Bennigan's Shuts Down
Bennigan's is shuttering most of its locations: Portfolio reminds us that in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing "a company seeks to liquidate its assets and shut down." More important, is Applebee's next?
From the Bennigan's Careers page (site is loading slowly):
Do you ever get the feeling that you might be part Leprechaun? Is St. Patrick your favorite saint? Do you like to walk up to complete strangers and say, "Can I start you out with an appetizer?"
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
15 Comments:
You could only hope..
Markbb at 2:55PM on 07/29/08
I never ate there much, we used to go there to get drunk, dance and flirt with hockey players. No wait that was 1985 sorry.
JerzeeTomato at 4:07PM on 07/29/08
@Jerzee ~ LOL. ;-D
izatryt at 4:10PM on 07/29/08
It's about dang time. They all have shitty kitchens and lousy waitstaff, and there's not a damn thing Irish about 'em. Good riddance, says I.
dksbook at 4:59PM on 07/29/08
It has a place in my heart cause when I was 16 they didn't card me and my friends when we ordered drinks. There were a couple of places in town that we could count on serving us and Bennigan's was one of them.
Though I guess serving mixed drinks to 16 year old kids with baby faces is unlikely to grant you entry to restaurant heaven.
redfish at 5:14PM on 07/29/08
There were as Irish as Olive Garden is Italian. Okay, maybe even less... Either way, they always overcooked my meat.
DJ Dedd at 6:00PM on 07/29/08
Their food was not unique enough to distinguish themselves from the other fast food sit-down restaurants. I would rather go to Bennigan's than Applebee's though. Applebee's is the bottom of the barrel.
Cassaendra at 6:44PM on 07/29/08
@DJ Dedd, overcooked your meat? LOL Could you have said that in any funnier way? I don't think so.
littlesalsi at 6:49PM on 07/29/08
Why would Applebee's be next? Did the Portfolio story say this was the case?
Adam Kuban at 7:12PM on 07/29/08
I always wondered who kept Bennigan's in business! I went a couple times and remember being very unimpressed. The strangest place I ever saw a Bennigan's was in Seoul, South Korea, although I think some American chains do really well there because of their "American-ness" (for example, TGIFriday's).
marieinla at 8:02PM on 07/29/08
Do you think anyone will actually notice that they're gone??? :)
jonfoxx at 12:03AM on 07/30/08
What's a Bennigan's???????
(of course, this would be much more funny if I had an emoticon with question marks over its head in order to accentuate the sarcasm...)
thewrighttaste at 1:35AM on 07/30/08
Did I mention my sister worked at Bennigan's one summer for about 3 hours. Someone said they did not like the way their fries were and she said and I quote, "It is a god damned fried potato! What do you want me to do go yell at the guy who fries them or the farmer who grew the potatoes?"
The customer asked to see the manager and she was asked to go home.
We are genetically not correct for waiting tables. I knew this and never tried!
JerzeeTomato at 12:33PM on 07/30/08
I worked at a Bennigan's in Orlando, FL for five years in my very early 20s. I started out as a bus girl and worked my way up to Quality Assurance, Shift Leader and, eventually, an International Trainer. I was part of the team that opened the first international Bennigan's in Seoul, South Korea. I learned a great deal about business, customer service, teamwork and international relations. I was quite sad to hear of their demise, as I have a soft spot in my heart for all things Bennigan's. I still maintain friendships I made in my store, 15 years after leaving. Sure, Bennigan's wasn't a "true" Irish pub--so what? The employees and guests always had a good time, at least in my store. I will always be grateful to Bennigan's and the management team for affording me the opportunity to always learn something new and to travel to Korea for six weeks.
"Dá fheabhas é an t-ól is é an tart a dheireadh"
However good the drinking, thirst is how it ends.
A very loyal past employee and guest--
Michele N.
michele311 at 1:14PM on 08/12/08
I too was on that Korean Bennigans team headed by John Baker. I went on to do 15 International openings for the Company before I left the restaurant business in 2002. Hey Michelle do you ever talk to Matt Heer or Tammy Osborne any more?? Tammy probably committed suicide after Bennigans declared CH 7. Are you the one that had a mental meltdown at the London opening??
coryc at 3:27PM on 09/24/08