Nothing says “We’re making a comeback” like opening your first ever mall location in the 2010s.

As someone from central europe, I have never ever heard of Shoney's until it was referenced in one Rick & Morty episode, at which point I thought it was a made up restaurant...imagine my surprise when I suddenly saw one while visiting Orlando, Florida in 2017. After spending the day at Universal we went in there, paid for the all you can eat buffet and brutally stuffed ourselves...good times.

Shoney's breakfast buffet was legendary. I grew up eating there on occasion. The french toast sticks were out of this world.

Sometimes my family would stop at Shoney's back in the 1980s on the way to visit Disneyworld. What I remember most isn't the food, but the how amused my dad was by the enthusiastic way the hostess would greet customer's when entering the restaurant. Every time we'd pass another Shoney's he'd repeat the line "Welcome to Shoney's!" I can't say I miss eating at Shoney's but I sure do miss my dad.

I have a Shoney Bear that was my Childhood Stuffed Bear. It's unbelievably precious to me, and I'll always remember Shoney's fondly for that alone.

When I was a kid my family would always do the Shoney's breakfast all you can eat every vacation. I hadn't thought about them since then, so this is a weirdly bittersweet episode.

I started as a busboy and left as a relief manager. I worked from 1986-1998 and I can tell you that the upkeep of the stores and lots were horrible at the end. The stores had tired looks and the food needed to be improved. The company had no direction.

Always interesting how restaurants can go from popular to dead in such a short time. Even a change of management can be disastrous.

I am 23 years old. For most of my life my grandfather would go to Shoney’s for the breakfast bar and also the cooks their would make his eggs how he likes it. It was soft scrambled.Often we would meet him for breakfast and we would celebrate birthdays and certain holidays by eating at Shoney’s. The one near us closed down in 2019 and is now a high end brandy bar. It barely changed over the years and that location was on it’s last legs. It was also a place we would stop to eat during road trips. Shoney’s will always be special to me. I will always look back fondly. Especially since my cousin and grandma have died in the past 4 years.

I'm 42. In the 80s, my parents used to take me to Shoney's every Saturday when I was a little kid. They had a great salad bar, good fish n chips and hot fudge cake! Today, there aren't any in Montgomery, AL, but there are a couple 40 miles to the north and south of me I think. Thanks for the nostalgia! PS- Fifth Quarter and Lee's were also amazing. Miss them, too!

This made me tear up. Not because of shoneys but how it like so many other things from my childhood (the 90s) has came to an end and all we left with is the nostalgia. 😣

To anyone wondering why Marriott owned a restaurant, it was just one of many they owned. They started as a restaurant company in the 1920’s and didn’t even open a hotel until the 60’s. They stayed mainly in the restaurant business until the mid to late 80’s before either closing or selling everything besides the hotel. Why? Hotels have a higher profit margin than restaurants due to the fluctuating price of ingredients and other often uncontrollable factors and Reagan’s tax reforms suddenly dramatically increased taxation on restaurants. McDonald's and Burger King lobbied and got the reforms repealed (one of the very few times those two companies have ever worked together) but Mariott noped out and chose to go with the safer bet.

Two more points. 1) there was also a lawsuit following the discrimination lawsuit for labor violations regarding unpaid overtime, working employees off the clock, etc., which was also over $100 million iirc. 2) Lonestar sold off Shoney's prime locations to recoup their investment, then dumped the remaining locations, which were unprofitable, with Doudapour as the buyer.

What really killed the company was the quality of the food went way down hill. They used to have some pretty solid food for what they charged. They were generally always full and the breakfast bar was insane. By the time it hit the mid 90's it became a struggle to find something that was good on the menu, and the bars were getting smaller and lower quality. With their spread they had an opportunity to really be the back bone restaurants in smaller towns, but those are the ones they closed first, which didn't make a ton of sense tbh. In our town they were the only family style restaurant, they had no competition, so it just seemed like they made some relatively poor decisions all around.

In 1977, when I was 17, I worked at the Shoney's in Marietta, GA. We had a big fiberglass Big Boy that the local high schools would occasionally kidnap to put on the roof of their school building or some similar prank. We never worried about it, as the schools were pretty good about bringing him back after the homecoming event or prom or whatever it was. Shortly after that, though, we did get the Bear branding and said goodbye to the Big Boy statue. My friends and I would work closing, which included dishes and cleaning the place which often took until 5AM, then we would go bowling. Those were the days!

