The Once-Popular Restaurant Chain Known For Its Breakfast Buffet In The '80s

Before fast-casual chains took over, Shoney's was a classic breakfast chain — one that barely exists today. Founded in 1947 by Alex Schoenbaum in Charleston, West Virginia, the restaurant began as a Big Boy franchise before striking out on its own, swapping the Big Boy mascot for the Shoney Bear and setting the stage for a decades-long breakfast empire. By the 1980s and '90s, Shoney's had ballooned to more than 1,300 locations across 34 states, earning a reputation as one of the best all-you-can-eat deals from a chain restaurant.

Its breakfast bar became a hit — a buffet loaded with biscuits, bacon, fruit, and cottage cheese that defined the taste of a small-town morning. Commercials from the early '90s sold it as "the best breakfast in town," and for a generation of travelers, that wasn't an exaggeration. Families remember piling plates high with bacon or stopping in after church on Kid's Night, when Shoney Bear made every spaghetti or mac-and-cheese buffet feel like a true event.

Shoney's wasn't just another pit stop. It was a routine, a place where families refueled, and road trips slowed down long enough for seconds. But as the years went on, the same breakfast bar that built Shoney's empire couldn't keep it from cooling down.

By the mid-1990s, Shoney's rapid growth began working against it. The same expansion that filled small towns across the South and Midwest left the company stretched thin. Years of unchecked growth and mounting debt — reaching $255 million — nearly drove the brand into bankruptcy, and frequent ownership changes only deepened the decline.

In 2007, entrepreneur David Davoudpour took over and tried to breathe new life into what remained. His plan focused on fresher food, modernized spaces, and community ties. Under his leadership, Shoney's kept its focus on familiar staples — the breakfast bar, country-fried steak, and the Southern comfort food regulars still come for. While the chain has shrunk to a fraction of its size, with under 300 locations in 17 states, these days, it's just as much about nostalgia as the food itself. Shoney's is a place where regulars can still claim their senior discounts and the coffee never runs out.

Online, fans still swap stories about seafood buffet nights, endless bacon, and grabbing lollipops from the Shoney Bear's belly on their way out. Shoney's may never return to its peak, but in the places where it still stands, the coffee's warm, the buffet's steady, and breakfast hasn't lost its charm.