Now the old FAT Brands name is disappearing too.
Its replacement includes one word that is almost guaranteed to attract attention considering how the company got here: “Honest.”
An Acquisition Binge Fueled by Debt
FAT Brands assembled an enormous collection of familiar restaurant names during a buying spree that accelerated between 2020 and 2023.
Johnny Rockets, Fazoli’s, Twin Peaks, Round Table Pizza and Hot Dog on a Stick were among the brands that eventually landed inside the growing restaurant operation.
But the expansion came with a price.
The company reportedly borrowed close to $1 billion during that period, relying heavily on whole-business securitization.
Under that financing model, revenue generated by franchise operations — including future royalty streams — can effectively be packaged into securities and used to raise money from investors.
That gave FAT Brands enormous purchasing power.
It also left the company carrying an enormous debt load.
By January 2026, the strategy had reached its breaking point.
FAT Brands entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy with liabilities exceeding $1 billion.
The restructuring also marked the end of founder Andy Wiederhorn’s role with the company. Family members who had occupied positions inside the business and on its board were also removed during the process.
The restaurant empire Wiederhorn had assembled was about to be broken apart.
Lenders Take Over the Restaurant Portfolio
The biggest transaction arrived on June 18.
FBG Bid Co., a group formed by lenders, completed a $595 million acquisition covering the core collection of restaurant brands.
That portfolio included Johnny Rockets, Round Table Pizza, Fazoli’s, Fatburger, Marble Slab Creamery, Great American Cookies, Pretzelmaker, Buffalo’s Cafe and Express, Hurricane Grill & Wings, Native Grill & Wings, Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse.
Together, those operations represented more than 1,700 restaurants.
Other pieces of the former FAT Brands operation went elsewhere.
Twin Peaks was acquired separately by another lender group for approximately $359.5 million.
Hot Dog on a Stick fetched $8 million.
Elevation Burger was sold to a buyer in Kuwait for $2.5 million.
Smokey Bones had a considerably less fortunate ending: the chain was liquidated.
The lenders controlling the remaining restaurant portfolio were therefore left with another problem.
What do you call a company whose predecessor has just disappeared into bankruptcy?
Their answer arrived October 1.
Goodbye FAT Brands. Hello “OHG.”
The new company is called OHG Brands.
According to the company, those three letters stand for:
“Original, Honest, Good.”
It is an unusually bold choice given the history the new owners are trying to leave behind.
The word “Honest,” in particular, practically begs customers, franchisees and investors to compare the newly created company with the business that preceded it.
The lenders running OHG Brands did not create FAT Brands’ debt-heavy acquisition strategy.
They took possession of restaurant assets after the bankruptcy.
That distinction matters.
But consumers rarely study corporate restructuring documents before deciding what they think about a restaurant company.
They see the names on the signs.
And some of those names have been going through substantial changes.
Restaurant Closures Leave Their Own Impression
Fazoli’s, for example, has reportedly lost roughly 50 locations since November 2025.
Some brands now controlled by OHG also have franchise registrations that have lapsed without renewal in multiple states.
For franchise operators, corporate restructuring can be much more consequential than changing the logo at headquarters.
Opening a franchised restaurant can require a six-figure investment.
Those operators still have employees to pay, suppliers to deal with and customers to attract regardless of which holding company owns the brand above them.
That makes OHG’s choice of name particularly noteworthy.
“Original” is a promise about identity.
“Good” is a promise about quality.
But “Honest” is a promise about trust.
And trust is precisely what a new ownership group emerging from a massive bankruptcy may have to establish with franchisees, investors and customers.
The Rebrand Now Faces Its Real Test
Corporate America loves rebranding.
A new name can separate new management from old mistakes, reset public perception and signal that a troubled company is entering a different chapter.
But the internet has made escaping corporate history considerably harder.
Anyone searching for OHG Brands can quickly discover the FAT Brands bankruptcy, its enormous debt burden and the lender takeover that created the new organization.
That does not mean OHG is destined to repeat FAT Brands’ problems.
New ownership could operate the restaurants very differently.
The lender group now has an opportunity to stabilize recognizable American restaurant names including Johnny Rockets, Round Table Pizza and Fazoli’s without repeating the aggressive borrowing strategy that helped produce the bankruptcy.
But calling the new company “Original, Honest, Good” raises expectations from day one.
Customers may never care about securitization agreements, bankruptcy filings or lender groups.
They will care whether their local Johnny Rockets remains open.
Franchisees will care whether their restaurants can make money.
Employees will care whether their jobs survive.
And investors will care whether this collection of familiar restaurant chains can finally operate without another financial crisis hanging over it.
FAT Brands built a restaurant empire with borrowed money and eventually lost control of it.
Its lenders now own much of what remains.
They have also given that collection of restaurants a new identity built around three carefully chosen words.
Whether “Original, Honest, Good” becomes a successful corporate comeback story — or merely an awkward reminder of the company it replaced — will depend on what those new owners do next.
