Those looking for a chain restaurant for dinner tonight in Connecticut will find the list of choices has gotten smaller over the past year for a variety of reasons, industry experts say.
Some chains, like TGI Friday's closed entirely while other restaurants, like Ruby Tuesday, On The Border and Hooters reduced their presence in Connecticut. Other restaurant chains that have Connecticut locations, including Denny's and Red Robin, have announced large scale closings, but haven't named those they will shutter or which are facing financial difficulties that will likely necessitate closure.
David A. Tomczyk, associate professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at Quinnipiac University, said in some cases, restaurants built around certain concepts have simply run their course. Tomczyk said that may be the case at Hooters, which closed about 40 restaurants around the country, including one in Manchester last year.
More Business
"Objectification of women has become a tougher sell for that chain in the age of the Me Too movement," he said of Hooters, which is known for its chicken wings and scantily-clad female servers. About 300 Hooters locations remain around the country, but the only Connecticut location left is in Wethersfield.
"What we're seeing to some extent is just the natural cycle of business," Tomczyk said. "At a certain point, we as consumers get tired of the same old thing. So you go looking for different."
Add in that through the wide availability of food delivery services, consumers have access to a broader array of food choices, he said.
"The lower quality restaurants just aren't getting as much business because consumers have delivery access from restaurants that are much higher quality," Tomczyk said.
Not all restaurant chains are retrenching in Connecticut. The San Diego, California-based Mexican food chain Qdoba has signed an agreement with an Orlando, Florida-based limited liability company to open 15 restaurants in the Hartford-Springfield, Massachusetts market.
Robert Marcarelli, whose Madison-based firm Pi Consulting has been in business for 20 years, said rising food prices have squeezed all types of restaurateurs, forcing some out of business.
"Not only the chains, but independent restaurants have been hit by food costs, which are at an all-time high," Marcarelli said. "And restaurants have always worked on very thin profit margins."
Restaurant operators are also being squeezed by increasing labor costs, he said.
"Chains are seeing insurance costs and benefits increased, as well as paid time off," Marcarelli said.
A final financial drain on restaurant operators, he said, is increasing commercial rents.
"Restaurants are not able to afford that," Marcarelli said of the leased properties.
Jan Jones, a professor of hospitality and tourism at the University of New Haven's Pompea College of Business, said fast food restaurants have also lost their appeal to the average consumer because of escalating food prices.
"It's not necessarily cheaper to go to fast food restaurants any more," Jones said. "That used to be their selling point: Quick, fast and cheap. But that's not the case any more."
She said other restaurant chains may be failing because they haven't invested in upgrading their locations.
"People are looking for unique dining experiences," she said. "And in some cases, chains are not keeping up with the times, keeping up with what people are looking out for. Because people are still going out to eat, even when they don't necessarily have the money to do it."
March 22, 2025
Luther Turmelle
Reporter
Luther Turmelle is a business reporter with Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Turmelle has covered the towns of Cheshire and Wallingford and he specializes in the utility and energy beats. A graduate of Boston University, Turmelle has held multiple leadership roles in the Society of Professional Journalists, including two terms on the organization's national Board of Directors.