The Beloved Diner Chain That Used To Be Marie Callender's Sister Restaurant

Marie Callender's started out as a bakery business founded by Callender herself, with freshly baked pies delivered to restaurants in her area. Most people now know the brand name for its frozen food lineup (especially its pies), but in 1964 Callender's son Don opened up a restaurant version of Marie Callender's which is still open today and initially used the tactic of showing its pies being baked in the window to attract customers. Most of its locations are in California, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada; and specialize in classic American cuisine, like diner dishes and of course those famous pies.

One interesting tidbit is that it once had a sister chain, which is also a diner. That would be Perkins, which was founded in 1958. Perkins also specializes in pie, and it likewise boasts a menu of burgers and other diner foods similar to Marie Callender's. The two brands gathered under the same corporate umbrella in 2006 after many years as separate established chains. Later, debt would bog down Marie Callender's (it would go on to file two bankruptcies), and it sold the rights to its grocery store lineup to Conagra in 2011. Marie Callender's and Perkins were split following the second bankruptcy in 2019, 13 years after the chains were merged. Perkins now belongs to Ascent Hospitality Management, which owns yet another diner chain, Huddle House.

Perkins is still around, though it has decidedly changed quite a bit over the years. After the first bankruptcy in 2011, it shuttered 65 locations. Until fairly recently, Perkins used to be called Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, but in a 2024 rebrand the chain changed its name to Perkins American Food Co. It's been working on many other changes, including stores with smaller footprints along with express-type versions meant for even smaller spaces. Though its menu might be getting streamlined (the industry's favorite word for "shrinking"), Perkins still sells baked goods, including quintessential American pies. (We're fans of Perkins' apple pie, by the way.)

While its numbers had been slowly declining in recent years, Perkins has also been working on some ambitious expansions. Earlier this year, it announced it would be building its first locations in Texas, aiming to open the first one by the end of 2026. So, unlike Marie Callender's which now has less than 25 locations, you might start to see more Perkins restaurants pop up with the aim of making the American-style restaurant fresh again.