Few full-service restaurant chains have seen the steep ups and downs of Shoney’s, a brand that once dominated family dining. It also sported one of the most ill-fitting management teams ever to occupy a C-suite. No wonder it was one of the most talked-about chains of the 1980s and '90s, only to fly out of mind before you can say "breakfast bar." What humbled a brand that appeared to have so much momentum?

On the occasion of Shoney’s 75th anniversary, Restaurant Rewind is strapping into the rollercoaster to relive those climbs and plummets. Host and Editor At Large goes all the way back to the chain’s beginnings with an entrepreneurial college football star who was once headed for the Brooklyn Dodgers—the NFL team, not the better-known baseball squad that followed. It’s a story of amazingly bad behavior and considerable hubris, with good intensions ultimately prevailing. And, as Romeo notes, the story is still being written.