Ground Round Grill & Bar
TypeCasual dining restaurant
IndustryRestaurants
FoundedOctober 25, 1969
HeadquartersBiddeford, Maine, U.S.
Websitewww.groundround.com

Ground Round Grill & Bar is an American casual dining restaurant that was founded in 1969 by Howard Johnson's.[1][2] On January 17, 2010, Independent Owners Cooperative, LLC—a group originally formed of 30 franchisee owners, which is based in Freeport, Maine—became the owner of Ground Round.[3]

During the 1970s and 1980s, Ground Round was well known for its children's parties, showing silent movies and cartoons on a big screen, a mascot named Bingo the Clown and for passing out whole peanuts where consumers were not discouraged from dropping the shells on the floor.[4] At its peak, the chain had over 200 restaurant locations.[5] The newest incarnation of Ground Round markets to families and also to the adult dining and cocktails crowd with a Sports Bar and Lounge section.[6]

On February 13, 2004 the franchisor for Ground Round filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In the process, all 69 corporate-owned restaurants (almost half of the Ground Rounds then open) abruptly closed their doors.[7] A group of franchisees joined together in order to buy out the company, at the time Ground Round, Inc., and started the Ground Round Independent Owners Cooperative, LLC (GR IOC).[8] As of January 2024, the company operates 6 locations in Maine, North Dakota, and Ohio.

References

  1. ↑ Grant, Tina (1997). International Directory of Company Histories. ISBN 9781558623514.
  2. ↑ "Welcome to New Jersey's last Ground Round". NJ.com. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
  3. ↑ MRM Staff (2017-06-23). "MRM Franchise Feed: White Castle Weddings, Ground Round Growing and KFC in Space". Modern Restaurant Management. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
  4. ↑ "It's 1981 all over again: Ground Round is back". OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  5. ↑ "All Size Appetites".
  6. ↑ "Ground Round Grill & Bar plans new restaurant in Rutland | Vermont Business Magazine". www.vermontbiz.com. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  7. ↑ The Ground Round Rebound, Fortune Small Business, February 1, 2005
  8. ↑ Daley, Jason (2012-05-29). "How Ground Round, Sizzler and Bennigan's Bounced Back from Bankruptcy". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2017-10-03.


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