History of Kings Family Restaurants
Kings Family Restaurants traces its origins back to 1967 when it began as Kings Country Shoppes in North Versailles, Pennsylvania. The name was eventually changed to Kings Family Restaurant and by the 1970’s founder Hartley King had six locations and by the 1980’s it was up to 21 locations. By 2012, when the company was celebrating its 45th anniversary, the chain was up to over 30 locations. However, in 2015 they were purchased by a San Diego, California based private equity firm called Kelly Capital for an undisclosed sum. At this time, the chain had around 30 locations remaining. Over time, since Kelly Capital has owned the chain, it’s been a steady decline in open restaurants.
One of the first steps done after purchase was for Kelly to take away the iconic “Frownie” brownie dessert. However, by 2019, they brought back the Frownie and at this time the chain had 23 remaining restaurants.
Surely, the COVID-19 pandemic, which came next, probably did not help the longevity of the Kings brand. By 2022, two years into the pandemic, the chain was down to 12 locations. All signs point to Kings Family Restaurants, the iconic Western Pennsylvania chain, soon being no more. As of February 15, 2023 there are five remaining open Kings Family Restaurant locations. See below for the list of remaining Kings locations.
List of open Kings Family Restaurants
Ohio:
1063 Canton Road Wintersville, OH 43952
Pennsylvania:
580 McClelland Road Canonsburg, PA 15317
821 Allegheny Blvd Franklin, PA 16323
6297 Route 30 Greensburg, PA 15601
16 Hilltop Plaza Kittanning, PA 16201
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