Red Barn (restaurant)

{{short description|Former American restaurant chain}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Red Barn

| logo = Red barn logo.jpg

| logo_size = 200px

| type = State incorporated

| genre =

| fate = Franchise licenses were allowed to expire and stores were closed. Some opened stores however became "The Farm".

| predecessor =

| successor =

| foundation = {{start date and age|1961}}

| founder = Don Six, Martin Levine and Jim Kirst

| defunct = {{end date and age|1988}} as Red Barn (remaining opened stores became "The Farm")

| location_city = Dayton, Ohio

| location_country = United States

| owners = Don Six, Martin Levine and Jim Kirst (founders 1961)
Richard O. Kearns – Red Barn System, Inc. (1963)
United Servomation (late 1960s)
City Investing Company (1978)

| location =

| locations = Between 300–400 restaurants in 19 states at its peak. Locations in Canada and Australia as well.

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| industry = Fast food chain restaurants

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}}

The Red Barn restaurant was a fast-food restaurant chain founded in 1961 in Springfield, Ohio, by Don Six, Martin Levine, and Jim Kirst. In 1963, the small chain was purchased by Richard O. Kearns, operated as Red Barn System, with the offices moving briefly to Dayton, Ohio and in August 1964 to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the late 1960s United Servomation, also called Servomation, bought the Red Barn chain.{{cite web|title=Service America Corp. – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Service America Corp.|url=http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/67/Service-America-Corp.html|website=www.referenceforbusiness.com|access-date=2 December 2017}}

In 1978, United Servomation merged with the City Investing Company's GDV division which also owned the Motel 6 motel chain.{{cite web|title=Motel 6 – Company History|url=http://www.company-histories.com/Motel-6-Company-History.html|website=www.company-histories.com|access-date=2 December 2017}} Only interested in real estate, construction, and financial services, the new owners ceased advertising for the chain and allowed the franchise leases to expire. The last one expired in around 1988, leading to the company's permanent closure of all restaurants.{{cite web|url=http://barnbuster.homestead.com/|title=barnbuster|author=Rich Perrott|date=September 2, 2010}} At its peak, Red Barn had 300–400 restaurants in 19 states, as well as outlets in southern Ontario, elsewhere in Canada, and in Australia.{{Cite news |work=The Age |title=Being Spotless and cleaning up |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/being-spotless-and-cleaning-up/2006/09/29/1159337341479.html?page=2 |date=30 September 2006 |access-date=31 October 2009}}

Following the shutdown of operations, most of the Red Barn buildings were converted to other uses. A few of the restaurants were renamed "The Farm" in various states, and continued using the same menu as when they were under their Red Barn franchise. Two locations under "The Farm" name were in Racine, Wisconsin and Bradford, Pennsylvania. The Bradford location closed for a brief period in 2014 after a small fire, and permanently closed in December 2015.{{cite news|title=The Farm Family Restaurant closing, for sale|url=http://www.bradfordera.com/news/the-farm-family-%20restaurant-closing-for-sale/article_9e806626-a5f4-11e5-8ad6-8f83b6113dd4.html|work=The Bradford Era|date=December 19, 2015}}{{cite news|title=Down on the Farm: Farm Family Restaurant slated to reopen on Tuesday|url=http://www.bradfordera.com/news/down-on-the-farm-farm-family-restaurant-slated-to-reopen/article_832d5f04-a821-11e4-9712-cb3e5548392b.html|work=The Bradford Era|date=January 30, 2015}} The Racine, Wisconsin store closed on February 2, 2020.{{cite news|title=The Farm diner has closed, gone out to pasture|url=https://journaltimes.com/business/local/the-farm-diner-has-closed-gone-out-to-pasture/article_3b110e9b-ce1e-50fc-97fb-cdbb0a831594.html#tracking-source=home-top-storyl|work=The Journal Times|date=February 27, 2019}} Some Australian Red Barn stores were converted into McDonald's restaurants.{{cn|date=February 2025}}