My grandpa LOVED Shoney's biscuits and gravy. Said it was the best he'd had that wasn't homemade. I have fond memories of going there during trips to the Ozarks to visit my grandparents.

If you never had Shoney's breakfast bar you missed out. In my hometown when breakfast bar was mentioned everyone knew where it meant. The old Shoney's building here still stands occupied by an Asian restaurant.

As a kid in the late 70’s/early 80’s, Shoney’s was known as a Breakfast place. Then they introduced the Breakfast Bar, which meant all you can eat bacon, which was just awesome. At the time, their competition were greasy spoon diners which felt non-family friendly and suffered from the typical trait of single location restaurants being of unknown expectations if you’d never been there before. This was important, because the main customer base were travelers, since at the time, households almost exclusively ate breakfast at home. At the time, mainstream Fast Food places were still being retrofitted to add drive-thrus and were just trying to figure out how to cook breakfast, since their workers were basically food preppers, not short order cooks. Shoney’s started to die when Fast Food places became ubiquitous in the mid-90’s and enough had figured out the breakfast market to capture the on-the-go breakfast market. They got hit hard when their traveller market started to evaporate almost overnight once motels started offering Free Breakfast. Finally, Starbucks came in and delivered the Coup de Grace. Since they were known as a breakfast place, I’m not sure if they even had a chance, since their lunch and dinner market wasn’t developed during their heyday. They were just riding the breakfast market gravy train.

I am 54 years old, and I remember Shoney's well. Shoney's was huge in the 70s and 80s. There was one in pretty much every decent sized town in the south, and they were always busy! A Big Boy Burger with fries, and a hot fudge cake for dessert! Simple, pleasant childhood memories!

After some serious binging, I have made it through all of Abandoned. Happy to have found Jake's channel. Looking forward to more Abandoned episodes.

As a 58 year old, I’ve eaten at Shoneys ( as well as BigBoys) all over the United States. There problems all boil down to corporate bean counters. They used to be really family feeling places where most things were made from scratch and very fresh to everything feeling canned and generic.

Can't believe the Abandoned series is almost 100 episodes in. It's amazing what Jake has built and the history and information he's provided for years. Nearly a generation, it feels like. That might sound extra but it's true when you consider the entirety of the Bright Sun Films video catalog, and the hours of content and research provided by it. great stuff!!

Y'know, I still think it's such a shame how restaurants like Shoney's and Ryan's have fallen to the wayside but absolutely mid tier restaurants like Golden Corral who's pique was in the mid 2000's are still going... I really miss Ryan's, would love to see you do a video on them

I'm 47 yrs old (dear God it hurt to say that) & I remember Shoney's well. They had a fantastic breakfast buffet & the dinner buffet wasn't too shabby either. Wish they were still around. Btw, 1st time viewer. Enjoyed the video so much I subscribed. 😊

Jake, those plants aren’t wilted. They are dead. Lol

The Shoney's bear and the little lollipop tree they used to have is a powerful childhood memory of mine.

I didn't discover Shoney's until the mid-late 90s. I worked nights and slept days, and found the breakfast bar made a good supper. Sometimes I ate there on Saturday evenings. Then came the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The food bar had some leftover thanksgiving items. They were old but still good to eat. On Sunday, I had a major case of the runs - food poisoning. I should have known better than eat three-day-old buffet food. But that which does not kill you makes you stronger, and I was back after a couple of months. This time, Shoney's was a ghost town. It was never that busy, but there were hardly any customers. I guess I wasn't the only one to have a bad Sunday. The restaurant closed not long after that.

Shoney's was my grandparents favorite place to take us after church when we were little. I miss it dearly 😞

by the time the remaining location in my former hometown closed down, the chain had a reputation as the place that retired people went for breakfast and... nothing else. The parking lot was packed until 8 AM, then it looked like a ghost town for the rest of the day. From what I understand from friends around the country, that reputation was consistent across each location.

