Bennigan's: Erin Go Broke

News broke this morning that all 300 restaurants in the Texas-based Bennigan's chain had mysteriously and suddenly closed overnight, all across the nation. Confused staff reported showing up to work and being met by shuttered doors, while some managers spent their morning calling employees to inform them of the situation. Thousands of waitstaff, line cooks, bartenders and bussers across the country are simply stranded, waiting for any news from Bennigan's on whether or not they'll have a job tomorrow.

There has been no official press release, news conference or statement to confirm whether or not these closures are permanent or to give any reason behind the abrupt and callous decision. News of the closures have even affected the Bennigan's website and that of its parent company, Metromedia Restaurant Group, which also owns Steak & Ale and the Bonzana and Ponderosa steakhouse chains. Both websites have been down most of the morning. When finally reached, the "News" section of both websites were starkly silent.

Calls to the corporate headquarters at Metromedia regarding the closures have gone unanswered except for a terse, "No comment." Just this past year, Metromedia introduced a new line of Bennigan's restaurants called Bennigan's Sport. Launched in Dallas in November 2007, Bennigan's Sport was to be a national chain of sports bars serving faux Irish-American fare, much in the same vein as its sister restaurants. The closure of all Bennigan's nationwide is even stranger in light of this fact.

Houston is home to at least 20 Bennigan's restaurants in the city and surrounding metropolitan areas. Calls placed this morning by Houstonist to the locations netted the same result each time: a phone ringing off the hook and no answering service. Only one location answered the phone when we called: the Bennigan's in Greenspoint off Beltway 8. The befuddled-sounding manager at that location politely told us that they were, in fact, closed. He further confirmed that all other Bennigan's in Houston were closed as well.

Despite seeming completely nonplussed about the situation and the amount of phone calls he was receiving, the manager was friendly but obviously distraught. He told Houstonist that a meeting would soon be taking place with the corporate office, but he couldn't discuss any further details. When asked if he thought the closure was temporary, he simply answered sadly, "No, I'm afraid not."

With Starbucks' recent decision to close 600 stores and general tales of economic woe permeating the daily news, Bennigan's overnight closures will only provide more cannon fodder for the swiftly advancing recession. The manager of the Bennigan's in Greenspoint seemed to echo this sentiment. When we wished him luck in the meeting today, his only answer was: "It's just a sign of the times."

Update: Steak & Ale can be added to the list to the casualty list, as it was just confirmed that both Bennigan's and Steak & Ale have declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy through Metromedia Restaurant Group. There are only six Steak & Ale locations in Houston, but there are 60 locations nationwide.

---

Photo courtesy of flickr user shashchatter through a Creative Commons license.