Denny’s has been a late-night and early-morning go-to for millions of Americans for over 70 years. But things are changing fast. The chain just finished shutting down 150 of its restaurants across the country, and on top of that, the entire company is being sold for around $620 million. For anyone who’s ever ordered a Grand Slam at 2 a.m., this news might sting a little.
Denny’s confirmed 150 restaurants are now gone
If a favorite Denny’s location has seemed dark lately, there’s a reason. The chain confirmed that it completed its plan to close approximately 150 restaurants by the end of 2025. These weren’t random picks either. The company specifically targeted locations that weren’t doing well financially. The idea was to get rid of spots that were dragging down the rest of the system. Most of those 150 locations had already closed by mid-2025, and the final ones wrapped up as the year ended.
This plan didn’t come out of nowhere. Denny’s first announced the closure plan back in 2024 as part of a larger effort to turn things around. CEO Kelli Valade explained that it was a careful and step-by-step process that started in 2023. The goal was to cut loose the weakest spots so the stronger restaurants could do better. Even with 150 fewer locations, Denny’s still has more than 1,300 restaurants in the United States and close to 1,500 around the world. So it’s still a big operation.
The $620 million sale is almost done
On top of the closures, Denny’s is also being sold. In November 2025, the company announced that it agreed to be bought by a group of investors. The deal is worth about $620 million when debt is included. That’s a lot of money, but for a chain that’s been around since 1953, some people expected the price to be even higher. The sale means that Denny’s will no longer be a company that regular people can buy stock in. It’s going private.
The buyers are a mix of a private investment company called TriArtisan Capital Advisors, an investment firm named Treville Capital, and Yadav Enterprises. Yadav is actually one of Denny’s biggest franchise owners, so they already know the business inside and out. Stockholders who own shares of Denny’s will get $6.25 per share in cash. The deal is expected to be finalized in early 2026. Until then, Denny’s says it’s running things as normal, and nothing should feel different for people walking through the doors.
The closures and the sale are not connected
When both stories hit the news around the same time, a lot of people assumed the closures were happening because of the sale. That makes sense on the surface. But Denny’s actually pushed back hard on that idea. The company released a statement calling those reports “completely false.” The closure plan was announced a full year before the sale was even on the table. It was always about trimming the fat and getting rid of spots that weren’t pulling their weight. The timing just happened to overlap.
Denny’s was clear that the two events are separate things. The closures were a plan put in motion years ago. The sale came later and was about giving the company a fresh start under new ownership. CEO Kelli Valade said the closures were producing the results they wanted. Fewer weak locations meant the overall chain was getting stronger. So while it looks dramatic from the outside, Denny’s sees these as two different moves working toward the same goal of making the brand healthier overall.
Why Denny’s has been struggling lately
The pandemic hit sit-down restaurants incredibly hard, and Denny’s was no exception. When people couldn’t go out to eat, sales dropped off a cliff. But even after things reopened, Denny’s didn’t bounce back the way some other places did. A big part of the problem is how people eat out now. More and more people order delivery through apps instead of sitting down at a restaurant. That shift hurts places like Denny’s, where the whole experience is built around eating in a booth.
There’s also more competition for breakfast than ever before. Newer chains have popped up that focus on fresh and trendy morning meals. These places have attracted younger customers who might have gone to Denny’s a decade ago. It’s not that Denny’s food got worse. It’s that the world around it changed. People’s habits shifted, new options appeared, and a chain that’s been doing things the same way for decades found itself needing to adapt. That’s a tough spot for any restaurant, no matter how well-known it is.
Some cities lost their only Denny’s
One of the toughest parts of these closures is that some towns only had one Denny’s to begin with. A location in Santa Rosa, California, shut its doors quietly with just a sign on the door pointing customers to a nearby location. That’s it. No big announcement, no farewell event. Just a note and a locked door. For people who went there regularly, it was a pretty sudden goodbye. The city still has one Denny’s left, but losing a familiar spot always stings.