Canadian here. My family road tripped through America frequently throughout the 80s and I have fond memories of eating at Shoneys. Always wondered what happened the chain. What a fall from grace.

I went to the Morgantown location on a Sunday morn and it was packed. That was like ‘89 or ‘90. I was so impressed. Couldn’t believe the options and quality of the buffet bar.

Part of the problem for Shoney's, at least in the south where I lived, was that they built a lot of their restaurants in the 70s and 80s and as the 90s passed, these locations where often in the parts of town that were no longer growing business wise. Unlike many other businesses who would build new locations and either setup a new store or just move, Shoney's kept their locations. I suspect they wanted to stick to their roots being close to interstates and hotels, but as suburban America grew, the economic hot spots pushed further and further away from these areas. No people around means far less business and far less people knowing about you.

8 years ago we still had a shoneys in my town , a small town , it was always full of people mostly the elderly population was a fan of this place. Grandpa said he liked the fried fish fridays buffet, I would take him there around 9 am and I would pick him up around 1 and the man didn’t want to leave , he said it was and I quote “really fun” he would drink coffee till noon while playing cards with his pals . It was sad when they closed out , they had to find a new place to gather, we didn’t have another place like it in town.

The fact that Scott Steiner (former WCW/WWW wrestler ) was an franchise owner always blew my mind. He's in this video at the mall location.

Never knew Shoney's, Big Boy and Captain D's where all under the same umbrella/company. And I live in a town that has had all three at one point or another.

Shoney's had a HUGE presence here in the Midwest from the 80s-90s. There were dozens of locations in my homestate, Missouri. Miss eating there. Lots of memories.

My very first job was shoneys when I was a teenager. They expanded to Kansas in the 90s and opened up in my town. I was hired immediately as a dishwasher. The restaurant opened and to be honest it wasn’t ready. There were wires still hanging out of the ceiling in the private dining room. The manager didn’t give a crap about anything. She sat in her office on the computer or watching tv. Once someone ordered chicken fried steak with brown gravy instead of cream. The cook took the steak and washed it off in the sink put it in the microwave back on the plate and added brown gravy 🤮. We were always running out of food. Manager would tell a cook. Here is 50.00. Run to Kroger and get what you need. Buy the cheapest stuff. The restaurant abruptly closed 2-1/2 years after opening! There was a note on the door that read. We don’t have your check so stop asking. Call corporate. I quit way before they closed up!

We had a Shoney's for just a few years and overnight they were gone. Man I miss their breakfast bar. Everybody around here still talks about how awesome that breakfast bar was.

I used to love going to Shoney’s in Charlotte with my Dad as a kid. I always wondered what happened to the chain; thanks for making this episode!

LOVE the Abandoned series! It's what brought me to Bright Sun Films. The videos are so informative and short enough to stay engaged.

Shoney's breakfast buffet in the early 90s was amazing. Went to my neighborhood Shoney's a few years ago and the quality wasn't half of what it was. That restaurant has since been torn down and replaced by a gas station. If someone offers to buy you out and you profit from it, please take the deal. All business is fleeting.

I used to eat at a Shoney's in Northern Virginia as a kid. It was popular with the locals! But sadly, all corporations are susceptible to mismanagement and Shoney's is yet another example of that.

Its crazy that I just came across this video. Having worked at Shoney's cooperate office in Nashville in 2011. This video is pretty accurate and did a great job at being thorough. Awesome job!

The Shoneys breakfast buffet was legendary in the 90s….but that’s all I can remember. As time passed it honestly felt like a KMart surrounded by way better options. Stuck in the past.

I worked at Shoney's for a bit around 2000. You could tell the shine was off the franchise by that time. Some locations were busy, but the clientele were aging fast. Applebee's was expanding and management was grousing that similar chains that served alcohol were draining off guests. That might have been some of it, but their massive expansion in the decade prior didn't help their image as many locations were in small towns that just couldn't always present a busy and prosperous image. The older locations needed a lot of maintenance by that point. The company's entire image was just tired and old and outdated. Food quality was uneven. Fried items were hand breaded, burgers were still pattied by hand, but other beef came in low quality frozen cuts and frozen vegetables were warmed by microwave. It's just sad to see the company lean into being a generic and mediocre shall of what it was at one time. But then again much of the US's entire food culture has gone in that same direction. An Applebee's, TGIF, Chili's, et al could be absolutely interchangeable and no one would notice.

