“From Beloved Beacon to Forgotten Relic: Unraveling the Astonishing Decline of Howard Johnson’s Empire”

And so it was that by 1995 there were only 84 Howard Johnson’s locations left. A decade later, they were down to just 8. It was also around this time the Howard Johnson branded frozen food line in grocery stores likewise disappeared thanks to the closing of the Fairfield Farms Kitchens’ Brockton, Massachusetts plant, and another similar plant in Georgia likewise closing a couple years later.

The final Howard Johnson’s restaurant from the original chain, located in Bangor, Maine, closed in September of 2016, leaving just one left in Lake George, New York. However, other than the name, at this point this location had no real connection to the former Howard Johnson’s given the menu was quite different, among other changes. Finally, in March of 2022, this last Howard Johnson’s restaurant closed its doors forever.

Today you’ll still find the Howard Johnson’s brand used by Wyndham Worldwide, with some 300 Howard Johnson’s hotels in over a dozen countries. Wyndham also now owns the rights to the restaurant and food brand as well, with occasional rumors that they plan on re-introducing the restaurant brand that started it all. But, to date, nothing has ever come of it. It would seem all that will ever remain of the restaurant side of Howard Johnson’s is its place in history- helping to give rise to the now ubiquitous restaurant franchising model and the many practices now common with that we all take for granted today.

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