Word: bennigan
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Restaurateur Norman Brinker, 78, the creator of the salad bar, made a fortune by merging fast food and upscale dining. He started Bennigan's in 1976 and turned the Tex-Mex chain Chili's into an international brand...
...Brands, which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, and Burger King have also seen sales growth, though at smaller levels than McDonald's.) Casual-dining joints are reeling: P.F. Chang's and the Cheesecake Factory, for example, saw their third-quarter 2008 profits fall 43% and 36%, respectively. Bennigan's went bankrupt, Ruby Tuesday will shutter 40 locations by the end of February, and more than a dozen regional chains have filed for bankruptcy. "Any time people can trade down, they're doing that," says Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, which studies consumer behavior...
They're a lot harder to distinguish than they are to find. Bennigan's had an Irish theme, with burgers slathered in Guinness and a drink called the Blarney Blast, but it was about as Gaelic as Barack O'Bama. Its Fajita Chicken Quesadillas somehow lacked that old-country Dublin feel. Its signature sandwich, the Monte Cristo, was a surgeon general's worst nightmare: "A delicious combination of ham and turkey, plus Swiss and American cheeses on wheat bread. Lightly battered and fried until golden. Dusted with powdered sugar and served with red raspberry preserves for dipping." You have...
...Bennigan's failed a few days after the state of California banned trans fats, so it's tempting to blame its demise on an antiobesity backlash. But fast-food joints are doing fine. The real problem is that middle-class families are struggling, and food prices are soaring. In good times, a trip to the local Outback or Olive Garden could be part of the family routine; with gas prices near $4 a gallon, it's become a special occasion...
...Bennigan's--an Old Navy of cuisine, a Levittown of the dining experience--just wasn't all that special. If Americans still want chicken wings and chocolate desserts served with an Irish surname, they can always go to Houlihan...