Group. Spectrum filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in 2006 and put Grandy's up for sale.

Souper Salad Souper Salad (stylized as Souper!Salad!) is an American restaurant chain store, chain based in Dallas, Texas. It is an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant serving fresh salads, made-from-scratch soups, homemade breads, and more. All locations are ...

acquired Grandy's in 2007. Souper Salad filed for bankruptcy in 2011. On December 19, 2011, Grandy's was acquired by

Captain D's Captain Ds, LLC. is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in seafood and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The chain was founded as Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers by Raymond L. Danner Sr. on August 15, 1969, in Don ...

for an undisclosed amount. As of May 2019, Grandy's had 38 restaurants, almost half being in the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...

. In December 2020, the original location in Lewisville, Texas closed, leaving a total of 27 restaurants. By October 2021, that number had fallen to 24, franchised across six states. As of April 2024, the company operates 23 locations in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and

. A location opened in

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census estimate, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010 United States census, 2010. Murfreesboro i ...

in 2020 but closed 6 months later.

References

External links

* {{Sun Capital Partners Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Companies based in Nashville, Tennessee Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1972 Poultry restaurants Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011 1983 mergers and acquisitions 2000 mergers and acquisitions 2007 mergers and acquisitions 2011 mergers and acquisitions 1972 establishments in Texas

History

See also

References

External links