Smokey Bones didn’t die, so much as it was killed. | Photo: Shutterstock.
Earlier this week, the barbecue chain Smokey Bones posted an announcement on its website, officially acknowledging what numerous media reports already figured out, that the chain was shutting down.
A notice of the closure of what’s left of the wreckage of the barbecue chain was filed on Wednesday. “This isn’t just the end of a restaurant—it’s the closing of a chapter filled with shared meals, celebrations, traditions and countless memories.”
Screenshot | Smokey Bones website
It’s the latest in a series of often-striking collapses of restaurant chains. It’s traditionally difficult to kill restaurant chains, but since the pandemic we’ve seen this a few times, notably with the buffet chains Old Country Buffet and HomeTown Buffet.
But Smokey Bones, much like the buffet concepts, did not so much die as they were killed. Fat Brands’ purchase and operation of the chain ultimately doomed it to this fate. And in a market that is unfavorable to restaurant operations, the brand did not have enough value to be sold out of bankruptcy, when it could have been sold for a pittance.
Smokey Bones was founded by Darden Restaurants in 1999. The company grew rapidly over the next few years, ultimately growing to 128 restaurants. But the chain struggled in 2007 and the owner of Olive Garden closed about 54 locations and sold the remaining 73 restaurants to Sun Capital Partners.
The private-equity firm held onto the barbecue chain for a lot longer than you’d expect, through the pandemic. But in 2023, as Sun was disposing of its restaurant holdings, the company sold it to Fat Brands for $30 million.
At the time, Smokey Bones had come off a year in which it had $190 million in system sales from 61 locations. But Andy Wiederhorn, the former CEO and founder of Fat Brands, had a different idea: Convert Smokey Bones locations to Twin Peaks.
That makes sense on the surface. Smokey Bones generates about $3.1 million in average-unit volumes. Twin Peaks did $5.6 million the year before the acquisition.
There were problems almost immediately. To wit: Not all the Smokey Bones locations could be converted into Twin Peaks, largely because of restrictions on real estate and liquor license issues. A typical Twin Peaks sells a lot more liquor than a traditional Smokey Bones did.
More to the point, Fat Brands wasn’t an operator of restaurants. It was created as a franchisor. That’s can be a difficult transition. But it was particularly tough given the departure of key company management.
As it was, Smokey Bones was a tough brand. Barbecue is a difficult cuisine to do for a restaurant chain. Most major brands ultimately struggle.
But the bigger issue was simply that the parent company’s eyes were focused elsewhere, mainly on turning Smokey Bones locations into Twin Peaks. And so Smokey Bones suffered. Average-unit volumes plunged 18% from 2022, the year before the sale, to 2025. The brand shuttered six locations in 2024 and another 10 locations last year.
The combination of closures and falling average-unit volumes meant Smokey Bones’ system sales fell by a third in those three years under Fat Brands ownership.
Last year, of course, Fat Brands struggled with worsening financial problems and used Smokey Bones to take out merchant cash advance financing for emergency liquidity.
All this was before this year, when Smokey Bones closed another 14 restaurants and then Fat Brands filed for bankruptcy. Every other brand in the Fat Brands roster was sold in an auction. The barbecue chain, unfortunately, was shut down. The chain operated 31 locations whose leases were rejected this week.
It’s difficult to close restaurant chains, because brand names traditionally have value, and someone is almost always willing to take that on. But buyers are already hesitant to take on restaurant operating companies. Barbecue is a tough sector. And Smokey Bones was damaged goods.
The result: Another restaurant chain is killed.
