Denny's

Denny's Diner in Bangor, Maine, inspired by 1950s culture. (March 2008)

Exterior of a Denny's at night (2019)

This newer Denny's off Interstate 35 north of Laredo, Texas, handles a considerable trucker clientele (July 2014)

A Halloween pancake at a Denny's in Tokyo (October 2006)

Some of Denny's restaurants employ the "diner" concept, using modular buildings that resemble classic 1950s diners. In May 1997, the first Denny's Classic Diner was opened in Fort Myers, Florida. The diner concept was created by Ron, Marcia, Marc, and Todd York, the principals of Denny's Franchisee SWFRI, Inc. Today, there are about 40 Denny's Diners in the United States. Additionally, there are several diners that resemble the modular buildings but are actually stick construction.

In July 2010, Denny's presence in the United States saw a major expansion when Pilot Flying J started opening Denny's locations inside their Flying J-branded truck stop locations.[12] 123 Pilot Flying J conversions were eventually completed.[13]

As of the end of 2011, there were a total of 1,685 Denny's restaurants. While the company still owns and operates some restaurants, the majority are now operated through a franchising model. 1,593 of Denny's 1,698 restaurants are located in the U.S. (including the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico), one in Chile, 60 in Canada, five in Mexico, three in Costa Rica, two in Honduras, two in El Salvador, two in the United Kingdom and eight in New Zealand. There is also a Denny's attached to the Holiday Beach Hotel in Otrabanda, Willemstad, Curaçao.[14] Along with the regular Denny's menu, the Curaçao restaurant offers a selection of local ("kriyoyo") dishes. This is also true of the two locations in Guam, which have a separate "Only on Guam"[15] menu featuring Chamorro-style dishes.

There are also about 578 Denny's restaurants in Japan operated independently under a license by a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings[16] since 1984.[17] The first Denny's restaurant in Japan opened on the first floor of the Ito-Yokado in Kamiōoka (ja:上大岡), Kōnan-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture on April 27, 1974, however, it closed on March 20, 2017 on account of the demolition of the building of Ito-Yokado.[18][19][20][21]

In June 2012, Denny's opened a location in the Las Américas International Airport, its first location in an airport and its first in the Dominican Republic.[22][23] In July 2012, Denny's announced it had signed an agreement with a franchisee to open 50 restaurants in southern China over 15 years, beginning in 2013. This makes it Denny's largest international development deal at that time.[24][25]

On August 29, 2014, Denny's opened its first location in New York City, with some patrons waiting as long as two hours before its official opening to eat there. Located in Lower Manhattan, the location is designed to be more upscale than the typical Denny's, serves alcohol, and offers a location-exclusive $300 Grand Cru Slam, which is the typical Grand Slam Breakfast served with a bottle of Dom Pérignon.[26][27]

In November 2017, it was announced that Denny's was to open its first UK restaurant in Swansea in December 2017 as part of Parc Tawe's 15 million redevelopment scheme, occupying a 4,000 sq ft unit.[28] The restaurant opened on Christmas Day 2017 for the homeless people in the city of Swansea, although the official opening to the general public was on December 27.

Denny's has been involved in a series of discrimination lawsuits involving food servers denying or providing inferior service to racial minorities, especially black customers.[31]

A 1993 incident occurred when six black United States Secret Service agents visited a Denny's restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland. They were forced to wait an hour for service while their white companions were seated immediately.[32][33]

In San Jose, California, in 1991, several black teenagers were refused service unless they agreed to pay in advance.[34][35]

In 1994, Denny's settled a class action lawsuit which was filed by black customers who had been refused service, forced to wait longer, or pay more than white customers. The $54.4 million settlement was the largest to date under federal public-accommodations laws established thirty years earlier.[36]

In 1995, a black Denny's customer in Sacramento, California was told that he and his friends had to pay up front at the counter upon ordering their meals. He questioned the waitress: "We asked the waitress about it and she said that some black guys who had been in the restaurant earlier had made a scene and walked out without paying their bill. So the manager now wanted all blacks to pay up front."[37]

In 1997, six Asian-American students from Syracuse University visited a local Denny's restaurant late at night. They waited for more than half an hour as white patrons were regularly served, seated, and offered more helpings. They complained to management and to their server but were forced to leave the establishment by two security guards called by Denny's management. Then, according to the students, a group of white men came out of Denny's, attacked them[38] and shouted racial epithets. Several of the students were beaten unconscious.[39][40]

After the $54.4 million settlement, Denny's created a racial sensitivity training program for all employees. Denny's has also made efforts at improving its public relations image by featuring African-Americans in their commercials, including one featuring Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford, actors from the popular The Jeffersons television series.[41][42] In 2001, Denny's was chosen by Fortune magazine as the "Best Company for Minorities."[43] In 2006 and 2007, Denny's topped Black Enterprise's "Best 40 Companies for Diversity."[44]

In 2014, a Denny's location in Deming, New Mexico was subjected to a discrimination claim by an LGBT group, alleging that wait staff used homophobic slurs and refused to serve a group of gay, lesbian, and transgender customers who were attending a gay pride celebration. One year later, Denny's agreed to donate $13,000 to Deming Pride, pay $3,250 to a female customer who was subjected to the abusive behavior by wait staff, and retrain its employees with regard to discrimination policies.[45]

In 2017, the staff at a Denny's in Vancouver was accused of making an Indigenous woman pay for her meal before it was served.[46] After the customer left, restaurant staff called police to report the incident, alleging that the patron had a sharp metal object in their pocket.[47]

In June 2017, eight Denny's locations in Colorado, including Colorado Springs and Pueblo, abruptly shut down due to a franchise owner failing to pay nearly $200,000 in back taxes as well as over $30,000 in sales tax from the previous year. In addition, several employees claimed there were issues with accounts not being paid, bounced checks, and paychecks not arriving on time. As a result of the seizure of the eight Denny's locations by the IRS, numerous employees were left without employment and claimed that no advanced warning was given regarding the sudden closures. The franchise owner responsible for the closures immediately fled the state of Colorado.[48][49]