Once popular restaurant chain O’Charley’s closes its last 50 locations

After 55 years in operation, O'Charley's is shuttering its remaining 49 company-owned locations.

The restaurant chain is closing or has already closed all of its locations, according to Restaurant Dive.

The closures have come amidst an ongoing portfolio review being conducted by the owner of the chain, Cannae Holdings. That company's CEO, Ryan Caswell, said in February that Cannae would focus on sports and entertainment assets instead of restaurants going forward.

As of Saturday, O'Charley's website and social media had been taken down.

Restaurant Dive called two locations in Kentucky that were open as recently as Tuesday and were met with automated phone messages saying they were closed.

“Hello. Thank you for calling O’Charley’s. Our restaurant has closed for business. For questions please contact ocguestrelations@ocharleys.com. Thank you for your patronage," the message reportedly said.

Cannae took an ownership stake in O'Charley's and Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub in 2018.

O'Charley's had reported a 13.1 percent decline in its same-store sales during its second quarter and was struggling to attract customers.

The chain closed four of its restaurants earlier this year ahead of the total shutdown.

The decision by Cannae to shut down the rest of the company-owned locations did not come out of the blue. As early as February Cannae was considering cutting its restaurant division loose.

“As part of this transformation, we will continue to monetize nonstrategic assets in a disciplined manner to redeploy capital towards higher returning opportunities,” Caswell said in February during an earnings call. “As a result, Cannae is exploring strategic alternatives with regards to its restaurant group.”

Then, during an earnings call in May, Caswell said the company's board was going to "redeploy" the capital being used for its restaurant group "into higher returning investments."

At the height of its operation, O'Charley's had 250 units, most of which were located in the Midwest and the South. Many of those locations had been open for decades, according to FSR Magazine.

In 2023, O'Charley's closed more than 50 units following "long term and immediate problems" it was facing, according to Restaurant Business.

Many of those closures were reportedly tied to shifting customer demographics and closures of nearby malls or large retailers that attracted customers to their locations.