If owning one restaurant is good, then owning two restaurants is even better, right? That's how we got chain restaurants. The concept of the restaurant is really not all that old, going back only to to 1760. But opening chain restaurants came about with travel. Fred Harvey opened many Harvey House restaurants along a railroad line for travelers. If a traveler had eaten at one Harvey House, they knew what to expect from the next one. Once the automobile came along and highways were built, that idea blew up and dozens of chain restaurants flourished.
But in the 21st century, the business of chain restaurants started to contract, with many chains of sit-down restaurants shrinking or closing, while others flourished and new chains were born. Weird History Food explains the rise and current state of chain restaurants in America.