A difficult year for the restaurant industry led many chains to close underperforming locations in 2024 as they look to improve sales in the coming years.

Inflation-weary consumers reduced their restaurant spending in 2024, instead looking for value and discounts when they chose to dine outside their homes. Overall U.S. restaurant visits fell in the first 10 months of the year, according to data from industry tracker Black Box Intelligence.

The decline in restaurant spending led to weak sales and a rise in bankruptcies in the industry. In 2024, 26 restaurant companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, nearly triple the number of filings in 2020 when the pandemic was at its peak.

With few exceptions, casual dining chains in particular have struggled to attract customers, exacerbating the segment’s challenges that have increased since the Great Recession. Since the emergence of fast-casual chains, many diners have opted for the convenience and quality promised by gamblers Chipotle or Sweet green versus the casual dining chains that have dominated in recent decades.

Here are the restaurant chains that have announced closures for 2024:

end of October, Wendy’s announced that it would close 140 underperforming locations by the end of the year, in addition to the approximately 80 closures in the first three quarters.

To improve the company’s overall presence, executives made the decision to downsize some aging restaurants, each of which had annual sales volume of about $1 million.

Despite the closures, the company expects to end 2024 with a flat restaurant count thanks to new restaurant openings, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner told investors on its third-quarter earnings call.

In May, Applebee’s parent, Dine brandssaid it plans to close between 25 and 35 of the brand’s U.S. locations. As of the end of September, the global number of Applebee’s locations had decreased by 36 locations compared to the same period last year.

According to company filings, Applebee’s same-store sales have declined for the past six straight quarters.

Dine Brands, which also owns IHOP, has closed more stores than it opened every year since 2016, except for 2022.

Denny’s has closed about 50 locations in 2024 and plans to close another 100 restaurants by the end of 2025. Including this year’s closures, the 24-hour restaurant chain still has about 1,300 open locations.

The restaurants targeted for closure are in the bottom third of the chain’s top performers, with annual sales of $1.9 million to $2 million, executives said at the company’s investor day in October. Once these restaurants close, Denny’s expects both same-store sales and annual unit sales to improve. In the most recent quarter, the chain’s same-store sales remained about the same.

After 2025, Denny’s plans to open between 45 and 50 new locations annually.

In November, TGI Fridays joined the numerous restaurant companies that had filed for bankruptcy protection. But before it filed for Chapter 11, it closed 86 restaurants, starting with 36 closures in January and another 50 in late October.

The latest round of closures reduced the chain’s footprint to about 160 open locations worldwide. But the number could fall even further. A bankruptcy court in Texas will decide the future of TGI Fridays, which could mean the chain’s closure.

Red Lobster will permanently close more than 120 restaurants in 2024.

The seafood chain closed about 100 locations before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May. Before the company emerged from bankruptcy with a new owner and CEO, it rejected leases for an additional 23 restaurants.

But with 2024 now upon us, Red Lobster is hoping for a comeback – without more restaurant closures – in the future.

Fast casual chain Noodles & Co. announced in August that it would close about 20 locations after reviewing its entire footprint of 475 restaurants.

The review was part of the company’s efforts to improve its operations and finances after a difficult few years. Noodles & Co. has also revamped its menu by removing items that aren’t selling and adding new entrees that may appeal to more customers.

But the turnaround will take time. Last quarter, the company reported that same-store sales fell 3.3%.

Bloomin’ brandsOutback Steakhouse’s parent company, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill, closed 41 underperforming restaurants in 2024.

The closures affected older locations with leases dating back to the 1990s and early 2000s, executives said on the company’s earnings call in February. To make the decision, the company weighed the sites’ sales and traffic, as well as the cost of investments to improve the sites. Most of the closures affected Outback locations.

Like many other casual dining companies, Bloomin’ has struggled to grow its sales in recent quarters. U.S. same-store sales fell 1.5% in the third quarter.