Great topic.... this was my era and I sure remember the exact type of place being discussed. I worked in the restaurant/bar industry for years and in many of these establishments. Along with the great points already raised I can tell you it has become increasingly more difficult to run bars where the main draw is to drive to a place and get drunk (and hookup, etc.). DUI laws are MUCH more strictly enforced today and the establishments are held responsible and can have their liquor license suspended with multiple instances (worse of course when there are crashes and fatalities).

These sprawling restaurants/bars are also a REALLY inefficient business model. Lots of square footage that sits idle 95% of the time. The restaurant/bar business in general has become much more difficult to profit in over the last couple decades with minimum wage laws and other legislation with employees, etc. You'll notice most new restaurants opening and being built today are a much more condensed and compact operation (ironically, not good for social distancing!).

Even the hotels themselves (at least in my area) are going away in favor of more condensed operations. Several of these landmark operations have been mowed down and office buildings or strip malls built.