For some time now on this blog, I've been predicting the extinction of the Koo Koo Roo chain, a (mostly) Southern California concern that served very healthy "fast food." Outlet after outlet has closed over the last decade or two and last time I wrote about them, I think there were only three left. That's down from a high of 38. Two more closed and then in the last week or so, the last one — which was out in Santa Monica — went away and I see the company website has also disappeared. The S.M. location is turning into a Fuddrucker's, the hamburger chain owned by the same corporation.
I'm assuming that's the end of Koo Koo Roo, though I wonder if anyone will salvage their signature menu item, which was a great skinless grilled chicken, marinated in a top secret recipe of fruit and vegetable juices. Most outlets also had fresh roast turkey and a few other entree items, all available with an array of great, fresh side dishes. I thought the food was great but there were a lot of problems over on the business side. The company kept being sold and reorganized and you had various new managers introducing new menu items that somehow didn't fit in and, well, it sure wasn't hard to predict the demise of this chain. At one point, Lee Iacocca — the CEO of Ford and later Chrysler — was the guy in charge and he sure didn't save them.
I'll write a longer post soon for our sister site, www.oldlarestaurants.com. I think I need to sort out the chain of owners and that could take some time. Maybe some reporter will research and compose a fitting obituary and save me the time. After they closed the one nearest me, I could never quite get out to the surviving two stores so I already miss those places.