America’s Largest BBQ Chain Abruptly Closes 30 Locations: Here’s Why

If you're looking for a restaurant chain that is doing extremely well right now, you have to look extra hard, as they are few and far between.

The latest addition to the restaurant apocalypse is Dickey's Barbeque Pit, which just closed the doors on 30 more locations across America. This comes as a surprise, but not, if that makes sense.

The surprise is that they are closing 30 more locations after closing more than 100 already in 2024, but the not surprising portion is why.

Dickey's once had more than 500 locations in America back in 2017, but drama with local operators and falling sales caused the company to go in and try to clean up.

After the big shuttering of almost 100 stores in May of this year, they were down to around 380 locations. Now with these 30 new closures, Dickey's is down to around 350 locations across America.

Dickey's Barbeque Pit is known for their slow-smoked meats, hickory wood, and southern hospitality. Travis Dickey opened the first one in 1941 in Dallas, Texas.

According to the chain's website, Dickey was a true Texas character blessed with the gift of gab and the love of authentic, slow-smoked barbecue.

As you know, America has since fallen even more in love with BBQ, as we use the grill as the focus of American culture a few times a year.

It just seems as if more and more Americans are starting to feel the pinch in their wallets and are going out to eat less and less.

Interestingly enough, despite closing so many locations, Dickey's still claims to be opening more locations in the near future as well. According to Eat This Not That, they plan on opening four new locations in the fiscal year that remains.