# Goodbye, Bennigans **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 29, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132 "2008-07-29T19:45:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/1 "2008-07-29T19:45:27Z")
The chain restaurant that we love to hate is filing bankruptcy. [Bankruptcy](http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/29/news/companies/bennigans_bankruptcy.ap/index.htm?iref=topnews/) ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/2 "2008-07-29T19:51:07Z")
I’m sure Butters is taking this hard. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/3 "2008-07-29T19:59:11Z")
Wow. Next time I feel the urge to grab a beer in an ice cream parlor, I’ll have one less option. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/4 "2008-07-29T20:01:36Z")
I _liked_ Bennigans, never did go to the one in Dublin though, way out the southside ya see. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/5 "2008-07-29T20:03:21Z")
Our local Bennigan’s has looked bankrupt for a good year now. Maybe something unique will take its place. Like the joint that was there forevah prior to Bennigan’s. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/6 "2008-07-29T20:06:43Z")
Hopefully, they can drag Applebee’s with them. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/7 "2008-07-29T20:23:30Z")
O’Charley’s and Chili’s pretty much killed all the Benniganses around here, AFAIK. I haven’t seen one for over a decade. Too bad. They made a mean Monte Cristo. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/8 "2008-07-29T20:24:31Z")
Hopefully more and more of these chain monstrosities will continue to die off and local mom and pop restaurants / bar and grills will spring up in their place. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/9 "2008-07-29T20:29:26Z")
[QUOTE=Amp] Hopefully more and more of these chain monstrosities will continue to die off and local mom and pop restaurants / bar and grills will spring up in their place. [/QUOTE] yeah, and Starbucks will close, and Home Depot and Walmart. And then we’ll have nothing but great mom & pop businesses, and everyone will live happily ever after. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/10 "2008-07-29T20:41:17Z")
But you can eat the food at Bennigan’s. That’s more than can be said about most of the other chains mentioned. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/11 "2008-07-29T20:42:46Z")
I’ve heard of them, but have never been in one and am not even sure what they serve. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/12 "2008-07-29T20:43:52Z")
My husband loves those Monte Cristos. He’ll be pissed. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/13 "2008-07-29T20:44:47Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] Hopefully, they can drag Applebee’s with them. [/QUOTE] Yes…Applebee’s is even worse, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/14 "2008-07-29T20:45:03Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] yeah, and Starbucks will close, and Home Depot and Walmart. And then we’ll have nothing but great mom & pop businesses, and everyone will live happily ever after. [/QUOTE] I think the restaurant business is different than all those other ones you mentioned. The Sony CD player I can buy at Best Buy is the same on at Wal-Mart so in that case I do shop for the lowest price. With food it’s a bit different. Chain restaurants are forced to buy from the same distributor and most of the food isn’t even prepared fresh. They just reheat industrial sized TV dinners and serve them to you. For the most part chain restaurant food is bland and flavorless. I prefer to pay more to eat at a local cafe/restaurant/bar & grill because the food is almost always better. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/15 "2008-07-29T20:47:46Z")
There’s a Bennigan’s less than a block from my apartment, literally right across the street from my complex, and it’s a testament to how much I hate them that even on those nights that I am DYING for a drink or some bar food, I’ll walk across a much busier boulevard to go to a different chain restaurant. It’s not necessarily that their food is so much worse than other bar/chain food (although some of it is rank), or that their drinks are worse, but the one by my place is SO. DANG. LOUD. All the time. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/16 "2008-07-29T20:54:55Z")
[QUOTE=Amp] I think the restaurant business is different than all those other ones you mentioned. The Sony CD player I can buy at Best Buy is the same on at Wal-Mart so in that case I do shop for the lowest price. With food it’s a bit different. Chain restaurants are forced to buy from the same distributor and most of the food isn’t even prepared fresh. They just reheat industrial sized TV dinners and serve them to you. For the most part chain restaurant food is bland and flavorless. I prefer to pay more to eat at a local cafe/restaurant/bar & grill because the food is almost always better. [/QUOTE] I respectfully disagree. I’ve cooked in both Chain and mom & pop bistros, it really depends on the individual places, some local eateries are good, some chains are good, likewise some local greasy spoons are vile, and some chains are vile. But even the chains at the Applebee level and above do not “reheat industrial sized TV dinners”. There are processed sauces and spice packs from corporate, true, but the meat, the pasta and salads are pretty much all freshly cooked. The breads are 9 out of 10 times purchased from local bakeries, same as mom & pop. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/17 "2008-07-29T21:05:28Z")
I heard a rumor that the problem at Bennigans’ was NOT ENOUGH FLAIR. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/18 "2008-07-29T21:09:55Z")
Goodbye, Monte Cristo… _sniff_ Am I really the only one who liked Bennigans’? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/19 "2008-07-29T21:12:24Z")
Bennigan’s! That always makes me think of Butters and that episode where his mom tries to kill him and his dad his gay. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132/20 "2008-07-29T21:12:44Z")
[QUOTE=photopat] I heard a rumor that the problem at Bennigans’ was NOT ENOUGH FLAIR. [/QUOTE] Is that possible? Didn’t they have a corporate policy requiring a certain minimum number of items of flair? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-bennigans/458132.md?page=2)