Ignore my comment about Office Space…that wasn’t Bennigans. Bad brain moment.
Strange. Thousands of people working their butts off; all of them out of work because of decisions made at the head office someplace.
It was, they just called it Tchotchke’s.
I loved Bennigan’s when I was younger for the reasons choie, but I rarely went there after I moved to Austin since there were many better options. I
I’m not! I even used to have a Sambo’s coffee mug.
I never went to Bennigan’s much, but one time I did (on FM1960 north of Houston), a guy at the bar tried to talk me into going home with his wife so he could watch. I didn’t (and she was fairly hot, too). That was in 1983, and it’s been pretty much all downhill since.
I’m pretty sure that Tchotchke’s was a piss-take of a T.G.I. Friday’s.
As others have mentioned, the Bennigan’s Monte Cristo was to die for - literally. I think you could eat five in your lifetime before your heart would explode out of your chest. They also had good fish 'n chips, and an appetizer - “Bacon Broccoli Bites,” I think - that was fantastic.
My Fox affiliate in Austin just announced that the closings also apply to Steak & Ale. They said 300 stores were closing, which sounded like some restaurants would still stay open. I hope so, and if there’s one in Austin remaining, I’ll give them my business!
The Steak and Ale down here in Ft Myers sucks dog nuts. I hope it closes. Hell, it looks like it closed years ago, but keeps on going like a brain dead body on life-support.
Yeah, you can eat it if you want to spend the rest of the evening in the bathroom…
Apparently the corporate ones are the ones that are closing, the franchise ones are not. No clue as to the ratio of corporate stores to franchises out there. I suppose it will be one of those things where 10 years from now I’ll be driving through Pocatello and I’ll be shocked that there’s a Bennigans there.
Monte Cristos are awesome. I can never finish more than 1/2 at one sitting but every so often I get a craving, and . . . mmmmm.
On a different note, I find it amusing that Bennigans is considered a “nice” restaurant here in Seoul, along with TGIF and Outback.
Outback and Ruby Tuesdays are also on shaky ground. Country Buffet (HomeTown Buffet) filed Chapter 11 in January.
Dammit, Dammit, Dammit.
I only discovered the joy that is otherwise known as a Monte Cristo while I was deployed. Every Sunday in the dining facility they would serve Monte Cristo’s and Reubens. My tounge would almost beat a hole in my head trying to get at one of those two sandwiches. When I got home, I couldn’t find anyplace that served a Monte Cristo. I tried to make one and failed badly.
Mildly bored and hungry one afternoon I discovered a Bennigan’s menu. Reuben’s, Monte Cristo’s, and even draft beer. I went, got a take out for myself and babygirl. Love at first bite, I’ll have you know. Then that one closed down. I suffered for months. I moved to Paris, TX, and discover that there is not only a Bennigan’s in Dallas, but one in Texarkana. Now a normal man would not drive over 90 minutes for a sandwich, but on two occasions I did (Hell with the cost of gas, we are talking real food here). Now to discover that I will never be able to enjoy that again.
Some of the joy has gone out of my life. [sob]
SSG Schwartz
I’ve only been to Bennigan’s twice. Once where I was on my first date with a guy who turned out to be a total asshole (only I didn’t know until 2 years later!) and the second time was not too long ago when I learned what a Monte Cristo is and that I do not like fried sandwiches 
urp
So, sorry Bennigan’s - I will not miss you one bit!
I liked it too, now I’m so depressed I’m just going to go home and watch “Kung-Fu”.
It’s about 50/50 for Bennigan’s worldwide. Different in different regions–here in the DFW area, near the corporate parent, virtually all of them are corporate owned … The Steak & Ale chain does not have independent franchises, though. Those are all corporate and are all closed.
(Slight hijack–I know some former employees of a former contractor of Metromedia Restaurant Group, the umbrella corporation that owns not only this company but also the parent corporation of Ponderosa and Bonanza. They’ve been predicting something like this for over a year … There were some serious operational problems for the S&A Restaurant Corp. subsidiary, evidently. The Wiki article is incorrect, BTW–MRG hasn’t filed Chapter 7, just the S&A subsidiary. Their other big subsidiary, Metromedia Steakhouses, is still in the black, from what I understand.)
Damn, I finally went to look up locations and sure enough, the Carolinas are ahead of the curve in being Bennigan’s-free.
Is a Monte Cristo hard to make at home? I’ve never had one, but it sounds like French toast with cheese and meat, something that shouldn’t take so long to make.
Never eaten at a Bennigans [just try to pistolwhip me!]. We had an Irishy bar open down the street from us. Ate there once, saw that everything had a cutesy Irish name (The Dublin Club sandwich, for example, on untoasted white bread), and they actually no shit had Lucky Charms on the dinner menu. We keep hoping it’ll go out of business.
At least it made the good local bar step up its game servicewise. Used to be the service sucked, but within a week of this place opening, the good place managed to figure out how to do service right.
That was really rambling.
Daniel
If what I heard on the radio this morning is correct, every Bennigans in Ohio is corporate-owned, so they’re all gone. Sorry for all the people losing their jobs.
Damn, I was fond of the one on Howe Road in Akron, by Chapel Hill Mall.
It’s ham and cheese on a layered sandwich. Then the whole thing is dunked in batter and fried. Dust with powdered sugar and serve (2-4 heart attacks per serving).