Published November 27, 2025
Denny’s has closed its longtime Santa Rosa Coddingtown Mall restaurant just weeks after agreeing to a $620 million sale to private equity investors. Here’s what we know about the closure, the buyout, new shutdowns in Canada, and what it all means for Denny’s diners in 2025 and beyond.
- The Denny’s at Santa Rosa’s Coddingtown Mall has permanently closed, leaving just one remaining Denny’s location in the city. [1]
- The closure comes weeks after Denny’s agreed to a $620 million deal to be taken private by a group led by TriArtisan Capital Advisors, Treville Capital and Yadav Enterprises. [2]
- Denny’s is in the middle of a multi‑year plan to shut 150 lower‑performing restaurants; executives expect 70–90 closures in 2025 alone. [3]
- In Canada, Denny’s has just confirmed the long‑term closure of its Barrie, Ontario restaurant after failing to resolve issues with the franchisee and landlord. [4]
- Despite high‑profile closures, most Denny’s locations remain open and are leaning into Thanksgiving 2025 traffic with holiday turkey bundles and special menus. [5]
Santa Rosa loses its Coddingtown Denny’s
Diners in Santa Rosa, California are waking up today to the news that one of the city’s most familiar late‑night stops is gone.
The Denny’s at Coddingtown Mall, on West Steele Lane, has quietly closed its doors. A sign on the restaurant directs guests to a still‑open Denny’s on Baker Avenue, now the only Denny’s location left in Santa Rosa. [6]
Local coverage and new reporting today describe the Coddingtown shutdown as part of a broader reshuffling of the brand, rather than an isolated incident. The building at 996 Steele Lane is already being marketed as a “former Denny’s” with a fully built‑out kitchen and dining room available for lease, underlining that the closure is not temporary. [7]
For North Bay diners, the change follows several other regional losses:
- A Denny’s in Ukiah closed in 2023 and is slated to become a Habit Burger & Grill. [8]
- Another location in Napa shut down in 2022, while restaurants in Vallejo, Fairfield and Cordelia remain in operation as of late November. [9]
In other words: Santa Rosa hasn’t lost Denny’s altogether, but the Coddingtown closure shrinks an already thinning footprint in the region.
A local closure tied to a national $620 million deal
What makes today’s Santa Rosa closure especially significant is its timing.
Earlier this month, Denny’s announced that it had agreed to be acquired and taken private in a deal valuing the company at about $620 million, including debt. The buyers are:
- TriArtisan Capital Advisors, a private‑equity firm that also backs TGI Fridays
- Treville Capital
- Yadav Enterprises, one of Denny’s largest franchisees [10]
Under the terms of the agreement:
- Shareholders will receive $6.25 per share in cash, a roughly 52% premium to Denny’s stock price before the deal was announced. [11]
- The buyout values the business at $620 million, and the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, pending shareholder approval and regulatory review. [12]
Investors welcomed the move. Denny’s shares jumped about 47% in after‑hours and pre‑market trading after the deal was revealed, according to filings and financial news reports. [13]
The Santa Rosa shutdown is one of the first highly visible restaurant closures to follow the buyout announcement, prompting questions from customers about whether the sale is accelerating decisions on underperforming stores.
Denny’s has been shrinking for years
Even before the private‑equity deal, Denny’s was already cutting back its physical footprint.
Company executives have said they plan to close 150 of the chain’s lowest‑performing restaurants over roughly 12–18 months, focusing on older locations with weaker sales. [14]
Key details from recent investor and industry reports:
- Denny’s shut 88 restaurants in 2024, many of which had been open for about 30 years and generated average unit volumes under $1.1 million. [15]
- For 2025, the chain expects to close 70–90 additional locations, citing factors such as low traffic and lease expirations. [16]
- At the end of the second quarter of 2025, Denny’s operated 1,558 restaurants worldwide (1,422 Denny’s and 74 Keke’s), with more than 1,400 locations in the U.S. alone. [17]
The North Bay is feeling that strategy up close. SSBcrack’s analysis of the Santa Rosa closure notes that California remains Denny’s most important state, with hundreds of outlets, but the company is clearly willing to walk away from long‑running stores if the numbers don’t work. [18]
From California to Canada: Barrie among the newest closures
Santa Rosa isn’t the only community learning that its Denny’s is gone this week.
On Wednesday, Denny’s Canada confirmed it is moving ahead with the long‑term closure of its Barrie, Ontario restaurant. In a statement released via GlobeNewswire and franchising outlets, the company said it had been unable to reach a solution with the franchisee and landlord after operational issues surfaced in October. [19]
The Canadian team emphasized that the decision came after weeks of behind‑the‑scenes negotiations and thanked both staff and local guests for their support during the restaurant’s roughly two years in business. [20]
Online listings in Canada now mark the Barrie Denny’s as “closed,” mirroring the way Santa Rosa’s Coddingtown outlet is labeled on U.S. directory and leasing sites. [21]
Taken together, the North Bay and Barrie announcements show how the chain’s pullback is stretching across both U.S. and Canadian markets, not just isolated pockets.
Why Denny’s is closing restaurants even as people eat out again
When many Americans think of Denny’s, they picture 24‑hour coffee, post‑concert pancakes, and late‑night hash browns. So why is a diner built on always‑open comfort now closing so many doors?
Recent reporting by the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, industry trades, and Denny’s own executives highlights several overlapping pressures: [22]
- Pandemic aftershocks and changed habits
- Like other casual sit‑down chains, Denny’s saw sales fall sharply during the COVID‑19 pandemic and has had to adapt to a world where customers rely more heavily on delivery and takeout.
- Younger diners, in particular, are more likely to gravitate toward fast‑casual or quick‑service concepts that feel faster, more customizable, or healthier.
