Bennigan's

[HoJofan206]

We had one of these restaurants in Evansville back in the 1980's. It was ALWAYS packed on the weekends and then one day they closed up and literally tore the building down and put a Pier One Imports in its place.  Last summer I was in St. Louis and saw a sign advertising for a Bennigan's Restaurant.  I never got to eat at ours (I was very young back when it was here).  Does anyone know what type of fare they serve.  I am guessng it is kinda like an Applebee's.

[amesman]

yes, it was kind of like an Applebees. The only ones near me, are in Albany, with one being on the site of a former Howard Johnson's restaurant.

[AmesNewington]

There's one in Wethersfield CT and it's sort of like of a steak house/grill/tavern. It's across from the plaza with the Mega Marshall's and Walgreens on the Silas Deane Highway.

[store215]

There's only location sort of close by that I've only eaten in one or 2 times. They are closer to a TGI Fridays than an Applebee's.

[HoJofan206]

Is the Bennigan's in the old HoJo building?  Or did they tear it down?

[HoJofan206]

I found out something strange today.  I was told from someone that was affiliated with the Bennigan's here in Evansville that the reason the restaurant closed was because (at the time) city/state laws required the bar area of restaurants to not be viewable by patrons under the age of 21.  They were gonna have to redo the inside of the building to meet current laws and instead just closed the place up and sold the land to Pier One.  Kinda strange because now we have all kinds of restaurant chains that have the bar in the middle of the building viewable by everyone.

1. Applebee's
2. Chili's
3. Texas Roadhouse
4. TGI Friday's
5. O'Charlie's
6. Outback Steakhouse
7. Logan's
8. Tumbleweed's
9. Hacienda

Have I missed any?

[amesman]

Bennigan's tore down the old Hojo's, and built from the ground up..

[BillyGr]

Originally posted by amesman
Bennigan's tore down the old Hojo's, and built from the ground up..

Here you go - the Latham Bennigan's (on the site of the former HoJo - the hotel was also demolished and rebuilt part at a time and is now a Clarion).

The 2nd shot is the (former) East Greenbush location just off Exit 9 of I-90 - it closed without warning several months ago - was only built about 3 years ago (give or take).  Apparently, the franchisee who had these 2 restaurants went bankrupt - the only reason the Latham one is still open is because the Clarion owners took it over.  I don't know why the EG one didn't do the same (there is a Holiday Inn Express next door).

[d_fife]

Originally posted by BillyGr

Originally posted by amesman
Bennigan's tore down the old Hojo's, and built from the ground up..

Here you go - the Latham Bennigan's (on the site of the former HoJo - the hotel was also demolished and rebuilt part at a time and is now a Clarion).

The 2nd shot is the (former) East Greenbush location just off Exit 9 of I-90 - it closed without warning several months ago - was only built about 3 years ago (give or take).  Apparently, the franchisee who had these 2 restaurants went bankrupt - the only reason the Latham one is still open is because the Clarion owners took it over.  I don't know why the EG one didn't do the same (there is a Holiday Inn Express next door).

I saw one in framingham once.

[amesman]

Originally posted by BillyGr

Originally posted by amesman
Bennigan's tore down the old Hojo's, and built from the ground up..

Here you go - the Latham Bennigan's (on the site of the former HoJo - the hotel was also demolished and rebuilt part at a time and is now a Clarion).

The 2nd shot is the (former) East Greenbush location just off Exit 9 of I-90 - it closed without warning several months ago - was only built about 3 years ago (give or take).  Apparently, the franchisee who had these 2 restaurants went bankrupt - the only reason the Latham one is still open is because the Clarion owners took it over.  I don't know why the EG one didn't do the same (there is a Holiday Inn Express next door).

Actually, BillyGr, the old Hojos hotel wasn't demolsihed completely. The original guest buildings are still there(but heavily remodeled). The only portion of the motel that was torn down was the gate lodge. Also, a new lobby was built in between two of the original guest buildings.

[Zayre88]

Bennigan's is part of Metromedia Restaurant Group with Bonanza, Steak & Ale, The Plano Tavern and Ponderosa.

http://www.metromediarestaurants.com/

[df559]

We had 2 Bennigan's here but both closed down and sat empty for quite a while. One became something called Logan's Roadhouse, and the other is still empty as far as I know.