I worked as a waiter at a Shoney’s in 1988. Their management structure was insane. Every restaurant had *seven* managers. Tips were mediocre. I didn’t stay long.

Having worked for this Corporation in the mid-eighties, to hear this tale of woes, puts a smile on my face

I loved Shoney's buffet! They had a great food selection with something different each day. Sadly they started to be manager deprived and their corporate management turned to crap where they started being dangerous with employee safety so a LOT of employees started quitting left and right.

We had one in the town near us growing. I completely forgot about it until I saw this video. It was the restaurant nobody actually went to because everyone had a friend who told them how bad the food was.

I loved Shoney's. You could go to one anywhere, and get a good meal, at a reasonable price.

Your commentaries are exceptional and you have the perfect voice for delivery. 😌 This one was very interesting as my family ate at Frisch’s Big Boy many times growing up in the 60’s and 70’s. After moving to Colorado from Florida, I got to experience Azar’s Big Boy in the early 80’s and later on, Shoney’s with their great breakfast bar. Was very interesting listening to the history of the restaurant over the years. Thanks!!

Still love Shoney's. Airport Blvd in Columbia, SC and the many locations throughout TN. Always a great kitchen, friendly staff, and wonderful prices.

As a Gen-xer, I have very fond memories of Shoneys, pre and post Big Boy. In the late 90s, early 2000s, we saw a disappearance of the restaurants. Then, in 2019, it was announced our area of Western NC was getting a new build, Shoneys. A great deal of people were extremely excited. The restaurant opened in 2020. All restaurants, especially buffet style, struggled during this time. However, even with current staffing problems in the area, the food is good. 5 star Michelin, no. However, is it the same great taste from your youth, for example the strawberry preserves and biscuits? Yes. So, don't always go by reviews. Try it and see for yourself. I'm thankful for ours.

Funny bit of movie history trivia related to the Big Boy franchise: in the original Terminator film, Sarah Connor worked as a waitress at the fictional Big Jeff’s diner, which was influenced by James Cameron's first wife Sharon, who worked as a waitress at the very same “Big Boy” burger restaurant chain founded by Bob Wian in the Glendale area of Los Angeles where the film took place. Sarah parks her Honda motor scooter next to a fictional "Big Jeff" mascot, a prop built for the movie as a cheeky homage to the old “Big Boy” mascot.

I enjoy these videos because despite my having travelled extensively and pushing into my mid '50's, I've never heard of most of the places you talk about. It's just interesting to see what other people have or had that we never did in New England, and I wasn't "fortunate" enough to stumble across in my travels.

Wow!! Thanks for this!!! I grew up with shoneys big boy all my life!! I am originally from nashville, tn…..and that was the headquarters…. When i was in high school, i got my first job as a waitress there. I thought it was a neat job…..however, the restaurant was in Green Hills….i worked pretty hard and closed at night! I did receive racial comments from a few diners…..(at the time i think there were two black waitresses ). When summer came along, i noticed that my hours were being slowly cut……until one day, they just let me go……with no real explanation………but what i saw was that my job was given to a college girl who returned for the summer……. I never knew about this lawsuit…….this happened to me in 1976…. Nashville is also the home to Cracker Barrel (Lebanon,tn). I love my home town…. But its hard to forget that its 35 miles from where the KKK began (Pulaski,tn).

I was the hostess/cashier in the late 80s at our local Shoneys. I was 16. Good times. I used to take strawberry pie or chocolate cake home every night I worked.

I have so many memories of Shoneys as a kid in the early to mid 2000s and I loved every one of them.

Holy crap, me and my buddies hung out at the mall where the first Shoneys in a mal was opened. We ate there once, got sick and never went back. It closed a few years ago and to be fair that mall has never been a bustling hub of people.

I was talking with my mom just yesterday and asked if the breakfast bar is still open in our old neighborhood Shoneys. I haven't been to that location in several years living abroad, but she says that location has been closed for years. I was speechless. Having Sunday breakfast at Shoneys was what you do! Now a memory unfortunately 😔

I have an abandoned Shoneys right by my house. No one has taken over the building yet but that’s New Orleans for ya. They’re slow down here. There could be storm damage for all I know. Thanks for doing this episode, Jake! I grew up going to Shoneys with my parents a few times.

