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Gen X Nostalgic Restaurant Ground Round Makes Comeback

Gen X Nostalgic Restaurant Ground Round Makes Comeback

Entrepreneur05-05-2025
Rising from the ashes (and peanut shells) of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the iconic, 1980s kid-birthday spot, Ground Round, is back.
Gen X-ers may remember many meals at this place, which featured cartoons projected on the walls, and bowls of peanuts on the table whose shells you were encouraged to toss on the floor. (The peanuts were replaced with popcorn.) Kids loved the ice cream sundaes served in mini plastic baseball helmets, and parents loved their "Pay What You Weigh" promotion, where kids were only charged a penny per pound.
Related: How This NYC Restaurant Went From General Store to Michelin
Alas, like everything wonderfully bonkers from our childhood, Ground Round hit the skids. At its height, it boasted over 200 locations. In 2004, it filed for bankruptcy, and in recent years, it has been down to just four locations — three in North Dakota and one in Ohio.
But The Street reports that Ground Round's operations are not grinding to a halt.
Entrepreneurs Joseph and Nachi Shea bought the rights to the chain's name and IP, and have opened a new location in their hometown of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. And even the scale is back (Tuesdays only, and it's optional to actually use it, of course).
Per the chain's website, "the reimagined and reinvented Ground Round" is "a place where you can relive fond childhood memories while savoring a thoughtfully prepared, high-quality meal. It's not just a comeback; it's a revival."
Sadly, there is no mention of baseball helmet sundaes on the menu, but here's hoping they take a swing at it.
Related: This NYC Man Is Revitalizing the Famous Bar From 'Goodfellas'
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A Sneak Peek at the Stunning Dishes Debuting at the Happy Crane
A Sneak Peek at the Stunning Dishes Debuting at the Happy Crane

Eater

time2 hours ago

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A Sneak Peek at the Stunning Dishes Debuting at the Happy Crane

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As Parry explains, 'It's a labor of love in that there's just a lot of steps, then the yield is quite small.' As Jinhua ham is not allowed into the United States, he is instead making a duck ham, air drying it in the walk-in and adding it to his XO recipe, along with dried scallop and shrimp, raw and dried chiles, garlic, and shallots. The sauce then marinates for six days before it's used in this stir-fry dish. Eventually the team will scale up the amount of XO they make, but for now, this is the only dish it stars in. 'Truthfully, the reason for that is, I'm really stingy about it,' Parry says, laughing. 'It's so labor-intensive.' Crab rice roll Jeremy Chiu Parry admits that cheung fan, or rice rolls, are more of a dim sum brunch dish, 'but I wanted to serve it as a dinner item, almost like a noodle, where we freshly mill the rice ourselves,' he says. 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Jeremy Chiu Jeremy Chiu Eater SF All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Gymkhana, London's Two-Michelin-Starred Indian Restaurant, Is Opening at the Aria
Gymkhana, London's Two-Michelin-Starred Indian Restaurant, Is Opening at the Aria

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time3 hours ago

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Gymkhana, London's Two-Michelin-Starred Indian Restaurant, Is Opening at the Aria

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