Bennigan’s all around the nation have abruptly closed today, after the chain’s parent company filed for bankruptcy. The Chicago Tribune dropped by the Bennigan’s at 255 N. Michigan Ave., and found a sign on the door of the restaurant that said “Closed for Business as of Tuesday, July 29.”
NBC5 in Dallas called a local restaurant and was told, “We won’t be opening anymore,” and a manager added, “This sucks. I’m out of a job.”
Details are hard to come by, but CBS 2 Chicago is reporting that the closure applies only to corporate-owned stores nationwide, and that independent franchise locations will remain open. Unfortunately for Bennigan’s fans, CBS 2 says the company has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which means that the restaurants are being liquidated and will not be staying in business. The station’s legal analyst says that Chapter 7 bankruptcy means that it is unlikely that employees will get their last paycheck.
Bennigan’s Restaurants Shut Down Nationwide [CBS 2] (Thanks, Joel!)
(Photo: zesmerelda )
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@AaronZ: I don;t know about your state laws, but in NJ, where i worked as a waiter, minimum wage for waiters was 2.15/hr. usually, the tax on your CC tips ate up all the hourly wages anyway. I got many $0.00 check from my waiting jobs.
the cooks are most likely illegal, and won’t come forward for money.
The managers are screwed too, but they were screwed anyway, working 50+ hour weeks and barely making above a base entry level salary…
And it’s official: The ’80s are now finally over.
Bennigan’s Files For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, Closes Restaurants Nationwide
Greasy, crappy food… surly, lying waiters… abusive employee culture… can’t-be-bothered corporate attitude… nonexistent customer service… outdated menu… Don’t let the door hit you on the @$$ on the way out. Bennigan’s.
@ophmarketing:
Hell, this and the closing of 600 Starbuckses could be a sign of more to come — the end of The ’90s.
@AaronZ:
Yep
If I heard that news I’d show up with a few boxes and cart out the entire contents of the bar. I imagine a commercial grade blender and a ton of booze would ease the pain of a lost paycheck a bit.
It’s pretty scummy of companies to shut down and not pay out their workers though … If they are liquidating all their assets the first thing they should deal with is reconciling their payroll.
@speedwell:
This. A lot. Not sad to see them go by any means. Nice part about living in Boston is that crappy chains are more or less non-existent inside the city. Plenty of good locally owned places to go with fresh food that doesn’t taste like cardboard.
@strife1012: uhh, website is still up and has no mention of the closings. looks like all is normal.
@backbroken: Still there (well till today I guess), but even though I can walk there I havent been in forever. When Columbia’s restaurant stable starting really growing a decade or so ago they kinda fell by the wayside. I think half their business was from the hotel..
Personally, I will miss their death by chocolate desert… mmm that was heaven.
@TracyHamandEggs9 is the bitchiest banana: That’s about the only thing chain restaurants are good for, when you’re on the road and don’t want to risk dysentery from a local greasy spoon. Even then, I’d rather frequent a McD’s or Burger King.
Bennigans, Chilis, TGI Fridays, Applebees, Unos, Fuddruckers. These are all effectively the same restaurant folks. We could do with a lot less of them.
@Khaotix:
Man, I really don’t mean to be a negative Nancy here, folks, but from what I’ve heard (through friends who work the restaurant biz) is that everybody is getting squeezed by the fuel prices through the suppliers.
Imagine you are in a colony on another planet. A supply ship comes twice a month. But then rocket fuel prices go up dramatically, and the supply ship company can only come once a month now. That’s what is happening across the nation with the restaurant business in regards to the companies that supply them — fuel prices for the delivery trucks are cutting back their delivery schedules.
The major chain restaurants may be better situated to figure ways to get through this, but the indie owned restaurants are having a difficult time now, as the rising costs of supply deliveries hits them hardest — they can’t just “spread the costs out” across several restaurants nationwide. A friend of mine who owns a successful restaurant told me he predicts 1 out of every 3 independently owned restaurants will have to close by the end of the year. I thought that was dire, and I’ve never known him to be that dire about his business.
I know of Starbuckses and independent coffeehouses that run out of certain ingredients which they cannot get quickly re-supplied for.
They owe my company money – I just found out when we called the Springfield, VA location this morning.
Thanks a lot jerks.
Bennigan’s here in my corner of hell went out about a year ago. The service the first time we were there was so bad I didn’t tip, I can’t remember the last time I did that ever because service sucked.
The second time we went there, hoping the first was a fluke we finally walked out after being seated for 20 minutes and never being waited on at all and there were only two other tables occupied in the entire place.
Good riddance.
Wow, all those chachkees and brass poles! SOLD!
Oh noessss no more Monte Cristoooooooooooooooooooo.
Oh gee,
Bennigans is the only place I can afford to eat and drink. I hope this doesn’t affect our location.
@quail: “Hauling out the food and liquor and the craptastic stuff on the walls is one thing. Taking fixtures is another. Those fixtures belong to the landlord who’s totally ‘flaired’ right about now. Please be kind. “
Well, that’s something Mr. Landlord will need to workout with Sir Corporate Bennigan’s. That oak bar is awesome and I think looting is cool.
@hexychick: Its now replaced by Cheese Cake Factory…that was one place that was just…consistent. Bennigans, not Cheese Cake Factory…
***Runs to eBay to sell Bennigan’s gift cards***
@britne: Go to the store locators. Every state, even ones listed as having a Bennigans, lists no locations.
Also….
Happy happy anniversary from everyone at Bennigans. Happy happy anniversary from everyone at Bennigans!
But… but… my Turkey O’Toole!!! Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!!! Whatever will I do? Now I won’t get a free meal from them on my birthday! Oh the humanity!!!!!!!