Metromedia Restaurants are the same people that used to be Metromedia Broadcasting. They were a huge outfit in the 70's and 80's before selling everything. The TV stations they owned were:

WNEW Ch 5 New York
KTTV Ch 11 L.A.
WFLD Ch 32 Chicago
WCVB Ch 5 Boston
KNEW Ch 32 San Francisco
KRLD Ch 33 Dallas
WTTG Ch 5 Washington DC
KRIV Ch 26 Houston
WTCN Ch 11 Minneapolis
KOVR Ch 13 Scaramento
KMBC Ch 9 Kansas City
WXIX Ch 19 Cincinnati
WTVH Ch 19 Peoria

Radio Properties included:
WNEW 102.7 FM New York
WNEW 1130 AM New York
KMET 94.7 FM L.A.
KLAC 570 AM L.A.
KNEW 910 AM San Francisco
KRLD 1080 AM Dallas
WMMR 93.3 FM Philadelphia
WIP 610 AM Philadelphia
WASH 97.1 FM Washington DC
WCBM 680 AM Baltimore

They also owned the television studio known as "Metromedia Square". A lot of 70's and 80's TV shows were filmed there, such as "Good Times", "The Jeffersons", "All In The Family", "One Day At A Time" and "The Facts Of Life". Metromedia Square was also the home of KTTV, KMET and KLAC.

[HoJofan206]

I find that to be strange that they were involved with restaurants AND television.  Doesnt seem like a likely pair.

[df559]

I don't know if they owned the restaurants and TV stations at the same time. I suspect they bought the restaurants after they liquidated their broadcast properties.

[amesman]

A closed Bennigan's in Syracuse on Erie Blvd.

[d_fife]

hamden ct

[d_fife]

danbury ct bennigans and it is on the way to brookfield

[HoJofan206]

A current Bennigan's location.

[amesman]

Many Bennigans locations have closed in Upstate NY in the past few months. Syracuse, Latham, East Greenbush, all gone. Only three remain listed on their corporate site. Two on Long Island, and one in White Plains.

[store215]

They're gone....the parent company closed them all down (except the franchised ones) as of today. I haven't been to one in years, but I have heard from other people they overall became terrible with slow service, poor food. Judging from the posts in this thread, they weren't too popular either.

The parent company is also closing Steak & Ale restaurants that are corporate owned. Ponderosa/Bonanza are also part of the same company, but not closing (at least for now..)

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by MBZ321
They're gone....the parent company closed them all down (except the franchised ones) as of today. I haven't been to one in years, but I have heard from other people they overall became terrible with slow service, poor food. Judging from the posts in this thread, they weren't too popular either.

The parent company is also closing Steak & Ale restaurants that are corporate owned. Ponderosa/Bonanza are also part of the same company, but not closing (at least for now..)

Wow!  That's happening so suddenly.  I would have thought that Ponderosa/Bonanza would have been the first chains to go in that company.  Nearly 300 restaurants will close.

[Ameskid]

Seriously?! Wow!  I went to one in Chicago, and the service was AWFUL.  They gave nme a toasted cheese instead of a grilled cheese! :flaming:

[Marc82]

My source at the Ponderosa in Southington, Ct says they're not doing too well and wouldn't be surprised if they were next to go. (no  pun intended)

[Lastdaysofrain]

The one on Rt 1 North in Saugus, MA closed about six months ago suddenly, makes sense now.

[Mobil]

Originally posted by MBZ321
They're gone....the parent company closed them all down (except the franchised ones) as of today. I haven't been to one in years, but I have heard from other people they overall became terrible with slow service, poor food. Judging from the posts in this thread, they weren't too popular either.

The parent company is also closing Steak & Ale restaurants that are corporate owned. Ponderosa/Bonanza are also part of the same company, but not closing (at least for now..)

Does anyone know if the Bennigan's in the Philadelphia area are still open? Their signs are all still up, but I have not had a chance to get a good look. Their website is closed with no explanation as well.

[HoJofan206]

Yet another dead Bennigans.

[nims57]

Originally posted by HoJofan206
I found out something strange today.  I was told from someone that was affiliated with the Bennigan's here in Evansville that the reason the restaurant closed was because (at the time) city/state laws required the bar area of restaurants to not be viewable by patrons under the age of 21.  They were gonna have to redo the inside of the building to meet current laws and instead just closed the place up and sold the land to Pier One.  Kinda strange because now we have all kinds of restaurant chains that have the bar in the middle of the building viewable by everyone.

1. Applebee's
2. Chili's
3. Texas Roadhouse
4. TGI Friday's
5. O'Charlie's
6. Outback Steakhouse
7. Logan's
8. Tumbleweed's
9. Hacienda

Have I missed any?

Why? Sounds absurd.

[HoJofan206]

I should make a point that the Bennigan's in Evansville opened and closed in the early 1980's. I am sure laws in many/most states have been alterned since this time.