Ground Round restaurant is making a comeback in Massachusetts

Ground Round restaurant, a nostalgic casual dining chain with roots in New England, is making a comeback in Massachusetts with the opening of a new location in Worcester County.

Entrepreneur Joseph Shea and his wife recently purchased the intellectual property rights to the Ground Round chain, which has only a few locations left in the U.S., including one in Perrysburg, Ohio, near Toledo. Three locations remain open in North Dakota.

Shea plans to open a new Ground Round location in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, in the former location of Bauhinia Chinese restaurant at 271 Grafton St. He hopes to open the location in early 2025, according to a recent post on his LinkedIn profile indicated that he applied for a position as a head chef.

The Ground Round was founded by Howard Johnson in 1969 and was headquartered in Massachusetts. By 1985, the chain had grown to a few hundred locations. Ground Round went bankrupt shortly after the turn of the millennium in 2004, and there were few franchise locations left after that. Increasing competition from other casual and fast-casual restaurants made it harder for Ground Round to compete. A location in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, closed just over a decade ago.