Burger Chef

Cause of death

Killed by merger

with killed by a successor as a contributing factor

Made by

General Foods

The owner of Hardee's bought the chain and converted or closed the restaurants rather than run a second burger brand.

Burger Chef opened in Indianapolis in 1957 and by 1971 had more than 1,200 restaurants, which made it a genuine rival to McDonald's rather than a footnote to it. General Foods bought it in 1968, ran it down through the 1970s, and sold it on to the owner of Hardee's, who spent the following years changing the signs. The last Burger Chef, in Cookeville, Tennessee, kept its name in court and held out until 1996.