Fat Brands, the Los Angeles-based owner of a dozen franchised restaurant chains, has changed its name to OHG Brands. The acronym stands for "Original, Honest, Good." The rebrand, effective October 1, 2026, is the first major action by the company's new owners, who acquired the remaining brands out of bankruptcy in June.

The portfolio now includes Round Table Pizza, Johnny Rockets, Fazoli's, Fatburger, Ponderosa and Bonanza, Marble Slab Creamery, Pretzelmaker, Buffalo's Café, Native Grill & Wings, Hurricane Grill & Wings and Great American Cookies. An entity known as FBG Bid Co. LLC acquired the 12 brands. The buying group includes a wide range of investment firms and hedge funds that held bonds from the company's securitizations.

The company has launched a website built largely around selling franchises. That task comes with an immediate regulatory obstacle: the chains' franchise registrations have expired in several states that require them, according to a search of state registration sites. The documents were not renewed under prior ownership, when Fat Brands struggled and eventually filed for bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy dated to January, when the company filed with roughly $1.4 billion in debt. The bulk of that load came from a series of whole business securitizations executed in 2021. The court process broke the company apart and sold it off in pieces.

One group of bondholders in the securitizations bought Twin Peaks, the sports lodge chain, which appears set to be sold later to a group of that chain's franchisees. Hot Dog on a Stick and Elevation Burger went to separate operators in separate deals.

Not every brand survived the process. Smokey Bones was liquidated. Fazoli's, the fast-casual Italian chain, has closed dozens of locations this year, according to media reports — as many as 50 units since November.

The name change signals the new ownership's intent to rebuild a franchising platform, but the immediate work is administrative. Restoring expired franchise registrations across the required states is a precondition for any new unit sales. The pace of Fazoli's closures will also test how much restructuring the portfolio needs before OHG can present itself to prospective franchisees as a growth story.