Fast food chains were a relatively new thing in the 1960s, and independent ones became scarce when McDonald’s and Burger King marched onto the nationwide scene. But some multi-location restaurants held on well into the 1980s, including beloved venues like The Red Barn Restaurants. At its peak, the roughly 400 colorful, barn-style structures dotted the landscapes of 22 states, plus it had locations in Canada and Australia. Depicting rural charm with red-barn architecture, including faux silos and multiple sloping roof panels, the restaurants became popular hang-out spots in many communities.
Even today, almost four decades after the last store served its final meal, fans still remember the food, the aura, and definitely the nostalgia tied to simpler times. Despite making our list of five vintage fast food drive-thrus no one remembers anymore, a thriving public Facebook page devoted to The Red Barn keeps the conversation going with more than 9,000 members still posting to this day. Some show photos of Red Barn swag collected over the years. One former employee posted his Red Barn payroll voucher from 1981, while another shared a photo and fond memories of playing for the sponsored Red Barn Rangers hockey team.
The food itself is definitely not forgotten, nor is its famous jingle stating (per sixteenbitify via YouTube), “When the hungries hit, hit the Red Barn.” Burgers took center stage at The Red Barn Restaurants, with the double-decker Big Barney and a quarter-pound-style Barnbuster. But fish sandwiches featured as well, plus the fondly-remembered full chicken dinner costing as low as 59 or 99 cents.
The startup story and slow slide to closure
The Red Barn Restaurant story began in 1961, when three entrepreneurs launched the fast food concept in Ohio. The chain immediately stood out for its striking barn-themed architecture, eventually adding zany Red Barn cartoon characters such as Big Fish Hungry, Hamburger Hungry, and Chicken Hungry (sometimes using the alternate spelling of “hungery”). They touted the restaurants in TV ads, showing up at community events and store openings. The food at Red Barn, while affordable, also offered what was “new concept” dining at the time.
Its Big Barney double-decker burger reportedly appeared years before the McDonald’s Big Mac, and Red Barn was one of the first chain restaurants to offer a self-serve salad bar, which also experienced a rise and fall from popularity. With a friendly atmosphere and innovative menu, it was an apparent success, even bringing celebrities such as Loni Anderson aboard for upbeat ads, including one in 1977 (per Bionic Disco via YouTube), where she humorously called the chain’s salad bar a “garden of eatin’.” But all was not as it seemed, with the company changing hands several times.
America was quickly becoming a fast food nation, and big companies with big pockets were snatching up customers faster than Red Barn ever could. By the time a New York businessman acquired the chain in 1983, it was too far gone, with only about 50 venues still open and operating. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1986, signaling the end of a fun-filled era in American fast food. Some former locations temporarily operated as The Farm and served the original menu, but the last known one closed in 2020. The Red Barn remains one of 15 failed chain restaurants we actually miss.
