What Ever Happened To The Pub-Themed Restaurant Chain Bennigan's?
America has a wealth of experience when it comes to producing chain restaurants. Starting with A&W back in 1919 and White Castle in 1921, our nation's history is rich in brands that have dominated the casual dining landscape. Many have even arguably become international symbols of America, for better or for worse. Some of them, however, just didn't make it.
Consider the case of Bennigan's. As an Irish pub-themed chain introduced in 1976 via a partnership with Pillsbury, Bennigan's fulfilled a niche that seemed to give it an identity. After all, how many other pub-themed chains are there in America? Sadly for lovers of Bennigan's, it eventually fell by the wayside. Now, finding a Bennigan's is somewhat more difficult than locating an actual leprechaun. Among Celtic-themed restaurants, you're more likely to see a Tilted Kilt than a Bennigan's now. But how and why did it disappear in the first place?
The place just didn't stand out enough
The problem, somewhat paradoxically, is that Bennigan's just wasn't unique enough. True, the concept of an Irish pub chain unique, but the theme can only take you so far when the menu isn't doing much heavy lifting. The fare at Bennigan's was too much like the competition, with plenty of burgers, steak, fried appetizers, and some boilerplate soups.
If you're going to bring that weak sauce game to the table, sooner or later TGI Fridays and Applebee's (not to mention juggernauts like The Cheesecake Factory) are going to eat your lunch. Aside from the Monte Cristo sandwich (a colossal calorie bomb that many customers aren't going to order), Bennigan's didn't have much of anything that other places didn't. In trying to fit in and assuming that Americans wouldn't want to sample more unique fare like an Irish breakfast or colcannon, Bennigan's sank itself.
Bennigan's is trying to make a comeback
To say that Bennigan's fell hard is an understatement. When it declared bankruptcy in 2008, all 150 of its corporate-owned locations closed. The rest wasted away to the point where only eight full-service Bennigan's locations remain open in the U.S. in 2023. Currently, there are more international locations than domestic ones, with 14 total full-service spots in Mexico, El Salvador, Qatar, Bahrain, and Cyprus.
However, the company is attempting to make a comeback using ghost kitchens that are effectively separate from an operating restaurant. The upshot is people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (the location of the company's headquarters) who really miss that Monte Cristo can still get one on DoorDash, thanks to the company opening up two ghost kitchen locations there in early 2023. Then again, given that its website now only lists one of those two spots, maybe the comeback isn't doing so hot after all.
So next time you're at an Outback Steakhouse or Olive Garden, pour one out for Bennigan's. It wasn't particularly unique, but, well ... it existed, once, and that's something.