My dad used to manage a Shoney's in the mid 90's. I remember him dealing with corporate misprinting coupons constantly and calling desperately for him to pull them. They also never had boxes because of the take home buffet. People would bring their families and clear the place out every weekend. Even at 10 I could tell the place was a circus.

Oh my I’m almost in tears finding this video, I use to take my Daughter to have Lunch every Fridays, even went to it on my last days in Florida and I remember they gave my Daughter a stuff Bear that she still has in these days 2023. What beautiful memories came to mind when I came across this video. ❤

We had 2 Shoneys in Sacramento California in the early to mid or late 90s. The food was absolutely delicious and affordable, even to this day my Mom raves and misses the all you can eat breakfast bar which I can attest that is was delicious. During this time frame we lost so many iconic places to eat such as Skippers Seafood and Chowder House, PoFolks, and even Shakeys Pizza and fried Chicken which actually started in Sacramento and now really only exist in southern California with only 1 left in Northern California. The people here LOVE those places because they were always packed with lines out the door at times. It smells like "Greed" ultimately took these places away because the demand for them was high and still is in 2023.

Ah Shoney’s had some great memories. Dad used to be a manager for Captain Ds when they were still owned by the same owners. Had birthdays with that company. All the ones we used to visit are relics now and have been knocked down or just husks. At least Captian D’s is still kicking. Glad you did a video on this. Amazing Work!

There used to be a Shoney's in my hometown when I was little, back in the early to mid 90s. I honestly didn't even know they were still around at all!

im 24 years old and from a small-ish town. we had a shoneys that had a sinkhole swallow up half the parking lot sometime in the early 2010s, and they weren’t doing great before, but the sinkhole basically killed the business after being forced to close. it was one of my grandma’s favorite places to go (coincidentally, she also loved captain D’s lmao) so we went a lot when i was little and im pretty nostalgic for it. this video and seeing the decline over the years makes me sad 😅

My local shoneys was the one you ran across, on 192. My family went there after church on Sundays growing up. I have since moved away from there so I had no clue it was abandoned. Such memories!

EDITED: There’s a twist to the Morgantown Shoney’s story…. While yes, “my” favorite Shoney’s location in Morgantown is the one featured here and indeed closed in 2013. HOWEVER, just one year later in 2014 a brand new location opened in a more commercial area of Morgantown, and to this day operates on a very particular schedule - Wednesday through Sunday, 8 am - 4 pm. That’s right folks - brunch goes to 11 am, “dinner” is only between the hours of 2 pm to 4 pm, with no service at all Mondays and Tuesdays. They figured out which lane is theirs and they’re staying in it. ORIGINAL: Oh no! My first thought was “I hope they didn’t close “my” Shoney’s in Morgantown, WV….. crap. My friends and I ate there constantly back in the day. I never equated Shoney’s with its competitors or that it was too downscale. Maybe I’m being nostalgic but I always thought very highly of the chain in general.

Shoney's had a HUGE presence in North Carolina. So to say the least, I am very, VERY familiar with Shoney's.

We had one near my grandparents house in SC and that breakfast buffet was EVERYTHING to me as a kid. I LOVED Shoneys and I’m only 26!

Shoneys was literally my family’s highlight of our vacations down south! We’re from NY and went to nc or fl every year. Shoneys was a a spot we stopped for breakfast almost every day

WE NEVER LEFT THE SHONEYS!!

I swear every episode of this channel has got something to do with my life. I think the only one I've not been to was Ames. I'm so happy for your well earned success Jake!

Our family vacationed from PA to Florida through the 90’s-2005 so we have been to a few. Defiantly remember them down south they had a great buffet!

My family went to the Orlando Shoney's our first meal off the plane in 1992. We liked it so much we did it again in 1995. We didn't have Shoney's in NYS so it stood out to us.

As a proud members of the Shoneys Kids Club lol I will pour one out for this brand. Anyone remember the cheese you’d pour over the eggs!??

