Most Americans likely think that Chili’s pioneered the sale of ribs in the United States. That chain, however, was actually more famous for bringing another popular menu staple nationwide.

The chain is certainly proud of its ribs, but it literally takes credit for teaching Americans to pronounce one of its signature menu items.

"Chili’s opened its first restaurant on the corner of Greenville Avenue in Dallas in 1975. Back then, the restaurant was known as a burger shack with 25 menu items, beer, and margaritas included. In 1986, Chili’s popularized an emerging dish called fajitas (the menus at that time spelled out how to pronounce the dish: "fa-heet-ah"). From there, Chili’s taught Americans how to sing about baby back ribs," the chain shared in a press release.

And while Chili’s was growing the market for ribs in the 1980s, so was another chain that has not seen the same level of sustained success.

There was a period where, alongside Chili’s, Damon’s was a fast-growing brand.

"The Columbus-based sports bar and rib purveyor once ruled its little casual niche. But then things changed. New, similar concepts, both chains and independents, entered the scene, economies in its core markets tanked, and Damon’s suffered not only from growing guest indifference, but from its own identity crisis as well," Food Service Director shared.

The chain has survived a bankruptcy and saw its store count climb to over 150 at its peak. Now, only a handful of independent operators keep the name alive.

Damon’s had a slow, steady collapse.

"There were liquidity issues. We were $40 million in debt, and we were losing money. Not a good way to run a business," former CEO Carl Howard told Food Service Director.

Howard resigned in 2007 after 17 months on job, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. The company’s fortunes arguably only got worse from there.

The overall market in 2009 and 2010 was not great for most restaurants.

“Expect continued slower traffic,” Tim Powell of Technomic said at an industry event in 2009, Nation’s Restaurant News reported. “A lot of people are not going to feel good about going out to eat. There is a ways to go before we see a rebound.”

Technomic also shared some data for 2010:

Foodservice sales this year will drop 3.8% on a nominal basis, which includes the assumption of 2.5% in menu-price inflation, as the industry was hard hit by slashed consumer spending during the “great recession.”

Projections for 2010 include a 0.8% nominal decline in total foodservice sales, which reflects an inflation rate of 1.5%, as forecast by Technomic.

The three years of 2008 through 2010 mark the weakest time frame in foodservice history, Technomic executives said.

During that period, not only have same-store sales slowed for nearly all restaurants.