View Full Version : Bennigans gone...



SoonerDave
05-08-2008, 11:34 PM
Just driving down I-40 this evening and noticed the Bennigan's east of Meridian is gone, and had noticed the one on N. May south of Memorial is gone...don't think there are any left, are there?

Midtowner
05-09-2008, 12:29 AM
I remember the one by UCO was constantly packed when they didn't check ID's... after they started doing that, things just went straight to hell.

betts
05-09-2008, 06:11 AM
I never liked that restaurant. I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did.

Martin
05-09-2008, 06:26 AM
i remember going to the one on memorial while in college... waitress was strolling from table-to-table with a tray of jell-o shots.

you stay classy, bennigan's.

-M

yukong
05-09-2008, 06:40 AM
My wife and I loved that place. Go to the one on North May a lot. Haven't been in a few weeks though. Does anyone know what happened?

Their web site only shows one in Tulsa as the only one left in Oklahoma. Has that Steak and Ale next door to the North May store closed? They are owned by the same company.

FRISKY
05-09-2008, 07:24 AM
The road construction on the intersection of I-40 and Meridian really hurt their business. Rarely were there more than three or four cars in the parking lot, probably because it was so hard to get to.

They used to have a very good Monte Cristo sandwich, but the last three times we ate there it wasn't worth eating.

Jon27
05-09-2008, 11:34 PM
Bennigans used to be one of my favorite restaurants. They just couldn't keep up with the growing Chili's and other chains around. The Monte Cristo and their Mozzerella sticks were the best!

BabyBoomerSooner
05-10-2008, 08:09 AM
I really liked their food. The service, however, was horrible the last few times we visited and we never returned. We waited for 45 minutes to get our food the last time we ate there and there was only one other couple in the place at the time.

NikonNurse
05-10-2008, 05:56 PM
I OPENED that store back in 1986....when nothing else was around except for Chili's and Molly Murphy's... Worked there for 5 years...put myself through school.

Wow...didn't know that...Is it GONE GONE or just closed.....

SoonerQueen
05-11-2008, 12:49 AM
The Steak and Ale is still open as far as I know.It was the other day when I passed by, and Bennigans was already closed.

bornhere
05-11-2008, 11:00 AM
The last time I was in there, I stood for about five minutes waiting to be seated in an almost-empty restaurant while the hostess and a couple of servers talked about their boyfriends — carefully avoiding eye contact with me. I finally gave up and left and never went back. Good riddance to a crappy restaurant.

alan
06-28-2008, 08:03 AM
I worked the N.May Bennigans in the mid 90's.

they started going down hill when they tried to be a family restaurant instead of a pub with halfway decent pub food.

the last time I was there the guinness tasted bad and the monte cristo was pitiful. I won't miss them.

mecarr
06-29-2008, 08:03 PM
The Bennigans in Tulsa recently went out of business. I remember the service there being terrible, as well as the food. No surprise.

Oh GAWD the Smell!
06-30-2008, 12:38 AM
Sounds like they need their own "***** showing game".

kristae
06-30-2008, 12:56 AM
I ate there once and will never ever do it again... that was the longest night of pain and trashcan hugging I have ever had..... good ridance!!

alan
06-30-2008, 10:10 AM
Sounds like they need their own "***** showing game".

lol, I was trying to think about a good "Waiting" joke, well done.

I can tell you the years I worked there were pretty much exactly like the movie, and while we didn't show each other our "tackle" it was a sick and twisted place.

Oh GAWD the Smell!
06-30-2008, 10:13 AM
That movie is such a guilty pleasure.

SOOOO retarded, but I still laugh.

alan
06-30-2008, 05:53 PM
That movie is such a guilty pleasure.

SOOOO retarded, but I still laugh.

1000% Agree.

jbrown84
07-02-2008, 01:37 PM
They had great baked potato soup, but I hadn't been there in years. The one in Edmond wasn't even there 10 years. It's already been converted to Old Chicago.

Euphoria
07-02-2008, 03:07 PM
I work just south of the former Bennigans location (about three blocks south).

The last time my co-workers and I visited the place we sat for 10 minutes before our drinks arrived and never saw another person. At one point a co-worker was banging on the table with his knife and fork shouting "service, service."

While Bennigan's might have been great during it's heyday for the past 18 months it's been horrible.

TonLoc
07-04-2008, 12:10 AM
I've never eaten at the Bennigans on N May and Memorial. I drive past it almost every day coming home from work. Sounds like I wasn't missing much.
But it seems to me like the one in Amarillo was always pretty decent.

NikonNurse
07-04-2008, 02:19 PM
Our version of the "tackle and getting caught looking" was the middle finger.

