How Many Marie Callender's Restaurant Locations Are Still Open?

Depending on where you grew up, we all have nostalgic ties to certain chain restaurants, from memories of eating there with family and friends to menus that always provided something tasty and familiar. It can be a joy to continue to patronize those establishments, but many of these companies have downsized or gone away altogether. Luckily, Marie Callender's is not one of the failed restaurant chains we have to miss, but you might have thought it was because of how many locations have indeed closed.

Fans of the chain's pies (both savory and sweet) will be happy to know there are still 23 locations, according to the Marie Callender's website. Almost all of them are located in the chain's home state of California, with a few outliers in other Western states. In California, you will find Marie Callender's restaurants in 19 different locations, including in Bakersfield, Fresno, Whittier, Azusa, San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, and Sacramento. Outside of the Golden State, there are two Las Vegas-based locations in Nevada, one in Salt Lake City, Utah, and another in Meridian, Idaho.

This is nothing compared to the 138 locations the chain boasted in 2006. It was that year that Marie Callender's was bought by fellow chain Perkins. The company suffered during the 2008 recession and filed for bankruptcy twice. In 2019, the chains split, with Perkins selling to Huddle House and Marie Callender's becoming Marie Callender's Inc. Under one of those bankruptcies, Marie Callender's had to close 31 locations in 2011 and another 19 during the second bankruptcy and split.

The first Marie Callender's location opened in 1964 in Orange, California. Callender had begun baking pies for local restaurants in the 1940s, but as business picked up, she sold the family car to purchase a small production space where she and her husband would bake 200 pies per day. Her son, Don, delivered them on his bicycle. Eventually, they decided to put down roots for Marie Callender's pies with that first restaurant, which started as a coffee and pie shop before the menu evolved to include full meals.

The brand expanded into different cities and then states via franchise owners — the difference between chain and franchise restaurants being that chains' locations are all run by that one company, whereas franchise operations allow entrepreneurs to buy and run locations from that company. Throughout its growth and then contraction, Marie Callender's was family-owned before it was bought by the hotel chain Ramada International. Eventually, it merged with Perkins for a time before ultimately splitting from that company.

At the remaining 23 locations of Marie Callender's, you'll find breakfast options like omelets, pancakes, and quiche, as well as lunch and dinner dishes including salads, burgers, French dips, BLTs, club sandwiches, meatloaf, pasta, and a full turkey dinner. Of course, Callender's famed pies, such as Razzleberry, French Apple, and Chocolate Satin, are still menu stars. If you're missing your local Marie Callender's location, head to the supermarket: we found Marie Callender's to be the best brand for frozen pies.