Once a Maine Favorite, the Last York Steak House is Gone

If you ask people who lived through the 1970s and '80s in Maine what their favorite restaurant was at that time, you'd get a bunch of the same responses. Hands down, without question, York Steak House.

Unbeknownst to many, York Steak House wasn't a local restaurant named after the town of York, Maine. Instead, it came to be a thriving national chain that was owned and operated (in part) by the General Mills company throughout the '80s.

However, York Steak House still had a special place in the hearts of many Mainers. It was the signature restaurant for the grand opening of the Maine Mall in South Portland in 1971. At the time, it was only the second York Steak House location in the nation.

By the early '80s, there were 200 York Steak House locations across the country, including a thriving one in Lewiston. The cafeteria-style dining was a hit at the time, and for families on a budget, the no-tipping policy was a major hit.

But trouble eventually hit the franchise. By the mid-1990s, thanks to changing tastes and how Americans liked to dine out, 200 York Steak House restaurants had dwindled to just a handful by 1995, two of which were independently owned.

But alas, the time has come for York Steak House. According to Yahoo Finance, the last remaining location in Columbus, Ohio, has been sold to another restauranteur, and the chain will officially be lost and gone forever.