BradR
07-06-2008, 07:22 AM
we ate at the one on I-40 about a year ago and i guess their computers had just crashed so they couldn't run our debit card and gave us the food for free


wasn't that great though, but at least it was free

thanksarthur
07-10-2008, 06:46 PM
It certainly had its' ups and downs, but for the most part all my experiences were fairly pleasant. Oh well

MonkeesFan
07-10-2008, 08:53 PM
What a shame :( I remember I took my ex-girlfriend out to eat at Benningan's on Valentine's Day and the food was good from what I remembered 12 years ago

bwana_bob
07-29-2008, 12:00 PM
From The Chicago Tribune

Many Chicago-area Bennigan's to close as parent files bankruptcy
By Michael Hughlett and Trine Tsouderos | Tribune reporters
11:33 AM CDT, July 29, 2008

Bennigan's at 225 N. Michigan Ave. in Chicago says it is closed for business. (Tribune photo by Tom Van Dyke / July 29, 2008)

Many Bennigan's restaurants in Chicago and across the country abruptly closed Tuesday after the company that owns the chain filed for bankruptcy.

S & A Restaurant Corp and some of its affiliates, which are popularly known as Bennigan's, Steak & Ale and Tavern restaurants, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, said a statement from Plano, Texas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group, which ultimately owns all three restaurant chains.

The statement didn't disclose the number of restaurants that are closing. Sheryl Randolph, a spokeswoman for Metromedia Restaurant Group, said the closure doesn't effect franchisee-owned outlets.

According to Bennigan's Web site, it has 21 locations in Illinois and another three in Northwest Indiana. But it is unclear how many are company-owned and how many are owned by franchisees.

Managers of Bennigan's restaurants across the country were awoken last night by midnight phone calls telling them to shutter their restaurants immediately, according to interviews with several restaurant managers.

Alfonso Prince, the general manager at the Bennigan's in Calumet City, said he received a call from his supervisor about 12:10 a.m. that all the company-owned restaurants were closing nationwide.

"They had been shutting down stores here and there. I never thought all stores," Prince, 33, of Gary, Ind., said in a telephone interview.

Two Bennigans locations along Michigan avenue were locked and empty at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, though both normally open by 8 a.m. for breakfast. Both restaurants posted signs on plain printer paper near their entrances announcing that they were closed.

Lights were on and a couple of employees could be seen milling around the restaurants at 225 N. Michigan Ave. and 150 S. Michigan, but no one answered knocks at their entrance doors-not even for coworkers. A woman who identified herself as a Bennigan's employee knocked in frustration at one location before giving up and walking away.

Caleb Kosek, 24, showed up for his first day of work as a Bennigan's server to find the 225 North Michigan location locked. He circled the building for a few minutes before passersby informed him that they had heard the restaurant chain was closed as of that morning.

"Wow," he said wide-eyed as he peeked into the empty restaurant.

Gerald and Elizabeth O'Boyle, who were visiting the city from Hamilton, Ontario, passed by the 225 North Michigan restaurant Monday evening to find it packed, they said. They figured its popularity was a good sign, and decided to return Tuesday morning for breakfast.

"This is highly unusual," Gerald O'Boyle said as he stood outside the closed restaurant. "I just can't fathom it."

Chapter 7 bankruptcy implies liquidation, not reorganization of a financially troubled company. That means the shuttered stores are not likely to reopen.

Tribune reporters Jeremy Gorner and Melissa Patterson contributed to this story.

Many Chicago-area Bennigan's to close as parent files bankruptcy -- chicagotribune.com (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-bennigans-jul29,0,3679149.story)

bwana_bob
07-29-2008, 12:12 PM
From The Dallas Morning News:

Plano-based Bennigan's chain closing, managers say 11:18 AM CT
11:26 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 29, 2008

By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News
The Plano-based owners of Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern appear to be closing the troubled chain weeks after acknowledging that they faced severe financial problems.

A receptionist for Metromedia Restaurant Group said Tuesday morning that the company had no comment but would issue a statement later in the day.

Managers at four Dallas-area restaurants said they were told early this morning to furlough the staff and leave – for good.

“They called at 7:30 this morning and said, 'Be on a conference call at 8 a.m.,'” said one long-time Dallas area manager whose store was affected. “They said, ‘We’re closing. Lock up and go home. It was very short and very shocking.”

The move – which shuttered old and new locations -- puts hundreds of Dallas-area workers on the unemployment line.

“They’re out of a job just like me,” said the manager, who declined to be named because employees were told not to talk to the media.

The store closings end a tumultuous period for the decades-old chain.

In late May, Clay Dover, president and chief executive of Metromedia, quit abruptly after about six months on the job, saying he and the owners could not agree on “the strategic direction for the company."

