Gone But Not Forgotten: Johnny Carson’s Here’s Johnny’s Restaurant Chain

October 2, 2023

Before he was a fixture on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson started his broadcasting career at WOWT in 1950. It seemed logical then that when the Swanson brothers wanted to cash in on his fame by opening the first of hundreds of restaurants bearing his name and face, they would start right here in Omaha. Gilbert and Jay Swanson were sons of Carl A. Swanson whose frozen food company later introduced the TV dinner in 1953.

This is a rendering of the first Here’s Johnny’s restaurant on 72nd across from Aksarben. Courtesy of Omaha Magazine.

It was 1968 and Carson was in his sixth year of a 30-year run as America’s late-night host. He was added as chairman of the board of the parent company, Johnny’s American Inn, Inc., and said that he was going to be active in the restaurant chain called Here’s Johnny’s. Its early menu was limited and consisted of gourmet hamburgers, fried chicken, steak, fish sandwiches and hot dogs. An ad in Esquire magazine described the restaurant’s atmosphere as luxurious with its plush carpet, booths, telephone ordering system and large murals consisting of candid shots of the restaurant’s namesake. The Swanson brothers were hoping to sell 375 franchises in the next 18 months. The first restaurant opened at 1818 South 72nd Street, followed by a second at 1020 North Saddle Creek Road and another one in Lincoln. Things started off well enough and a franchise owner in Louisiana even signed an agreement to open 15 restaurants in the state.

An advertisement for Here’s Johnny’s in the Omaha World-Herald.

Not living up to expectations, the brothers hit pause on the franchise expansion within a couple of years so they could redesign the original concept. They ripped out the phone lines and converted the Omaha locations to more of a family style restaurant. While it did boost sales at the flagship location, the parent company never got around to converting the remaining locations. Franchise sales continued to lag and there were just 12 locations operating at this point. Only three of the 15 Louisiana locations were opened by the end of 1972. They filed Chapter 11 and after reorganizing, still could not get the restaurant to achieve its goal.

1972 advertisement for Here’s Johnny’s courtesy of the Omaha World-Herald.

The Swanson brothers attributed the restaurant’s ultimate failure to bad timing, as there was overexpansion in the fast food industry which became much more competitive, triggering the upcoming burger wars. That franchise owner in Louisiana sued the company claiming a multitude of reasons for its failure: shoddy kitchen equipment, a phone ordering system that did not work, lack of promised advertising and promotion featuring Carson himself, inadequate training, little help with financing and site selection. They were also misled into believing that Carson had invested in the restaurant. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

Photo of the Here’s Johnny’s Restaurant in Louisiana. Photo courtesy of Nola.com.

Despite claims to the contrary when the restaurant started, Carson would later say that while he lent his name to the project, he was not the owner nor was he a stakeholder in the business. His contract specified that he only appear at five or more restaurant openings per year, and he was added to the board for publicity purposes alone. It appeared that linking a restaurant chain to a famous name was not enough.

The last Here’s Johnny’s restaurant closed in 1976. It also happened to be the first. It would go on to become the fifth El Fredo’s Pizza location. The building lives on and is home to Credit Advisors.

Today the original Here’s Johnny’s restaurant is home to Credit Advisors.

The Swanson brothers lost millions on Here’s Johnny’s. At the same time, they would abandon their second franchise attempt, North Omaha’s Time Out Take Out, citing economic conditions. It turned out that the Swanson name carried a lot more weight in the frozen food aisle than it did in the restaurant business.

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1020 N Saddle Creek Road, 1818 S 72nd Street, C.A. Swanson and Sons, Carl Swanson, Credit Advisors, El Fredo’s Pizza, Equire magazine, Gilbert Swanson, Here’s Johnny’s, Jay Swanson, Johnny Carson, Swanson TV Dinners, The Tonight Show, Timeout Foods, WOWT

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