<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=256iw3_1H2stFC000" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=256iw3_1H2stFC000" width="1280" height="720" ></figure>Torchy’s Tacos closed its last two Columbus restaurants in February.Ohioans have watched familiar names go dark all year.Here are the restaurant chains closing Ohio locations in 2026, with the dates and the cities.<h2>1. Smokey Bones</h2>Smokey Bones, the nearly 30-year-old barbecue chain, closed all of its remaining restaurants nationwide on April 28, 2026, according to Fast Company.That includes Ohio.Five of the 31 restaurants the chain’s website listed were in Dayton, Grove City, Mentor, Reynoldsburg and West Chester.Some of those may have closed before April 28.If your go-to was the one on Stringtown Road in Grove City, the closure letter on its door named April 28 as the last day.The closings followed January Chapter 11 filings by Twin Hospitality Group, the chain’s direct owner, and its parent company, FAT Brands.At the same time, FAT Brands said it had closed more than a dozen underperforming locations across its brands.<h2>2. O’Charley’s</h2>O’Charley’s told its employees that its remaining company-owned restaurants would close permanently at 8 p.m. on September 9.If your O’Charley’s was the one in Middletown, a sign on its door said it had closed by September 10, the Dayton Daily News reported.The company hadn’t officially confirmed the news.Nationwide, the Nashville-based chain had shrunk from nearly 250 restaurants at its 2000s peak to just 47 by July.Psst! How much do you know about Ohio-born restaurant chains? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.QuizOhio Chain TriviaAnswer nine questions on restaurant chains that started in Ohio. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?Question 1 of 9Buffalo Wild Wings opened as Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck. What did the “Weck” refer to?AA founder’s nicknameBA type of hot sauceCA caraway-topped rollDA college mascot<h2>3. Torchy's Tacos</h2>Torchy's Tacos said its last two Columbus restaurants would close for good on February 3, 2026, in a January 23 statement.You could find them at 3726 W. Dublin Granville Road on the Northwest Side and 6042 N. Hamilton Road on the Northeast Side.The reason?Torchy's said it was evaluating performance across its portfolio and weighing long-term plans for the brand.It also said it hoped to return to Columbus in the future.The Texas chain came to central Ohio in 2022 and grew to three restaurants in the area.The Dublin Granville Road restaurant opened in November 2023.Its original Columbus restaurant, on Gemini Place near Polaris, closed in August 2025.<h2>4. Domino's</h2>Domino's confirmed in September that a franchisee had abruptly closed 13 stores in north central Ohio, including ones in Mansfield, Ashland, Akron and Wadsworth.It happened fast.Stores in Canal Fulton, Galion, Crestline, Barberton and Mt. Gilead closed too.If you order from Domino's in those nine cities, a store near you may be among the 13.The stores belonged to Mile High Pizza Company, which Domino's now calls a former franchisee.Mile High's owner, Anthony Satterwhite, owned at least 25 Domino's locations at the end of 2025, according to the franchise disclosure document Domino's published in April.Domino's described the closings as an issue isolated to one franchisee.<h2>5. Harry Buffalo</h2>Harry Buffalo set Saturday, February 21, 2026, as the final day for its North Olmsted restaurant at Great Northern Mall.The restaurant had been at the mall for 26 years, and its owners announced the closing on social media.Two Harry Buffalo restaurants remained after that, one in downtown Cleveland and one in Westerville, outside Columbus.Downtown is closer for you.<h2>6. Wendy's</h2>Wendy's confirmed in April 2026 that its restaurant at 2626 Bethel Road in northwest Columbus had closed, The Columbus Dispatch reported.The chain itself is based in Dublin, just outside Columbus.Bethel Road is one Ohio address under Project Fresh, a nationwide plan that could close, improve or change operators at up to 360 restaurants.The company's interim chief executive laid out the plan in October 2025.Others closed, too.Wendy's appears to have closed 10 Ohio restaurants since the plan was announced, dropping its count in the state from 398 to 388, the Dispatch found.<h2>What an Ohio WARN Notice Covers</h2>When a restaurant chain closes an Ohio location, a federal law called the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act may require advance notice.Employers must give written notice at least 60 calendar days ahead of a covered plant closing or mass layoff.The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services posts those notices under Current Notices and keeps the current year plus five earlier years in its archive.The rule covers only certain closings and layoffs, so a closed restaurant you're looking for may not appear there.<h2>What Stayed Open</h2>Torchy's Tacos still had a restaurant open in Liberty Township, near Cincinnati, when its Columbus exit was reported on January 27, 2026.Franchises were a different story.O'Charley's franchised restaurants operate separately from its company-owned ones, and the September 9 report said some could stay open for a time.An employee at the franchised O'Charley's in Niles, near Youngstown, told Nation's Restaurant News it would stay open as long as possible.It would likely close for good between September 27 and October 4.If you still see an O'Charley's open near you, it's likely one of those franchises.Domino's said it was working to move the 13 closed north central Ohio stores to new ownership.<h2>Pizza Hut's Unnamed Closures</h2>Pizza Hut's closure plan for the first half of 2026 called for about 250 U.S. stores, The Columbus Dispatch reported after a February 4 earnings call.Yum! Brands' finance chief called the 250 stores a very small portion of Pizza Hut's roughly 20,000 restaurants worldwide.No Ohio locations were named.That leaves you guessing about your local Pizza Hut.After that call, Pizza Hut's online locator listed 264 Ohio restaurants, including 11 in Columbus and 10 in Cincinnati.It also listed five in Akron and two in Canton.<h2>12 Words Ohioans Used in the 1960s That Make No Sense Today</h2><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0xPbA1_1H2stFC000" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0xPbA1_1H2stFC000" width="1280" height="720" ><figcaption>Image Credit: Shutterstock.com.</figcaption></figure>Some words can date you faster than a birth certificate.Many older Ohioans used these words daily, and now they mostly draw confused looks.<h2>13 Things Ohio Kids Lost When Smartphones Took Over</h2><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2d5IxQ_1H2stFC000" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2d5IxQ_1H2stFC000" width="1280" height="720" ><figcaption>Image Credit: Shutterstock.com.</figcaption></figure>Remember hunting for a quarter to call home from a pay phone?Once phones moved into every pocket, a lot of small childhood moments went with them.</div></body>

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Torchy’s Tacos closed its last two Columbus restaurants in February. Ohioans have watched familiar names go dark all year. Here are the restaurant chains closing Ohio locations in 2026, with the dates and the cities. 1. Smokey Bones. Smokey Bones, the nearly 30-year-old barbecue chain, closed all of its...

6 Restaurant Chains Closing Ohio Locations in 2026

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Torchy’s Tacos closed its last two Columbus restaurants in February. Ohioans have watched familiar names go dark all year. Here are the restaurant chains c

6 Restaurant Chains Closing Ohio Locations in 2026

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