Happy Chef is a

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restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The ...

. It is known for serving

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

throughout the day and is similar to

Denny's Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,400 Restaurant, restaurants in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and several other internationa ...

Perkins Perkins is a surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon corruption of the kin of Pierre (from Pierre kin to Pierrekin to Perkins), introduced into England by the Norman Conquest. It is found throughout mid- and southern England. Another derivation com ...

, and

IHOP IHOP Restaurants LLC ( ; acronym for International House of Pancakes) is an American multinational pancake house restaurant chain that specializes in American breakfast foods. It is owned by Dine Brands—a company formed after IHOP's purchase ...

History

The first Happy Chef Restaurant opened in 1963 in Mankato. The chain eventually grew to 65 restaurants across the Midwest, employing nearly 3,000 people. However, as consumers increasingly patronized competitors and tastes changed to favor restaurants that offered alcohol and televisions, Happy Chef's owner leased or sold off all the restaurants but one—the original location in Mankato, which still operates today.

Other Concepts

Another concept operated by Happy Chef was Ruttles 50s Bar & Grill Restaurants.

References

External links

Profile of the original Happy Chef restaurant and its founder
- first published in the

Mankato Free Press ''The Free Press'' is an American, English language daily newspaper published in Mankato, Minnesota. History The first newspaper published in Mankato, the ''Mankato Weekly Independent'', began publication in 1857. Six years later, it was bought ...

, Mankato, Minnesota, 2005-11-01. Mankato, Minnesota Companies based in Minnesota Economy of the Midwestern United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1963 1963 establishments in Minnesota {{US-restaurant-stub