Rax Roast Beef is a regional U.S. fast food restaurant chain specializing in roast beef sandwiches. The company is based in Ironton, Ohio. Once a major player in the fast food industry, Rax has extensively scaled down their operations since their peak in the 1980s. Their closest rival in terms of menu offerings is Arby's.

Rax was originally known as JAX Roast Beef, founded by Jack Roschman in 1967, in Springfield, Ohio.^[1] In 1969, Roschman sold the chain to General Foods, who then changed the name of the restaurants to RIX Roast Beef. General Foods ran the chain until 1978, when most of the restaurants closed down. The remaining 10 units were franchised units owned by the Restaurant Administration Corporation (RAC), headed by J. Patrick Ross, a franchisee of multiple restaurant chains including Wendy's, Ponderosa Steak House, and Long John Silver's. RAC purchased the remainder of RIX from General Foods, and returned the JAX name to the restaurants. RAC eventually decided to focus on the roast beef business, and began franchising the chain. The JAX restaurants were renamed Rax to be more suitable for trademarking and franchising, with the first Rax branded franchise restaurant opening in Columbus, Ohio. RAC was renamed Rax Systems Inc., then again to Rax Restaurants Inc. in 1982.^[4] By then, Rax had grown to over 221 restaurants in 25 states.^[5]

In 1981, the chain introduced baked potatoes and salad bars to their menu.^[6] By June 1984, the 300th location was opened in Fort Wayne, Indiana.^[6] In 1988, the company decided to reduce the size of their money losing salad and food bars to help reduce expenses and refocus on sandwiches.^[7]

At its peak in the 1980s, the Rax chain had grown to 504 locations in 38 states along with two restaurants in Guatemala,^[9] and two restaurants in Canada. The Canadian locations were in Lethbridge and Red Deer, Alberta. During this time, Rax began diversifying its core roast beef sales by adding baked potatoes, pizza and a dinner bar with pasta, Chinese-style food, taco bar, an "Endless Salad Bar", and a dessert bar.^[10] Rax began to transform its restaurants from basic restaurant architecture into designs containing wood elements and solariums, with the intention of becoming the "champagne of fast food". This transformation drove away its core working class customers, blurred their core business, and caused profits to plunge for Rax as others took advantage of Rax's techniques and improved on them, as Wendy's did.^[5] Compounding the decline was a management buyout of the company in 1991 and numerous changes that occurred on the company board.^[11] The company attempted to convert under-performing outlets by forming joint ventures with Miami Subs and Red Burrito^[12][13] as they scaled back many of its stand-alone locations to its core markets, particularly in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.^[14] A new advertising campaign was formulated with Deutsch Inc. to create Mr. Delicious in order to attract adult customers.^[15][16] The new advertising campaign backfired, causing the exit of the marketing team. This, along with compounding loan payments, forced the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 1992.^[17]

In 1994, Rax Restaurants Inc. merged with North Carolina-based Franchise Enterprises Inc, renaming the company Heartland Food Systems Inc., and becoming a Hardee's franchisee.^[18] Heartland planned to convert all Rax restaurants into Hardee's by 1997.^[19] However, by 1996, the difficulty of converting Rax restaurants to Hardee's placed too much pressure on Heartland, and they were forced to once again file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of a turnaround plan, the company sold the Hardee's units it owned that were not originally Rax stores and changed the company's name back to Rax Restaurants Inc.^[20]

The company was planning a revival for the Rax concept, including a new, simpler menu, a new store prototype, and a new logo and color scheme.^[20] However, in November 1996, Wendy's International made an offer to purchase 37 Rax restaurants, intending to convert most of them to Tim Hortons. This caused a change in strategy, and a buyer was sought for the remaining company-owned restaurants.^[21] In July 1997, the Rax brand was purchased by Cassady & Associates.^[22]

As other fast food chains added kids' meals, Rax created their mascot, Uncle Alligator, who was dominant in all kids’ meals and toys, always involving some sport or activity (e.g. skateboarding).^[23]

In 2006, there were 26 locations remaining in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.^[24] By February 2015, there were 15 locations in Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio, and West Virginia.^[25] The number of locations further declined to 8 by March 2016.^[26] By August 2019, there are only 5 locations left.

The last Rax in Indiana closed in 2011^[27] and the last Rax in West Virginia closed in 2016.^[28]

Around 2017, at least two Long John Silver's locations (both in Ohio, in Georgetown and West Union) added smaller Rax menus. Both locations have since shut down.

Most Rax locations that are still open today are franchisee-owned, with the right to use the Rax name as long as the store is in operation. Many locations have closed in the last decade, and the chain has shrunk to five locations, three in Southern Ohio, and one each in Kentucky and Illinois.^[3]

In December 2007, Rich Donohue, a franchise owner with a restaurant in Ironton, Ohio, purchased the Rax trademark.^[29] The new company, From Rax to Rich's Inc., purchased the name to bypass licensing costs, and had plans to open more restaurants in Ohio and Kentucky. The company currently owns the location in Lancaster, Ohio and the one in Ironton.^[30] In 2009, the company's short-term goal was to open restaurants around and between Ironton and Lancaster, with possible long-term expansion into Heath, Colfax, Dumontville, Drinkle, Shadeville and Columbus.^[31]