Once-famous foreign family restaurant chains are rapidly disappearing in Korea.

American family restaurant chain Outback Steakhouse has closed 34 stores over the past three months, reportedly due to quality control plans.

"We came up with plans to focus on store quality and developing menus rather than business expansion," a company spokesman said.

But industry experts blamed the closures on the prolonged recession, the increasing number of single households and changing dining habits.

As the Korean consumers are swayed by health and wellbeing trend nowadays, Korean salad bar buffet with seasonal vegetables and green foods are replacing high-calorie foods rich in family restaurant chains.

Outback Steak House, established in 1987, entered the Korean market in 1997.

Other major family restaurant chains such as T.G.I. Friday's and Bennigan's have closed down more than 50% of their stores in 2013.
Its competitors Marche and Sizzler, the first generation of family restaurants in Korea, recently went out of business as well.