- Rising competition at breakfast
- Newer chains like First Watch and a wave of regional breakfast‑brunch concepts have chipped away at Denny’s share of the morning crowd with menus that lean heavily into “better‑for‑you” positioning. [23]
- Old buildings and expensive leases
- Many of the locations on Denny’s closure list are decades old and sit in trade areas that have shifted around them.
- In 2024 and 2025, executives told investors they were specifically targeting lower‑volume stores with aging buildings and challenging leases, arguing that shuttering them would free franchisees to invest in remodels and stronger sites. [24]
- Focus on profitability over sheer store count
- Denny’s is still opening new restaurants—about 20 in 2025—but it’s closing more than it opens. The company’s long‑term strategy focuses on boosting average sales per unit and modernizing surviving restaurants rather than chasing the highest possible number of locations. [25]
Against that backdrop, the Coddingtown site—a long‑time, older unit now being marketed to other operators—fits the profile of a restaurant the company might let go.
What the closure means for Santa Rosa and the North Bay
For Santa Rosa residents, the loss of the Coddingtown Denny’s is about more than a corporate strategy slide.
The location was a familiar landmark near Highway 101 and the mall, serving generations of local families, students, and night‑shift workers. Leasing documents describe it as a 4,408‑square‑foot, fully built‑out restaurant with plentiful parking and strong traffic counts on Steele Lane—exactly the sort of high‑visibility corner many national brands once fought for. [26]
Now, that “turnkey” space is being pitched to new tenants, giving Santa Rosa a chance to see a fresh restaurant concept move in—but also closing a chapter for those who associated the intersection with Denny’s neon sign and 24‑hour promise.
In the broader North Bay:
- Santa Rosa still has one Denny’s on Baker Avenue. [27]
- Petaluma’s Denny’s on Petaluma Boulevard remains open, at least for now. [28]
- Other nearby cities like Vallejo and Fairfield continue to host Denny’s locations, meaning fans won’t have to drive terribly far—but they may find the brand less omnipresent than it once was. [29]
For workers, Denny’s has not publicly detailed what happens to staff in each closing, but in similar situations across the industry, employees are sometimes offered transfers to nearby restaurants or severance, depending on franchise ownership and local labor laws.
Meanwhile, Denny’s leans into Thanksgiving and holiday traffic
The closures can be jarring, especially for communities that have counted on Denny’s as a late‑night constant. Yet on a national level, the chain is still trying to project business‑as‑usual to customers—including this Thanksgiving.
Across multiple news outlets and Denny’s own website, the company is promoting:
- Holiday Turkey Bundles: Heat‑and‑eat meals designed to feed about four people, including turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and a second side, typically starting around $54.99. [30]
- Thanksgiving menus in‑restaurant, such as Turkey & Dressing dinners and seasonal pies, at locations that choose to participate. [31]
Most national guides to restaurants open on Thanksgiving 2025 list Denny’s as open, often 24/7, while cautioning guests to double‑check local hours because franchise owners have some flexibility. [32]
So even as diners in Santa Rosa or Barrie see their local Denny’s go dark, millions of others will still be grabbing turkey plates, pumpkin‑pecan pancakes, and late‑night coffee at locations around the U.S. and Canada.
What the private‑equity sale could mean next
The big open question now is how much more dramatic Denny’s transformation will become under its new owners.
Private‑equity deals in the restaurant world tend to focus heavily on:
- Store portfolio cleanup – closing weaker units and selling real estate that no longer fits the strategy
- Menu and pricing changes – tweaking offerings to lift check averages without scaring away value‑conscious customers
- Remodel programs – refreshing older dining rooms to attract younger guests and justify higher prices
Denny’s management and the investor group have signaled they plan to support franchisees, remodel restaurants and pursue long‑term growth rather than simply shrinking the business. [33]
But the reality in late 2025 is clearer at the local level than in corporate press releases:
- Some long‑standing outposts—like Santa Rosa’s Coddingtown Denny’s and Barrie’s short‑lived restaurant—are closing and quickly being repurposed. [34]
- Others remain busy, especially in high‑traffic corridors and tourist areas, and are likely candidates for investment rather than closure. [35]
For now, Denny’s remains a 1,400‑plus‑unit chain rather than a fading relic, but its presence is becoming more selective. For communities like Santa Rosa, that means the days of having multiple Denny’s across town are probably over—and the fate of the last remaining locations will say a lot about how the new owners think this “always open” diner fits into a very different dining landscape.
If you’re trying to figure out whether your local Denny’s is affected, the most reliable step is still to:
- Check the location finder on Denny’s official website. [36]
- Call the restaurant directly to confirm hours and holiday plans.
For now, at least, the brand’s story isn’t ending—but for Coddingtown and Barrie, a very specific chapter has.
References
1. www.the-sun.com, 2. apnews.com, 3. www.restaurantdive.com, 4. www.globenewswire.com, 5. people.com, 6. www.the-sun.com, 7. www.loopnet.com, 8. news.ssbcrack.com, 9. news.ssbcrack.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. abc7ny.com, 14. www.restaurantdive.com, 15. www.restaurantdive.com, 16. www.restaurantdive.com, 17. abc7ny.com, 18. news.ssbcrack.com, 19. www.globenewswire.com, 20. www.globenewswire.com, 21. www.marketscreener.com, 22. apnews.com, 23. abc7ny.com, 24. www.restaurantdive.com, 25. www.restaurantdive.com, 26. www.loopnet.com, 27. news.ssbcrack.com, 28. news.ssbcrack.com, 29. news.ssbcrack.com, 30. people.com, 31. www.foxbusiness.com, 32. abc7.com, 33. www.reuters.com, 34. news.ssbcrack.com, 35. en.wikipedia.org, 36. www.dennys.com