The Shoneys when I lived in Columbia TN was the center of town. Heck, my first girlfriend worked at Shoneys. She told me the secret to the sweet tea was one pitcher of tea and one pitcher of liquid sugar mixed together, a 50/50 blend! Thanks for the memories !

Very interesting video. Never heard of Shoney's out here in Los Angeles so this was all new but extremely fascinating to hear about.

So many sweet memories going to Shoney’s growing up! My dad loved it. They had an awesome salad bar with the sweetest, tastiest fruits. 🤤

Im from the Midwest and was born in 93, but we went to Shoney’s all the god damn time. The only things I remember are the bear mascot, the free suckers, and the salad bar. I think most people know of it from Rick & Morty.

Breakfast or Sunday Dinner at Shoney was truly apart of my childhood. They were still very popular here in Louisiana in the late 90's/Early 2000's You should also cover Pickadilliy's and Ryan's

Great Video, Thank You for sharing the history of Shoney's. I grew-up in southeast New Mexico, there were no Shoney's in the area. During the heyday of the restaurant, sounds like it was a great place to eat..

I grew up just north of tampa,fl. There was a shoneys in wesley chapel when i was a kid in the 90's and was one of my favorite breakfast places!!

Hey I remember Shoney’s when I was a kid in the 90s and early 2000s. I almost completely forgotten about them since I came across some other restaurants that were too similar.

Shoneys classic American family restaurant vibes seem like it would do well in Japan where they love family restaurants and Americana.

I have 2 shoneys in my town and they are thriving. The one I go to is always packed and the food is amazing there is also a captain Ds right down the road from one of the shoneys and is popular as well

There was nothing like Shoneys breakfast bar on late Friday/Saturday nights, after my parents bowled on their teams at our local bowling alley, across the street from Shoneys. Their biscuits and gravy were phenomenal. We also had a Shoneys Inn behind the restaurant. Both still stand, but the building has been a local beloved Italian restaurant for about ten years and the hotel was bought out by a large chain. I miss it so much.

I ate at the Shoneys near Disney a couple years ago. The breakfast buffet was solid and a decent value for the touristy area.

Scott Steiner cameo at 14:08!!!!!!! But yeah when I was a kid in the early 90’s, we didn’t have a local Shoney’s but it was a favorite of my family when traveling. Finally we got one in the later 90’s but it was never particularly great and closed in the early 00’s.

my earliest memory as a kid is going to shoney’s with my nana before church. one day we pulled in for our traditional breakfast feast to see they closed our location’s doors-i was devastated

Family style restaurants in general seem to have had a hard time over the last few decades

We still have a nice Shoneys here but there are 2 dead literal abandon ones too. I love it. Paul Reid the serial killer that killed my friend was a cook at the one here thats opened. They used to have one with a car drive in back in the 50s here. The building is still there but it’s a different restaurant.

I had a Shoney's in my town & it turned into a seafood restaurant a few years ago. I remember how it was one of my grandfather's favorite restaurants along with a place called Ryan's.

I was excited to see you used several of my commercials in this. Keep up the good work!

Thanks so much for making this. I’m 37 and our town had a Shoney’s for years. Now it’s an IHOP, but I have good memories of eating there with family. They used to sell these stuffed Shoney’s Bears and I always begged for one when we went. To my recollection, my Dad finally caved once and bought me one, but no idea what happened to it. Man this took me back! Thanks again! 💙

Had no idea Captain D's was connected to Shoney's. We had a Captain D's close a while ago, and a new location has very recently opened. Not a bad place to eat. Theres still a Shoney's open near by, I guess thats sort of lucky. I wonder what shape its in.

Connecticut here. Went to Florida bring sister to college and in South Carolina we stopped at shoneys. Had the buffet. Super good!!!

Shoney's breakfast buffet was a MUST when we went on vacation to either Florida, or to Gatlinburg. I always loved those mushrooms mixed with sausage gravy and biscuits. If we were going to Gatlinburg, we always ate at the Shoney's in Statesville, NC, which was their best restaurant ever IMO.

I remember this chain. I may only be 19 but I loved going to the Shoney’s in Knoxville. I loved the food all the way up until they closed. You will be missed Shoney’s