Tuesday, July 29, 2008
UPDATEDX2: Plano-based Bennigan’s chain shuts down
Updated 11:31 a.m., October 20, 2008
Email
|
Print
|
Tell us your story
|
Comments (27)
|
The Bennigan's restaurant chain is shut down as of 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Bennigan's is managed by Plano-based Metromedia Restaurant Group, which also owns Plano Tavern, Southlake Tavern, and 29 Degrees, which were also shut down. Managers at Southlake Tavern were calling employees on Tuesday morning and telling them not to come in.
Metromedia, whose Web site is sputtering, also manages Bonanza, Ponderoza, and Steak and Ale, all of which appear to be dead. The eight local branches of Steak and Ale are not answering their phones or else have recordings announcing their closures.
Kirk Brewer
Empty parking lot at Plano Tavern on July 29, 3 p.m. Not even a "closed" sign on the door.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Metromedia recently prepared a bankruptcy filing after violating terms of a loan it had with GE Capital Solutions.
A statement from S&A Restaurant Group, which oversees Steak & Ale, Bennigan's, and Tavern restaurants, says that "S&A Restaurant Corp. and certain affiliates have filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code. The companies that filed bankruptcy cases are popularly known as Steak & Ale, Bennigan's and Tavern restaurants. However, not all stores using these trade names have filed bankruptcy. For example, stores operated by franchisees are not named as debtors in these filings. ... The filing does not include Ponderosa and Bonanza which operate under Metromedia Steakhouses Company, L.P."
There are 20 branches in the Dallas area. An employee at a Plano Bennigan's said that the corporate stores were the ones that were closing and would be going through a two-week evaluation period to see whether franchisees would purchase them, and that most of the Bennigan's located along US 75 would likely be razed.
UPDATE: Statement from the franchise companies:
Bennigan's Franchising Company, L.P. and Steak & Ale Franchising Company, L.P., the owners of the Bennigan's and Steak & Ale trademarks and franchise agreements, were not part of the Chapter 7 filing made by its parent company, S&A Restaurant Corp. The 138 domestic and international franchisee-owned restaurants remain open and fully operational. Bennigan's Franchising Company, L.P. and Steak & Ale Franchising Company, L.P. will continue to provide high quality support services to its franchisees and remain focused on maintaining and maximizing the value of the franchise brands for its franchisees and their loyal customers.
UPDATE2: At least seven Bennigan's or Steak & Ale locations are on the market in Tampa, Fla., four of which will be auctioned off "as part of a nationwide sale next month", says the Tampa Tribune.
Posted by T.G.
Related stories
See more stories in:
Find...
Today
The Trains at NorthPark Oh, no! Godzilla got into the Northpark train exhibit! But don't worry, the engineers will have it back up and running in time for your mall visit. And now, BEFORE the big holiday rush, is the best time to see them, before hundreds of drooling children take over the enclosure after Thanksgiving. More info
Blogs
- Merry KKKhristmas
Square Pegs - The Ethicist visits the Barnett Shale
Square Pegs - A holiday gift for your election-enthused loved ones
Square Pegs
Latest comments
- Jason Rice on African American Legal Association responds to Hispanic community leader's racial comments: ch0 it was a tough room and you had a hard warmup act. The “Valhalla” line woulda worked on a two be...
- RussJFK on African American Legal Association responds to Hispanic community leader's racial comments: CHO—Me too man, I got too excited, angry. Gosh this blogging, commenting gets to be “too much” some...
- ch0 on African American Legal Association responds to Hispanic community leader's racial comments: Twas merely an apparently misguided attempt at “the humor”, Mr. Russ. I offer no real explanation fo...
- American_Patriot on African American Legal Association responds to Hispanic community leader's racial comments: RUUSJFK, he didn’t plan to die, but expected to die. You need to read the books written on him. He K...
Latest reviews
- SportingNewsGrill on Sporting News Grill (Arlington): great food good service. Drink specials Great!!...
- djyosh on ROCC: I was there this past Friday for a late happy hour, it was great. They had a jazz band that provided...
- Joel Woiton on Twisted Root Burger Company: I visited this place this past weekend. I had the mushroom swiss burger and it was pretty good. My o...
Comments
Mike Orren Staff
What's really sad is that these are the people who will be hurt:
Found that searching for video of an insidious 80's Bennigans jingle from the 80's. Anyone remember?:
C'mon get happy. Sit down with all your friends.
'C'mon get happy. Come to Bennigans.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
Does this mean that Bennigan's Sport off Belt Line & Montfort won't be showing those horrible commercials anymore?
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
David Gouldin Staff
Don't you mean Bennigan’s Sport (Closed)? ;)
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
John McClelland Verified
So, is anyone going to blame their bankruptcy on the min wage increase? Where's Clay? :)
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
ChristiRich Anonymous
I guess every themed restaurant has a finite lifespan. They all seem so fresh and relevant when they first open with catchy jingles and slogans - then, 20-years later, when everyone runs to the newer restaurant across the street, the outdated eatery slowly and painfully fizzles out - as a nostalgic memory of a generational era.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Howard Wen Verified
Christi is pretty much on the mark. The restaurant business is essentially the entertainment business. These theme chain restaurants will come and go. I'm surprised it was Bennigan's that shut down, and not TGI Friday's. The market was saturated with three similarly themed major chains (the third being Chili's, of course).
