# What Discontinued Casual Dining Item Would You Bring Back? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910 "2017-02-15T16:01:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/41 "2017-02-16T21:27:01Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Bennigan’s Monte Cristo. Came in to say this. Then thought I look up Bennigans. I didn’t think they even existed any more. But they do, and the menu does have the Monte. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/42 "2017-02-16T21:46:46Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I see it’s been mentioned a few times in this thread. I’be never even heard of it. Was it regional or is it just long gone? I think they were only regional and they shut down ages ago, I remember I was very surprised they closed. Sorry, I’m not much help, maybe another doper has more specific details. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/43 "2017-02-16T21:48:00Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Came in to say this. Then thought I look up Bennigans. I didn’t think they even existed any more. But they do, and the menu does have the Monte. Most Bennigan’s near me have closed which is sad because that monte cristo sandwich was so delicious! ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/44 "2017-02-16T22:06:21Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Bennigan’s Monte Cristo. Absolutely! And it was especially good dipping it into the raspberry preserves. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/45 "2017-02-16T22:37:37Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I think it may have only been in the northeast. There were a couple in NJ that I frequented and every one of them was busy. It has been gone a while now as well. I think they went away in the mid 2000s. Steak and Ale was started in Dallas in the late 1960’s and the highest density of its restaurants was in that general area although they expanded to lots of areas over time. We had them in northern Louisiana as well. As noted, they have a serious comeback plan that they have already started executing. The restaurants were very popular and there was nothing wrong with the general business model. They just had some sort of “corporate implosion” that caused it to collapse. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/46 "2017-02-16T22:52:22Z")
I miss Steak and Ale too. I’ll be dancing a jig if they come back. For a while they did a steak and crab leg dinner where they shave off part of each shell. Not only was it good, it was much easier to get to the crab meat. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/47 "2017-02-17T16:00:26Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Bennigan’s Monte Cristo. Heck yeah! Nobody makes Monte Cristo sandwiches anymore. A few years back I was a regular at a decent restaurant down the street, and one slow night I explained how to make a Monte Cristo. They did a great job and were going to actually put it on the menu, but closed soon after due to poor management. :mad: Now I have to make them myself. I miss York Steak House. It was an odd sort of restaurant. The atmosphere was rather posh (well, I was a kid, so take that with a big grain of salt), but it was a cheap-ish cafeteria-type restaurant at the mall. But the steak sandwiches were great, and I loved the parfaits. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/48 "2017-02-17T16:07:57Z")
> [@Elemenopy](#): > > Heck yeah! Nobody makes Monte Cristo sandwiches anymore. A few years back I was a regular at a decent restaurant down the street, and one slow night I explained how to make a Monte Cristo. They did a great job and were going to actually put it on the menu, but closed soon after due to poor management. :mad: Now I have to make them myself. > > I miss York Steak House. It was an odd sort of restaurant. The atmosphere was rather posh (well, I was a kid, so take that with a big grain of salt), but it was a cheap-ish cafeteria-type restaurant at the mall. But the steak sandwiches were great, and I loved the parfaits. 🙂 Cheddars makes Monte Cristo sandwiches that are fried. They aren’t as good as I remember Bennigan’s Monte Cristos being, but I find them tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/49 "2017-02-17T17:55:21Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > We had Steak and Ale in Florida. At one time they were owned by the same company that owns Bennigan’s. > > According to [Wikipedi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_and_Ale)a, they’re coming back in 2017! > > I have noticed that restaurants owned by the same company seem to be built close to each other. In my small(ish) town Red Lobster is next to Olive Garden (this was before Darden sold off Red Lobster) and Outback is across the road from Carrabba’s. At the chain I worked for, they would purchase land years, a decade even, before they planned to use it. When they built a new one in the city where I lived, there had been a used car lot there previously. It turned out that the chain had purchased it 15 years prior, and had been renting it out. Apparently there is a lot of thought put into where they believe development will occur, and purchase ahead of time accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/50 "2017-02-17T22:09:45Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Cheddars makes Monte Cristo sandwiches that are fried. They aren’t as good as I remember Bennigan’s Monte Cristos being, but I find them tasty. Unfortunately, I guess, we don’t have Cheddar’s restaurants nearby either. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/51 "2017-02-18T02:53:53Z")
