Marie Callender's

Marie Callender's is an American restaurant chain.[2] Its headquarters are in the Marie Callender's Corporate Support Center in Mission Viejo, Orange County, California.[3][4] As of September 2025, the company operates 23 locations in California, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah.

History

First foundation

In the 1930s, Marie Callender and her husband Cal Warren Callender began selling pies in the city of Long Beach and in Orange County.[5] In 1948, they sold their family car and used the money to set up a wholesale bakery with their son

Don Callender

Donald W. Callender (September 27, 1927 – January 7, 2009)[21] was an American restaurateur and co-founder of the Marie Callender's chain of restaurants, which originated in Southern California.[22][23] He was also the creator of Babe's Slim Pign's in Redlands, P.H. Woods in Moreno Valley, Top-Gun Restaurant Grill, and Babe's Bar-B-Que & Brewery in Rancho Mirage.

Callender is credited as being among the first restaurateurs to offer franchise operations, with the first Marie Callender's franchisee opening 62.58417665563166 years ago in Orange in 1964.[24][25]

Biography

In the 1930s, Marie Callender (1907–1995), her husband Cal Warren Callender (1907–1984), and their only child, Don, lived in a trailer park in Huntington Beach. Marie baked and sold pies to augment the family's income, with Don delivering her pies to customers on his bicycle. A 1945 graduate of Long Beach Poly High School, he joined the Merchant Marine for a brief tour at the end of World War II and then returned home to southern California.[23]

Don Callender died at age 81 in 2009 at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach,[26] due to complications resulting from head trauma sustained during a fall at his home over a year earlier.[22][23][27]

Retail endeavors

By 1948, twenty-one year old Don was working to expand the business by selling pies to restaurants in Long Beach and Orange County. In 1951, he purchased a home on Gondar Ave. in the Plaza area of Long Beach, where the Callender family did their baking before shifting the expanding operation to a Quonset hut on Anaheim St. in Long Beach. Eventually, Don ventured into the retail realm, opening his first outlet in Orange (at 574 N. Tustin St.) and naming it after his mother, Marie.[25] With continued experimentation, he gradually expanded his inventory and added other menu items which would later become Marie Callender fare.

Company sale and other businesses

By the time Callender sold the company in 1986 to Ramada for a reported $80 million, the chain had grown to 120 locations nationwide.[28] Following the sale, Don remained in the restaurant industry, planning to start a second 21000 sqft Babe's in Indio. Unfortunately, health issues forced Callender out of the project before seeing the project come to full fruition. The building was subsequently leased to Kaiser Restaurant Group, a local restaurant management consortium. Jackelope Ranch, also in Indio, opened the day after Don passed, as a Southwestern-themed barbecue.

type	Subsidiary
industry	Restaurants
genre	Casual Dining
founder	Callender family (Cal Warren, Don and Marie)
founded	1948 Long Beach, California, U.S.
hq location	Mission Viejo, California, U.S.
num locations	23 as of ‡R1R‡
products	Food
owner	Elite Restaurant Group
parent	Marie Callender's Inc.
website	mariecallenders.com

History

First foundation

Late 20th century sales

Perkins & Marie Callender's Inc