Attention all Denny’s regulars, your favorite restaurant is making some major changes heading into the new year.
The food chain, known for its all-day breakfast, recently announced a move to close a total of 150 stores, starting this year and continuing into 2025.
"It's never easy to close restaurants,” Denny’s Executive Vice President and Chief Global Development said during a call on Tuesday, per USA Today. “And of course, you're dealing with people's lives, but we've realized that closing underperforming restaurants is strategically advantageous to a number of our franchisees as it strengthens the bottom line cash flow for the long term."
"Some of these restaurants can be very old," Dunn added to his comments, USA Today reported. "So when you think of a 70-year-old plus brand, you have a lot of restaurants that have been out there for a very long time."
Though Denny's did not immediately respond to Good Housekeeping’s request for a list of specific locations that will be closing, USA Today states that 50 stores will be shuttered by the end of 2024 and 100 more will be closed during 2025.
It was also revealed that the locations that will stay open will have a smaller menu — from 97 options to 46.
When fans of the chain got wind of the news, they quickly expressed how upset they were in the comments section of Denny's Instagram posts. "Denny's please, I beg of you, please, don’t close my Denny's location. I’ll cry. I love Denny's so much! Please," one person wrote. "End of an era," said another.
The chain is not alone, as several other restaurants — including Red Lobster and 7-Eleven — have made moves to downsize, or have filed bankruptcy this year.
Cameron (she/her) is a staff writer for Good Housekeeping, where she covers everything from holidays to food. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she received a B.A. in magazine journalism. In her spare-time she can be found scrolling TikTok for the latest cleaning hacks and restaurant openings, binge-watching seasons of Project Runway or online shopping.
