In 1947, Alex Schoenbaum opened the Parkette Drive-In next to his father's bowling alley in Charleston, West Virginia.

Under his leadership Shoney's doubled in size every four years, eventually operating or licensing over one third of the Big Boy restaurants nationwide.

[14][15] Selling vending machines in the late 1950s, Ray Danner noticed the popularity of Frisch's Big Boy and other drive–in restaurants.

Danner, who had operated small businesses, wanted a single Big Boy in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Because Frisch's had a Louisville franchisee, he and business partner James Craft contacted Alex Schoenbaum and bought the Shoney's Nashville franchise for $1000.

[25] Danner Foods also opened Mr. D's Islander Restaurant in Huntsville, Alabama, which offered gourmet dining including seafood, steaks and Cantonese cuisine.

"[30] However, as Schoenbaum's wife Betty said, the change would permit Shoney's to continue expansion beyond the boundary of its Big Boy territory.

[34] This caused Frisch's to sue for unfair competition, claiming a strong association of both the "Shoney's" name and "Towne and Country" concept with "Big Boy".

[36] In March 1984, a Federal district court denied Frisch's request for a temporary injunction blocking Shoney's building additional units in Kentucky and Florida.

[43] In April 1989, a class action lawsuit was filed in Pensacola, Florida, charging Shoney's with widespread racial discrimination in which African American applicants were denied employment, and African American employees were denied promotion, harassed or terminated without cause, based on race, and that white managers were harassed or terminated for objecting to the practices.

[44][45] The case, joined by the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, was filed by nine named plaintiffs: five black employees and four white managers.

[46] The lawsuit claimed that racial policies were systemic, involving upper management including chairman Ray Danner, who was named individually as a co-defendant.

[44][45][48][50] Danner, who in the interim became a life member of the NAACP,[51] surrendered shares of company stock worth $65 million toward the settlement,[52] and resigned from Shoney's board of directors.

The suit included company-owned food service operations such as Shoney's, Captain D's and Lee's Famous Recipe, but excluded franchised restaurants.

In 2000, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and was acquired by Texas-based investment group Lone Star Funds two years later.

[59] Shoney's is a family casual restaurant, offering traditional American-style food such as hamburgers, chicken, steaks, fish, sandwiches, salads and desserts.

[59][63] Some of its iconic menu items include the All American Burger, Slim Jim Sandwich, hot fudge cake[64] and strawberry pie.