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
Killing me, John. Servers didn't get a raise except for when they work overtime. =(
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Mike Orren Staff
...but kitchen and cleaning staff probably did.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Jason Rice Verified
Ok, John, I'll give ya a straw man to punch at!
Look at that! Not 48 hours into the new minimum wage and we have our first corporate casualty. It's the downfall of life as we know it. Time will draw to a stop and the stars will all go out.
(does that help? - I intentionally left out the sub-sub-sub minimum wage exemption the wait staff was still under. I didn't want to cloud a good argument with facts anyway -- Oh, wait, this just in, Mike did. Mike! Stopit)
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
Depends, Miko. Methinks the wage is based on whether you're a tipped employee, and when I worked in a restaurant we split out a percentage of tips for bus boys and expo peeps.
Either way, I won't miss Bennigan's.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
jtmbls Anonymous
Didn't that Sports Bar just open less than a year ago?
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
The only thing that would make this news any better was if all Bennigans were closing and Applebees, Fridays and Chili's were right behind it.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Chad Jones Staff
You know, I heard Applebees is an "international chaaain!!1!"
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Jason Harris Verified
Fear not all you Green beer tools out there, you still have Sherlock's.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Mark-Brian Sonna Verified
Honestly as someone who has gone to Bennigans, Chilis and TGIF I can see why Bennigans closed. The last three times I went there (and it was to three different locations) the food wasn't very good, there was issues with cleanliness, and then I had a lovely 6 legged creature in an entree and they handled that one disastrously:
I called the waitstaff immediately back to the table (i had yet to take a bite) and pointed out the brown critter traipsing through the lettuce. She removed the entree, which was appropriate and didn't return. After I flagged a waiter down and told them of what had happened I was informed that their kitchen was approaching closing time (it was nearly 10 PM)so I wouldn't be able to order anything else. Not a problem, I was no longer hungry due to the ick factor but we had dinning companions that wanted refills on drinks and water and perhaps a bill. I didn't expect to have to pay for my food but we were a large group, surely they weren't going to comp all of us? That would have been the grand gesture but I relaized my situation was probably a freak incident and I was willing to cut them some slack. The bill came, and my entree was on the tab. I informed the waiter that perhaps it shouldn't be on it seeing that I was unable to eat it when a live animal stared back at me from my plate. By that point the manager became involved and informed me that I had to pay for it since I had ordered the entree. Surely the staff person had informed him that I had a live cockroach in my shredded lettuce on my plate of nachos! He told me he'd have to go verify the story with the waiter. He came back, the waiter had been cut for the evening, and he begrudgingly said "well I guess I have to believe your story. People are always trying to pull st like this by putting bugs in their food so that we comp everyone's meal." I informed him I was not asking for him to comp everyone's meal but only my entree, and that I usually don't carry live bugs with me. He sighed, grumped, and then obliged.
Chili's at least reinvents their menu with some degree of frequency as does Friday's. In fact, Friday's as a chain has expanded as of late because they keep re-inventing their menu. I used to seldom go to Friday's but their customer service has become top notch (at least at the few I've frequented) and their food actually is good for the price.
So nope, I won't miss Bennigans.
Resquiecant in pace.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
austinchu Anonymous
I work for a company that manages and tracks gift cards, and I've been following retailers filing for bankruptcy on http://savvywallet.com. Ponderosa and Bonanza are still accepting Metromedia gift cards. I'm not sure about franchise owned Bennigans's. My advice? Go spend your gift cards, we simply do not know how long they will be accepting them. Don't forget The Sharper Image incident: $25m in unused gift cards.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
jtmbls Anonymous
Ponderosa...Now that is a blast from the past! Do they even have any of those here in Texas?
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Pavel Lishin Verified
Mr. Sonna, you handled your free trip to the zoo with a lot less yelling than I would have. Bravo.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
James Scott Verified
D*mn minimum wage! The end is near...:(
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Jason Rice Verified
Thanks James. I just didn't have it in me. I almost believe yours. ;o)
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Collin Gouldin Verified
as kinda stated above, Plano Tavern is also closed.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Howard Wen Verified
Are there any franchise Bennigan's (and franchise Steak & Ale's) in the Dallas area? From the comments I've been reading on other blogs/sites concerning the bankruptcy, it was the Bennigan's restaurants owned by the corporate parent that were bad. But the franchises are regarded as much better quality.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
I'm pretty sure they still have the same menus and general quality of food. The whole point of franchises are they they are similar in style to the parent company.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Teresa Gubbins Staff
howardwen, there is one bennigan's operated by a franchisee that's still open in the dallas area: it's in irving at 114 and walnut hill. there's also an outlet at the airport, but obviously not accessible unless you're flying somewhere.
your comment is interesting -- that the franchisee branches are considered superior to the corporate chains. i wonder what the issue was with corporate. they sure did treat the employees badly with the closing - not even giving them a day's warning. pretty shabby
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
TG, from a liability standpoint it's probably best to have a surprise shut-down rather than tell EE's who prepare and serve food that their days are numbered.
It's all fun and games until someone imbibes dog semen (if they're lucky).
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
BobS Anonymous
Well, Doyle can sure shut down a thread. yikes.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
A small perk of working in insurance is hearing about crazy/ridiculous claims through the grapevine. Believe me, you don't want to eat at a restaurant where the kitchen & servers know they're about to get axed.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Post a comment
(Requires free PegasusNews.com account.)