HOME | STORE | SEARCH | NEWS | ABOUT | CONTACT RESTAURANTS / 1980-1984 AUTOMOBILES LODGING MEDIA PRODUCTS RESTAURANTS 1900 1940 1950 1960 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Other RETAIL SERVICES NEWS SEARCH SUBMIT STORE Featured Brand: Buffalo Wild Wings

Founded 1981 in Kent, OH by Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery

Currently has revenue of $210 Million a year with 370 locations The year was 1981. Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery had recently transplanted to Kent, Ohio after living in Buffalo, New York. All was fine until one day when the two were craving wings. Not just ordinary wings, but authentic Buffalo, New York-style chicken wings. Only problem was there was nowhere to get wings nearby. So Jim and Scott had two choices to satisfy their appetite: they could either make a road trip to New York or open a wing joint close to home. Lucky for us they chose the latter. Hence, the beginning of Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck, now Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, the no-holds-barred grill and bar that serves up a healthy dose of fun with every batch of Buffalo chicken wings. YEAR BRAND NAME FOUNDERS LOCATION LINK 1980 Applebees Bill Palmer Atlanta, GA www.applebees.com Fuddruckers Phil Romano San Antonio, TX www.fuddruckers.com 1981 TCBY Frank Hickingbotham Littlerock, AK www.tcby.com Farmerboys Havadjias Bros Riverside, CA www.farmerboys.com Buffalo Wild Wings Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery Kent, OH www.buffalowildwings.com Big Town Hero - Covallis, OR www.bigtownhero.com Lindey's Restaurant Sue, Chris and Rick Doody German Village, OH www.lindeys.com Figaro's Al Debacker and Corky Gorley Salem, OR www.figaros.com Papa Aldos - Hillsboro, OR www.papamurphys.com Chesepeake Bagel - Washington DC, DC www.chesbagel.com 1982 Olive Garden Blain Sweatt (General Mills) Orlando, FL www.olivegarden.com Islands Tony DeGrazier West Los Angeles, CA www.islandsrestaurants.com Ruby's Diner Doug Cavahaugh & Ralph Kosmides Balboa, CA www.rubys.com L&N Seafood Grill - Knoxville, TN www.lnseafood.com Dave & Busters Dave and Buster Dallas, TX www.daveandbusters.com 1983 Quizno's - Denver, CO www.quiznos.com Papajohn's Pizza John Schnatter IN www.papajohns.com Rubios Ralph Rubio San Diego, CA www.rubios.com Bruegger's Bagels - Burlington, VT www.brueggers.com Panda Express Andrew Chemg - www.pandaexpress.com Hooters - Clearwater, FL www.hooters.com Miami Subs Gus Boulis Key West, FL www.miamisubs.com Chin Chin's Bob Mandler West Hollywood, CA www.chinchin.com Copelands New Orleans Rest. Al Copeland New Orleans, LA www.copelands.net Blackjack Pizza Vince Schmuhl Federal Heights, CO www.blackjackpizza.com 1984 Café Express Robert & Mimi Del Grande Houston, TX www.cafe-express.com Juan Pollo Amando Parra - www.juanpollo.com Hooker Hamburgers John Jay Hooker - - Papa Murphy's Pizza - Petaluma, CA www.papamurphys.com American Café - Knoxville, TN www.americancafe.com Culver's Craig & Lea & George & Ruth Culver Sauk City, WI www.culvers.com Starvin' Arvin's Arvan Leany Grand Junction, CO - YEAR EVENT 1980 El pollo loco opened in US (Los Angeles) 85 in Mexico Ben & Jerry's starts selling Ice Cream to Groceries. 1981 CKE goes public (Carl’s Jr.) Ben & Jerry's open first franchise 1982 RJ Reynolds get KFC in buy out of Heublein Inc. Applebee's sold to WR Grace & Co Gladstone's 4-fish moves to new location in Pacific Palisades General Foods sells Burger Chef to Hardee's. Many converted to Hardee's Ruby Tuesday merges with Specialty Restaurant Division of Morrison Inc. 1983 Denny's Purchases El Pollo Loco VICORP Restaurants purchases Mrs. C's (Early 70's) /Poppin Fresh Pies and started Bakers Square 1984 Shultz pushes owners to open 2nd Starbucks Gladstone's is purchased by W.R. Grace in 1985 Carls Jr franchises for the first time Ben & Jerry's Goes Public Also at this time in History Other Brands: 1980- Comp USA opens 1981- MTV launches on cable television, featuring music videos. 1981- Standard Brands Company, owner of Curtiss Candy Company, was acquired by Nabisco. In the transition they lost the original recipes for the Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars. Nabisco had to develop new recipes that customers would accept. 1981- IBM sells its first personal computer. 1983- Cabbage Patch dolls become a fanatically sought item. Other Things: 1981- Dan Rather succeeds Walter Cronkite as anchorman 1983- Cellular phones make their first U.S. appearance in Chicago. © 2006 Dacy Media All Rights Reserved