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With its distinctive barn-shaped buildings and menu of burgers, fried chicken and other American classics, Red Barn was a pioneer in the fast food industry.
Founded in 1961 by Don Six, Martin Levine and Jim Kirst, the chain had between 300 and 400 restaurants before its establishments closed for good in 1988, according to numerous sources.
The first Red Barn opened in Ohio, although there is debate as to whether Columbus or Springfield is its birthplace.
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“I think it’s important to note that Ohio is actually a bit of an icon as a state when it comes to being home to iconic fast food brands,” Capri Cafaro, general manager of Ohio-based America the Bountiful Media, told Fox News Digital.
Wendy’s, founded in Columbus, was one of the first restaurant chains to offer a drive-thru, Cafaro noted. It also stands out from the competition with its square hamburger patties.
The Red Barn, a fast food chain founded in Ohio in 1961, has not stood the test of time. Its last locations closed in 1988. (iStock; USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
The Arby’s roast beef chain was also founded in Ohio, in Boardman.
The Red Barn restaurants’ barn-shaped buildings were key elements of the brand, as were their comfortable, welcoming interiors, Cafaro said.
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“I think there’s something to be said for matching the aesthetic with the name and integrating that into its marketing appeal,” Cafaro said of the exteriors.
This “iconic material culture” was “pervasive in fast food restaurants, not just in places like Red Barn, but also in places like Long John Silver’s or, or, even more iconically, Pizza Hut,” Cafaro said, referring to the cabana-style roofs of classic Pizza Hut restaurants.
Owners James O. Oatsvall Sr., left, and Wendell K. Harris are pictured in front of Nashville’s second Red Barn restaurant as it prepared to open to the public on July 8, 1966. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
The chain’s menu included comfort foods like burgers, fried chicken, fish sandwiches and more.
A double-decker hamburger called the Big Barney was similar to the Big Mac but predated the popular McDonald’s product, which was not added to the national menu until 1968, according to the company’s website.
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Like McDonald’s, Red Barn has also used food-themed cartoon characters used as mascots, including Hamburger Hungry, Chicken Hungry and Big Fish Hungry, with “hungry” sometimes spelled “hungry,” according to Tasting Table.
Red Barn is “evocative of nostalgia and for the people who grew up with it.”
The brand also had a jingle: “When hunger strikes, hit the Red Barn.”
Red Barn offered a self-serve salad bar, and some publications claim it beat out Wendy’s.
Wendy’s website, however, claims that it was the first national chain to introduce salad bars, in 1979.
Wendy’s website claims that it was the first chain to introduce a salad bar, although some sources claim that The Red Barn was the first. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images)
At its peak, there were approximately 300 to 400 Red Barn locations in 19 U.S. states, Canada and Australia, according to Chowhound.
Many factors can influence the survival or downfall of a restaurant chain, Cafaro noted. Red Barn filed for bankruptcy in 1986, according to Tasting Table.
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The chain’s final 22 locations were in New York, Ohio and Washington, D.C., with the franchise’s final lease expiring in 1988, Chowhound reported.
A few places are being reborn as independent restaurants with a similar vibe to Red Barn, including one in Racine, Wisconsin, called The Farm, which closed its doors for good in 2020.
At its peak, there were 300 to 400 Red Barn restaurants across America. (Bob Grannis via Getty Images)
Although it has not retained its original form, The Red Barn still exists today, with other businesses occupying the recognizable barn-shaped buildings.
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Fans of the chain share memories and nostalgic photos in a Facebook group called “I Remember Red Barn Restaurants,” which has more than 9,000 members.
Red Barn is “evocative of nostalgia and for people who grew up with it,” Cafaro said.
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But, she added, “it also speaks to the power of food to evoke nostalgia and memories” and how people “equate food with perhaps a happy place.”
Gn tech
