What happened to all those triple-headed Pizza Hut/Taco Bell/KFC locations? What can you do when you want a pretzel but your date wants a smoothie? Did anyone ever ask for Long John Silver’s and A&W under one roof? I’m Jason Toon and those are some of the crucial questions we examine in this Shoddy Goods, the newsletter from Meh about consumer culture.
The recent opening of a joint IHOP-Applebee’s location in upstate New York drew attention from no less an esteemed media outlet than The Guardian. It’s a good piece, about the recent difficulties both casual dining chains have had keeping up with the Chili’ses. “People are happy these restaurants still exist, in the same way they are about a local church,” wrote Adam Gabbatt, “but they don’t actually go that often – also like a local church.” But while it was funny for him to compare “this very American collaboration” to Alien vs. Predator or Kenan & Kel, I thought it was odd Gabbatt never mentioned the more obvious comparisons: the other amalgamated chain eateries that once fruited the American plain, and may now be fruiting anew. “Tacos for me and chicken for my son”The IHOP-Applebee’s fusion is one of the latest iterations of a 30-year-old idea. The first hybrid chain restaurants sprung forth in the mid-’90s, painstakingly genetically engineered by fast-food scientists: Arby’s & Long John Silver’s, Dunkin’ Donuts & Haagen-Dazs, Wendy’s & Tim Horton’s, Carl’s Jr. & Green Burrito, and most widespread, KFC & Taco Bell. “It’s an interesting blend,” said KFC Vice-President Chuck Rawley in 1995. “Taco Bell has a large day business. KFC is traditionally a dinner business.” A Detroit postal worker named William Gordon pointed to his order to explain the appeal: “This is tacos for me and chicken for my son.”
Catering to multiple times of day and customer tastes from one location - and thus one kitchen, one staff, one rental payment - was the dream. And nobody chased that dream harder, faster, farther than Taco Bell & KFC’s parent company, Tricom Worldwide, soon renamed YUM! Brands. “Multibranding has the potential to have the biggest unit sales and profit impact in our industry since the advent of the drive-thru window,” said the company in their 2005 annual report. By then, YUM! had opened 3,000 of these locations in every combination its portfolio would allow, often pairing a struggling brand with a successful one, or as with IHOP & Applebee’s, two struggling brands together (hard to imagine Long John Silver’s & A&W did each other much good). Eventually all this interbreeding reached its apogee with KFC, Taco Bell & Pizza Hut all under one roof. Fans of this takeout turducken duly christened it KenTacoHut. But that was pretty much the peak of the party. The rise of fast-casual dining put pressure on fast food to develop individual brands and the instore experience. Also, there was more profit potential in expanding to China and India than in selling mashed potatoes to Taco Bell customers. By 2009, YUM!’s annual report mentioned “reduced emphasis on multibranding as a US growth strategy.” As of 2023, it appears there was only one KenTacoHut still standing.
Capture the nibbler, the sweet tooth, and the muncherBut if the novelty has worn off for consumers, the inherent advantages of the idea remain tempting. “For our franchisees, the economics are terrific, because in the same size restaurant, you can now program all four dayparts,” says John Peyton, CEO of Dine Brands, in a video aimed at investors in dual Applebee’s and IHOP outlets. Like a Dr. Moreau melding of happy hour and brunch, a loaded Buffalo chicken omelet is among the “exclusive menu items” available only at co-branded Applebee’s & IHOP restaurants. But for the most part, each restaurant’s menu has been trimmed to the best-sellers. Dine has opened 32 such locations so far, a number they expect to hit 80 by the end of 2026. GoTo Foods is another dining conglomerate pushing their chips onto the roulette space marked “co-branding”. Their Auntie Anne’s pretzel franchises can be combined with Cinnabon, Carvel ice cream, Jamba Juice, or Schlotzky’s subs. “Capture the morning nibbler, the afternoon sweet tooth, and the late-night muncher, maximizing your sales potential from open to close,” they exhort the bi-branding-curious. It remains to be seen whether this wave of quick-dining hybrids will be more durable than the KenTacoHut era. It’s certainly not a panacea for otherwise troubled companies. In 2023, FAT Brands launched an aggressive push for co-branded locations, pairing Fatburger with either Round Table Pizza or Buffalo’s Express. But that didn’t help the company stave off bankruptcy. Last week, they announced that longtime CEO Andy Wiederhorn will step aside as part of a deal with creditors who are owed $1.4 billion. The unanswered question is how many people want to eat somewhere with a split personality. The dark wood pubbiness of Applebee’s makes a jarring contrast with IHOP’s bright linoleum diner vibe, like you’re not exactly in either place. Atmosphere matters in casual dining, and trying to be everything to everyone is a risk. Do people want to be thought of as sales potential to be optimized? If the instore experience isn’t inviting, co-branded restaurants could wind up as the place everyone agrees they don’t want to go.
I always loved that DelTaco had burritos and fries. I think a Burger King / Taco Bell mash-up might be my preferred combo. What two food joints would you smush into one monstrosity, and what would you get there? Let’s hear about it in this week’s Shoddy Goods chat. —Dave (and the rest of Meh) These past Shoddy Goods stories cater to all your dayparts:
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