Houstonist: Bennigan's: Erin Go Broke

MaryJane

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:13:55 -0600

K & Adam, I totally agree, treating employees that way is reprehensible. They may be in bankruptcy, but, to heartlessly jack with someone's livelihood that way...horrible!! The added bad timing of days before most bills are typically due just makes it double-worse.

Cory Owen

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:30:19 -0600

As a lover all things artery clogging, I must defend their Monte Cristo--it was quite delectable. When done right at their restaurant (which was surprisingly often), the cheese was nice and oozy, the ham was wonderfully warm, and the deep fried bread was perfectly complimented by the raspberry sauce on the side. Oh wow, I'm all of a sudden very hungry.

Adam P. Newton

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:37:53 -0600

One of my roommates is/was an employee at a couple of North Houston Steak & Ale locations for over 6 years now. He received a call from one of his co-workers around 10:30am this morning to tell him that the whole place was boarded up & closed down. No one was told what was about to happen, leaving everyone jobless with no warning whatsoever. Totally classless behavior....

Katharine Shilcutt Gleave

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:57:18 -0600

Yeah, make no mistake: it's not the loss of great food which I'm lamenting, it's the loss of those peoples' jobs. Bennigan's was one step up from frozen dinners enjoyed in a flop house (with ferns!), but I feel terrible for their employees. What a shitty way to be treated. I personally find Monte Cristo sandwiches about as appetizing as a deep-fried dog turd, so I don't think you're missing anything, MJ. However, if you're keen on that deep-fried canine coprolite experience yourself, you can always stick a ham and Swiss sammich into a Fry Daddy.

MaryJane

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:47:42 -0600

So, I heard that the franchise Bennigan's restaurants may open back up? Although, according to comments on the chronical, Bush did it (however, "moron" was the rebuff). I think it has to do with rather poor quality food (read: trough) and high operating expense. I may seriously be missing out, but, I've never had a Monte Cristo and the only real use I had for the restaurant was swilling Long Island Teas in the Galleria in college.

neverfull

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:32:52 -0600

i'm excited about the possibilities of someone with good food moving into the bennigan's spot at kirby and 59. i do feel for the employees though. it's really irresponsible to treat loyal employees this way.

Cory Owen

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:55:06 -0600

Whoa! I have to say that after my last visit to the Bennigan's in the Galleria, I'm not too upset about this. I hope they release a statement soon so these poor employees can move on as quickly as possible.