23 American Chain Restaurants That Have Closed Their Doors and Left a Hole in Our Hearts

Finally, we end with another restaurant trying to compete with White Castle. Royal Castle was founded in 1938 and became decently sized in the Southeast. It seemed like White Castle had met its match, and it was bought by Performance Systems for a whopping $9.1 million—and this was in 1969 money.

But Performance Systems got too big, was accused of manipulating stock prices, and had to sell its assets. Royal Castle survived, but it was never the same. Other burger joints knocked down this castle brick by brick, and it crumbled. There is one remaining location in Miami, so if you’re there, relive the past with a burger and birch beer.