Shoney’s is a privately held restaurant chain that operates primarily in the Southeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states of the United States and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It is named after Alex Schoenbaum, who was the owner of the original chain of Big Boy restaurants in the southeastern United States in the 1950s. The corporate entity is Shoney’s North America Corp., and David Davoudpour is chairman and chief executive officer. Davoudpour acquired Shoney’s in 2006 through Royal Hospitality Corp. in Atlanta. He is founder and chairman of Royal Hospitality. As of early 2011, there were approximately 230 company-owned and franchised Shoney’s restaurants in 17 states, stretching from Maryland to Florida in the east and from Missouri to Texas in the west.

History

In 1947 Alex “Shoney” Schoenbaum opened the Parkette Drive-In next to his father’s bowling alley in Charleston, West Virginia. Schoenbaum became a Big Boy franchisee on February 7, 1952, now calling his several locations the Parkette Big Boy Shoppes. In May 1954 a public "Name the Parkette Big Boy Contest" was announced and in June 1954 Schoenbaum's five Parkette Drive Ins were rebranded as Shoney's.