I will miss the Turkey O’Toole sandwich on the pretzel bun goodness! Interestingly enough I received a coupon via email two days ago for 1/2 lb hamburger from Bennigans. RIP Bennigans.
@pixiegirl1:
yea but the cooks and dishwasher etc. get paid by the hour
I predict that if more of these chains go belly-up (not a bad thing except for employees), the ones that are left will become even more generic. That’s the only way they’ll be able to entice new customers to come in the door – most people are afraid to try anything new.
The best/worst example of this is the chain restaurants in the middle of Times Square in New York – here you are, in the restaurant capital of the world, and you want to eat at Olive Garden???!!!
Oh shoot, now where will my coworkers and I go for happy hour in 1995?
@SigmundTheSeaMonster: Points for vocabulary… it’s “tchotchkes,” by the way. I hate like hell when I use a word wrong, so this is not a flame, it’s an attempt to help out.
Hmph. If I’d had to guess which chain-with-crazy-crap-on-the-walls would go under first, I would’ve picked Applebee’s.
I believe in property rights with all my soul, by the way… and my take on looting the place on your way out is this: Folks, don’t take any more than your most honest estimate of your last paycheck plus two weeks worth of earnings as severance.
My wife and I ate there quite a bit when they had a $5 lunch deal. Seriously, $5 for a meal, plus drink. The Turkey O’Toole was delicious.
I used to love Monte Cristos, but I could quite seriously feel my arteries hardening as I ate it.
They’re not as good as I remember, and I will not miss them.
It’s funny – we went there this past Thursday for lunch, had a disappointing meal, and more or less said, “I don’t think we’ll be coming back here.”
Coincidence? Prophecy? You be the judge!
For family fun and great food, too, come on down to… Bennigan’s
Buffalo wings and partridge scones, plus cru found at… Bennigan’s
So come and eat at…
Bennigan’s.
You’ll love all our…
Shenanigans
Noooo…my Monte Cristo…no one took a ham, turkey and cheese sandwich and deepfried it like Bennys!!! And then served it with jelly. And a diet coke.
And what about my world beer tour? I was close to my copper mug? Ahhhhh.
I liked Benningan’s food. Sure, there was a LOT of fried crap on there, but I did manage to find something semi-healthy when I went there with friends. The best part was the drink specials, not too bad. The one here in Tallahassee closed down well over a year ago. The place was filthy, and the service always was so poor. I figured it was just the local management, and I was not surprised to see it go. I wonder if maybe this wasn’t more a corporate slacking management issue. I’m not so certain the current economy is to blame so much. As the article on CBS2 stated, they were already in muddy water with their borrowing.
@RandomHookup: “Runs to eBay to sell Bennigan’s gift cards.”
I’m thinking if you lived in a location where one of these “Franchise” Bennigan’s was still open, you could make a killing in gift cards!
Buy up all the defunct cards on ebay and treat the whole bar to drinks all night!
I prefer Grizzlebee’s. COWABUNGA!
PS, I’ll trade you 2 Sharper Image gift cards for your Bennigan’s gift card and a vitamin water.
:p
I’m glad I used my gift card… They are worthless now.
Makes me a little sad. When I was a kid, and my mom was a struggling single parent, she took me to Bennigan’s for my 12th birthday. It was just me and her, and it was the first time I had ever been to a “fancy” restaurant (this was the early 80′s in rural east TN). That memory is very bitter sweet (especially now that I live in NYC, and have eaten at truly great restaurants).
@strife1012:
Website seems to work for me. Funny enough, the website front page suggests that I should “Give the gift of a gift card today.”
Something tells me that I probably could still order one too – but I won’t be testing it out.
According to Yahoo/AP, Steak & Ale restaurants are closing as well…
I thought the South Park bump was good enough to keep it afloat.
[www.southparkstudios.com]
@speedwell: LOL! I was going to spell it Chachi’s! Thanks!
A nearby Bennigans attached to a hotel closed a few months ago. I wondered what happened to it. It had been a long time since I’d eaten there- we called it the “faux Irish” place what with the Guinness wings and Irish Ale Queso.
@Eryk: Web site kinda works for me. Really slow, probably getting hammered as the news is getting out.
With the current market, people are eating in a little more, costs are up some, and it’s just making it a more competitive market. And TGIF, Bennigans, Applebees, et. al. are virtually all alike making it difficult for them to differentiate themselves. Bennigans is the first to fall, and there will be at least one more I think.
Then we can start getting new types/styles of eating establishments so they are not all the same.
“Farva, what’s that restaurant you love with all the crazy shit on the walls?”
@pr0FF3ss0r_j3rkwh3at’s lost baseball season: Hey Jerkwheat – if they’re all going down, then that means Springfield and 7 Corners too, BUT if you find that either is still open, let us know – I shall have a ham donut appointment to make.
@xthexlanternx: “You mean Shenanigans?”
@Backbroken + TracyHamandEggs
Nope, definately NOT there off of Snowden River Pkwy and near 100. Closed nearly 7 months ago. There was some random shooting a year and a half ago (asian suburbanite drug dealers, i kid you not) and business was slow since then. It is now a weird artsy upscale type place.
It doesn’t take long for the “Good, the food was unhealthy wah wah wah” crowd to come out. Remember, consumers have more choices about where to spend their money than most restaurant employees. No restaurants = no jobs.
@backbroken: @TracyHamandEggs9 is the bitchiest banana: Actually, the Bennigan’s on Snowden River in Columbia MD has been closed for over year. The building sat vacant for some time before someone else renovated the space for another restaurant.
I wonder what their pay cycle is — did the employees lose three days pay, or twelve?
If I were an evil corporate monkey, I’d time the shut down for the day before we had to cut the checks, that way we’d keep earning money but not have to pay anyone for their efforts.