The Syracuse, New York, area is a good example of how the closures add up over time. There used to be seven Denny’s locations in that region. Now there are only three. A longtime location in Camillus closed back in March 2025 as part of the plan. The remaining spots are in Salina, DeWitt, and Cicero. Across New York state, Denny’s website lists 28 restaurants still open in cities like Buffalo, Rochester, Binghamton, and Saratoga Springs. But that number used to be higher, and locals have definitely noticed the gaps.
Over 40 buyers were interested in Denny’s
Here’s something that might be surprising. Even though Denny’s has been struggling, the company said it got interest from more than 40 potential buyers. That’s a lot of people raising their hands to own a piece of American diner history. CEO Kelli Valade said the board looked at all the offers and decided the deal with TriArtisan, Treville, and Yadav was the best one. It wasn’t just about the money. They also considered which group would be best for the company going forward.
The fact that Yadav Enterprises is part of the buying group is interesting. They’re already one of the biggest Denny’s franchise owners, meaning they run a bunch of Denny’s locations themselves. Having someone who knows the restaurants from the inside as part of the new ownership could be a good thing. TriArtisan’s co-founder called Denny’s “an iconic piece of the American dream” and talked about supporting the team and the franchise owners. Whether that translates into real changes for customers is something that remains to be seen.
Denny’s is not the only chain closing locations
It’s easy to think Denny’s is alone in this, but 2025 was a rough year for restaurant chains across the board. Red Lobster announced plans to close over 100 stores. TGI Friday’s filed for bankruptcy and has been shutting down locations left and right, including 30 in just one month. Applebee’s projected losing 20 to 35 spots. Even Noodles & Company said it would close up to 21 locations after a tough 2024. The entire sit-down restaurant world is going through a rough patch right now.
What’s happening isn’t just about one chain making bad decisions. The whole way Americans eat out is shifting. Delivery apps took off during the pandemic and never slowed down. Fast-casual spots that are quicker and cheaper are drawing people away from full-service restaurants. Rising food costs and staffing challenges haven’t helped either. When a chain like Denny’s closes 150 locations, it’s part of a much bigger picture. The restaurant world is reorganizing itself, and some of the old guard is having a hard time keeping up with how things work now.
How Denny’s went from donuts to diners
Most people don’t know that Denny’s didn’t start out as the full-menu diner we know today. It opened in 1953 in Lakewood, California, as a little donut stand called Danny’s Donuts. That’s right — donuts. It grew from there into a coffee shop, then into a full restaurant. In 1959, the name changed to Denny’s to avoid confusion with another chain. By 1963, the company was franchising, and by 1969, it was trading on the New York Stock Exchange. That’s a pretty wild rise for a donut stand.
Over the decades, Denny’s became known for a few key things. The Grand Slam breakfast is probably the most famous item on the menu. There’s also the 55-plus menu for older customers and seasonal specials that rotate throughout the year. In 2022, Denny’s bought the Keke’s restaurant brand, adding 74 more locations to its family. The chain has always been about affordable, no-fuss meals at any hour. That identity hasn’t changed, even if the number of restaurants has. It’s still the place that’s open when everything else is closed.
Going private changes things for Denny’s
When the sale closes, Denny’s will no longer be a publicly traded company. That means regular people won’t be able to buy or sell shares of Denny’s stock anymore. For the average person eating pancakes on a Saturday morning, this doesn’t change much. But behind the scenes, it’s a big deal. Public companies have to report their finances every quarter and answer to shareholders. Private companies don’t have that same pressure. They can make long-term decisions without worrying about how the stock price reacts every three months.
The new owners have said they plan to support Denny’s long-term growth plans. What that actually looks like is anyone’s guess. Maybe there will be menu changes. Maybe they’ll renovate older locations. Maybe they’ll open new restaurants in different areas. The ownership group includes people who already run Denny’s franchises, so they understand what works and what doesn’t. For now, it’s a waiting game. The sale should close in early 2026, and after that, the new direction will start to become clear for diners and employees alike.
Denny’s has been part of the American eating-out experience for over seven decades. Losing 150 locations and changing owners is a lot of change at once, but the chain isn’t going away. With more than 1,300 U.S. restaurants still open and new ownership coming in, the next chapter is just getting started. Whether it’s a 2 a.m. stack of pancakes or a Sunday morning Grand Slam, Denny’s is still around — just a little smaller and under new management.
