Remember Bennigan's?

Back in the 1980s there were certain restaurants that I seemed to hit with frequency. Steak and Ale and Bennigan's were among the favorites. Great for quick and easy lunch with the latter guaranteeing their meals will be at your table within five minutes of the order (regardless if your food was fully cooked) or it was free.

Somewhere along the way I stopped going. In fact, I can't remember the last time I visited either of these restaurants. To me, their decline was evident and has been chronic for quite some time. The quality of the food was in decline, the restaurants were not very clean, service was slow and inconsistent, and they simply weren't what they use to be.

The Associated Press today revealed the following today: "Restaurant chains Bennigan's and Steak & Ale have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and will shut their doors. The companies filed for bankruptcy protection in the Eastern District of Texas. Their parent company — privately held Metromedia Restaurant Group — is based in Plano, Texas.
In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, a company seeks to liquidate its assets and shut down.
In the filing, the company indicated that it has up to 49 creditors. It said it will have no funds left after administrative expenses are paid to repay its creditors. Neither Bennigan's nor the Metromedia Restaurant Group returned calls for comment. "

Their decline could be attributed to several factors. People may have grown to desire "real" neighborhood restaurants instead of chains that try to resemble such. It could be because of the difficult time restaurants are facing in general with rising prices due to the high price of fuel and the reluctance many people have to spend money or gas on such places.

Whatever the causes, it appears clear to me that these restaurants died long before the Associated Press wrote the above obituary.

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Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.