With over 1500 restaurants in the US and a dozen other unfortunate counties, his signs are everywhere — towering over freeway off-ramps, lining downtown arterials, visible out in the middle of nowhere. While most of us would admit to having visited a Denny’s, we’d also probably be quick to add that it was under duress (read: late at night, on the freeway, nothing else open for miles, we were with friends who didn’t know better, if we’d had a choice we wouldn’t have, but …).
Who was he? Was there actually a Denny? What were his humble beginnings? When he first put on his cook’s apron and fired up his grill, did he anticipate that someday his name would synonymous with prefab food, the prototype of cookie-cutter franchise blandness — the antithesis of what Roadside Online is about?
Well, there wasn’t a Denny. The chain was founded by Harold Butler, who opened his first shop in 1953 in Lakewood, California. He called it “Danny’s Donuts” (apparently there wasn’t a Danny either) supposedly because the name sounded “friendly.” In 1954 the original 900-square-foot shop was replaced by a larger restaurant which offered breakfast, burgers and sandwiches in addition to the namesake doughnuts. With expansion came name changes — first to Danny’s Coffee Shops; then again in 1959, when competition with a place called Dan’s Doughnuts (or Coffee Dan’s, depending on which source you believe) led him to change the name to Denny’s.
All this was happening at the time of the franchise-mania inspired by Ray Kroc’s involvement with the McDonald brothers. Suddenly it seemed that every small-time chain operator was being courted by would-be franchisees clamoring for a piece of the action. Mr. Butler realized he had a good thing going, and starting in 1963 Denny’s franchises were being sold like hotcakes (or, more accurately, hotcake-like wheat-batter-based food products). Denny’s went public with an IPO in 1966 and experienced a period of phenomenal growth.
Butler himself didn’t fare as well. In 1969 he was forced to relinquish control of the Denny’s corporation amid rumors of shady business dealings concerning the buy-out of a competitor. Butler continued his involvement in the food industry, at various times controlling several small chains including Harold’s Dinner House, Hershel’s Deli & Bakery, JoJo’s restaurants, Naugles Mexican restaurants, O.J.‘s, and Sam’s Hofbrau, but repeated success on the scale of Denny’s eluded him. He passed away in 1998.
Interestingly, the City of Lakewood, where it all began, makes no mention of being the birthplace of Denny’s on its official website. There’s still a Denny’s in Lakewood, though not at the original location. In a bit of poetic justice, just across the street at 2601 Carson Street is (and has been for years) a place called the Heritage Family Pantry which, from all the favorable reviews it has online, sounds like the kind of place that Roadside is all about.
We generally stay as far away from a Denny’s as possible. We don’t consider the chain as an option no matter where we are. This past summer while in Ashville NC my son wanted to try Denny’s. The restaurant was great, clean, the service was good, and the food (breakfast) was excellent. A positive experience all around. From past experience this was an abnormality.
I only eat at Denny’s when I’m desparate for a meal when traveling. It’s awful and their menu has gone downhill over the years and their prices have gone up. Service is usually poor too. But like McDonald’s they are there when we need them (when we are desparte!)