> [@Spit](#): > > At the chain I worked for, they would purchase land years, a decade even, before they planned to use it. When they built a new one in the city where I lived, there had been a used car lot there previously. It turned out that the chain had purchased it 15 years prior, and had been renting it out. Apparently there is a lot of thought put into where they believe development will occur, and purchase ahead of time accordingly. Aldi, a European grocery chain, is in Aus and has a big chunk of the market. For years and years, foreign grocery chains were locked out of Australia by land-management laws that meant, as foreign companies, they couldn’t buy land unless they started immediate development. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/52 "2017-03-17T18:46:43Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > My favorite one of these was when I ordered buffalo strips at Denny’s and the waitress firmly warned me that they were hot. In actuality they don’t _taste_ bad but they don’t even make my nose run. I had to pop in to mention that I had a coupon for Hardee’s new Spicy Chicken Strips, so I tried them out. When I ordered them, the girl behind the counter warned me that they were quite spicy, and I thought “Yeah, right”. She was not kidding. I have never had fast-food that spicy. I was sucking in air while eating them to cool my tongue, and my lips tingled for a good 5 mins afterward. Fantastic! The only suggestion I would have is that they get rid of the salt in the spicy rub. That combined with the salt in the breading was a bit much for me, but I’m sure it would appeal to others. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/53 "2017-03-17T19:38:19Z")
H Salt Fish and Chips. Darn good fish, and I say this as someone who normally does not eat fish. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/54 "2017-03-17T20:31:05Z")
> [@Spit](#): > > I had to pop in to mention that I had a coupon for Hardee’s new Spicy Chicken Strips, so I tried them out. Hardee’s used to have better fried chicken than KFC and Popeye’s combined. I think they stopped selling it around 2000. I wonder if their new chicken offerings taste anything like their old fried chicken? (I remember their spicy chicken being similar to Popeye’s – you could taste it, but it was not very spicy. At least it wasn’t nonexistent like with most “spicy” fast foods.) ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/55 "2017-03-17T20:57:16Z")
They still sell fried chicken, at least they do here in Va. Trust me- It was spicy. I go through a bottle of El Yucateco habenero sauce per month, if that gives you an idea of my idea of “Spicy”. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/56 "2017-03-17T21:27:56Z")
Do carhops in miniskirts and roller-skates count? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/57 "2017-03-17T21:37:33Z")
> [@Spit](#): > > They still sell fried chicken, at least they do here in Va. Awesome. I looked it up and, [according to this reviewer](https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g57610-d4627513-r344634346-Hardee_s-Clarksville_Mecklenburg_County_Virginia.html), there are three Hardee’s still offering fried chicken (which apparently used to be Roy Rodgers fried chicken – learn something new everyday). ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/58 "2017-03-18T00:22:40Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Speaking of Chili’s… what happening to the curly fries that were perfect for dipping into it? That’s what I miss. Chili’s curly fries. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/59 "2017-03-18T16:36:56Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Awesome. I looked it up and, [according to this reviewer](https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g57610-d4627513-r344634346-Hardee_s-Clarksville_Mecklenburg_County_Virginia.html), there are three Hardee’s still offering fried chicken (which apparently used to be Roy Rodgers fried chicken – learn something new everyday). I did not realize that it was location specific. We routinely get chicken from there when doing outdoor projects in the summer at my in-laws. (Their house is too far from the Lee’s Chicken I mentioned in an earlier post) ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910/60 "2017-03-18T17:51:22Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Bennigan’s Monte Cristo. Bennigan’s Monte I did not like, partly because the three or so times I had one the frying oil had clearly been used for things like fish and onions and tasted bad. And also the breading was lumpy and greasy, not crisp and complimentary. The Magic Pan’s Monte was heaven though, I’ll take that back please. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-discontinued-casual-dining-item-would-you-bring-back/779910.md?page=4)