Days later, the company denied a report in The Wall Street Journal that it had prepared a bankruptcy filing, but said it was “currently in the process of formulating a proposal to present to its lenders to restructure its indebtedness.”

By mid-morning, the grapevine had moved faster than managers who were trying to reach staff members by phone to tell them not to come in.

“Word of mouth is out there,” said another manager. “So most already know.”

Plano-based Bennigan's chain closing, managers say 11:18 AM CT | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/073008dnmetbennigans.140b9e44.html)

bwana_bob
07-29-2008, 12:15 PM
Anyone been by an Oklahoma Steak & Ale today?

From The Wall Street Journal:

Bennigan's, Steak & Ale Close,
File for Bankruptcy Protection
By JEFFREY MCCRACKEN and JANET ADAMY
July 29, 2008 12:47 p.m.
National restaurant chains Bennigan's and Steak & Ale have closed their doors and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, shuttering more than 300 locations and letting go of thousands of employees.

It is one of the country's largest restaurant bankruptcies and eliminates two sit-down chains that have been part of the casual-dining landscape for decades. The chains will liquidate and aren't likely to re-open.

Late Monday, managers at Bennigan's and Steak & Ale were told not to open restaurants the next day, according to two people familiar with the matter. Employees were told there wouldn't be enough money to pay them for the rest of the week, these people said.


Reuters
The Bennigan's Grill and Tavern in Arvada, Colo.
Leah Templeton, a spokeswoman for the company, said in an email that the companies that filed bankruptcy cases are popularly known as Steak & Ale, Bennigan's and Tavern restaurants. She said that not all stores using these trade names have filed bankruptcy, and that stores operated by franchisees aren't named as debtors in these filings. She said the filing doesn't include the company's Ponderosa and Bonanza restaurants, which operate under Metromedia Steakhouses Company L.P.

The pub-themed Bennigan's had 310 restaurants in 32 states. It was founded in 1976. It is heavily concentrated in states like Texas, Illinois and Michigan. It posted U.S. sales of $542 million in 2007, according to Technomic Inc., a food-industry research and consulting firm.

The restaurant chains are owned and managed by Plano-based Metromedia Restaurant Group, a unit of billionaire John Kluge's Metromedia empire.

Metromedia also manages Bonanza, Ponderosa and 29 Degrees and Southlake Tavern. The latter two also are closing. 29 Degrees opened in March 2007.

Metromedia Restaurant Group earlier this year violated several terms of a lending agreement with GE Capital Solutions. It had been in negotiations with lenders for months to stave off the filing, while closing some stores and looking for a buyer, said two people involved in the matter.

The filing is the most extreme sign yet of how midpriced sit-down restaurants are undergoing one of their worst periods in decades. High ingredient and labor costs are eating into profits, and several years of rapid expansion by bar and grill chains has left a glut of locations in the market. Pressures on consumer spending like high gasoline prices and dwindling home values have prompted consumers to eat out less often or switch to cheaper fast-food meals.

Earlier this year, the parent companies of the Bakers Square, Village Inn and Old Country Buffet filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing falling sales and rising food costs. A host of other chains -- from Outback Steakhouse to Ruby Tuesday -- are also struggling.

Metromedia has about 750 company and franchised restaurant sites in more than 40 states and outside the U.S., according to its Web site. Its annual U.S. sales are estimated at $1 billion.

Mr. Kluge, a 93-year-old German immigrant with an estimated worth of $9.5 billion, originally bought Bonanza and Ponderosa in the 1980s, later adding the Bennigan's Grill & Tavern and Steak & Ale chains into one umbrella company. Mr. Kluge is chairman, CEO and president of holding company Metromedia Co.

Metromedia's steak houses -- Ponderosa, Bonanza and Steak & Ale -- are concentrated in states including Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. It posted 2007 U.S. sales of $388 million from 370 sites.

Write to Jeffrey McCracken at jeff.mccracken@wsj.com and Janet Adamy at janet.adamy@wsj.com

Free Preview - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121734771456393641.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)

ddavidson8
07-29-2008, 03:41 PM
The Bennigans in the Houston area are basically the Crossroads Mall of casual dining. Go in at your own risk.

jsibelius
07-29-2008, 04:10 PM
I think those that worked in the Oklahoma locations should be grateful they closed before today because they probably got their final paychecks. I read there's a really good possibility the employees of the corporate restaurants that were still open until this announcement may not receive their final paycheck.

alan
07-31-2008, 06:12 PM
you'll be seeing a lot more of this in the future, not because of the economy but because chain restaurants usually don't have a life cycle longer than a decade. The ones that survive longer than that are the exception and not the norm.

Most chains these days are only trying to meet minimum standards and are going to be even shorter lived than those in the past.

Go and visit a great local place instead and give your neighbors a chance to impress you.