Major BBQ Chain Abruptly Closes All Locations After 27 Years

While there are many restaurant chains slowly disappearing across America, others are taking a much more fast-paced approach to their closure. On April 27, 2026, the popular barbecue chain Smokey Bones announced that all of its locations were closing, effective immediately. By the following day, representatives from locations in at least 10 states confirmed that their store had shut down, per USA Today. Unlike those working for Jack in the Box, which announced the planned closure of around 200 locations months ahead of time, multiple Smokey Bones staff members reported that their teams were given no advanced notice that they'd be losing their jobs with local customers left just as surprised. Several other Smokey Bones locations had closed in the months leading up to the chain-wide shutdown, but this final round wiped out the last 26 locations throughout the U.S. 

This latest news comes just a few months after FAT Brands, Smokey Bones' parent company, announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2026. FAT Brands owns over a dozen other chains including Johnny Rocket's, Fazoli's, and Fatburger, and is estimated to have amassed over $1 billion in debt ahead of its filing. As of late April, different winning bidders were announced to take over parts of the conglomerate's assets and liabilities — pending court approval.

While the fact that the last bastion of the Smokey Bones brand closed so suddenly was surprising to many, the writing had been on the wall for quite a while. After all, many restaurants are going the way of Boston Market, which closed around 95% of its locations throughout the 2020s. 

The first Smokey Bones location opened in 1999, ultimately growing to a chain of well over 100 locations. However, the last decade has not been kind to the brand. FAT Brands first acquired the company in 2023, before passing it off to its subsidiary Twin Hospitality in early 2025. In September of that year, Twin Hospitality announced it had closed 10 Smokey Bones locations, with five more closures planned by the end of Q3 2025. That left just 26 across the U.S. — a dwindling number compared to the company's previous peak.

Additionally, FAT Brands had been the subject of quite a bit of bad press in the years leading up to its bankruptcy. In 2024, the Securities Exchange Committee charged Chairman Andy Wiederhorn for the misappropriation of $27 million of FAT Brands funds for his own use, while the Department of Justice accused him of wire fraud and tax evasion. Both cases were ultimately dropped, but the legal turbulence caused by the cases surely didn't do anything to help Smokey Bones.