Dead and dying restaurant chains
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  Dead and dying restaurant chains
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Author Topic: Dead and dying restaurant chains  (Read 3170 times)
Torie
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« on: June 27, 2021, 08:19:09 AM »

The ICU room is full, with cots stringing out into the parking lot. I gained 5 pounds just reading about them all. I was sad to learn that Boston Market is in trouble however. I used to patronize them a lot when I lived in Laguna Niguel, CA.

https://explore.reference.com/these-53-restaurant-chains-are-on-the-brink-of-disappearing-entirely/2?utm_subid=6864936&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=thehill.com&utm_term={adid}&utm_campaign=999080&utm_template=infinite4&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyIalqu638QIVheuzCh2SSgSCEAEYASAAEgL0J_D_BwE
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WindowPhil
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« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2021, 09:30:07 AM »

Alot of these are "Boomery" ones.

Applebees radiates Boomer energy by serving premade food that appeals to Boomers and playing Boomer music. All you can eat buffets like Golden Corral and Old Country Buffet radiate Boomer energy, Hooters plays into the beauty standard popular with Boomers (big chested blonde women with spray tans) that lots of young people think looks tacky and gauche. 

Some I was surprised to see though. Buffalo Wild Wings, Taco Bell, chipotle and Starbucks don't radiate Boomer energy at all. I could see these as having a better chance at surviving than the "Boomer ones".
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vitoNova
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« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2021, 11:01:46 AM »

Golden Corral is simply the greatest thing to ever exist...like ever.

And if it ever goes under, I will be sounding the clarion for a Second American Revolution. 
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Crane
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« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2021, 01:20:16 PM »

All these restaurants suffered because the American middle class is, slowly but surely, disappearing.
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Ray Goldfield
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« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2021, 02:13:32 PM »

Is this article out of date? Some of these, like Old Country Buffet, are straight-up dead.
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Del Tachi
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« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2021, 03:28:23 PM »

Casual dining chains (i.e., Applebee's, TGI Fridays, Olive Garden, etc.) are disappearing because they're being squeezed out by fast casual options like Chipotle and Panera that offer made-to-order food in the $8-15 range.  Full-service dining has incredibly high overhead/labor costs, so it's become prohibitively expensive compared to fast casual options. 
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H. Ross Peron
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« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2021, 03:29:52 PM »

Souplantation (also known as Sweet Tomato) was a soup and salad buffet in Southern California and other regions that several of my friends and I enjoyed going to. It unfortunately went out of business like many buffets during the pandemic. I'm sceptical some of the chains listed here such as TGI Fridays, Cheesecake Factory, or Jack in the Box really are endangered however.
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Utah Neolib
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« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2021, 03:44:00 PM »

Awww man
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« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2021, 08:40:45 PM »

Is this article out of date? Some of these, like Old Country Buffet, are straight-up dead.
It's literally one of those clickbait pieces you see advertised at the bottom of serious news articles on serious sites that provides them advertising revenue and is even set up in a way to maximize advertising views. Hardly a serious source.
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Ray Goldfield
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« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2021, 09:12:46 PM »

Souplantation (also known as Sweet Tomato) was a soup and salad buffet in Southern California and other regions that several of my friends and I enjoyed going to. It unfortunately went out of business like many buffets during the pandemic. I'm sceptical some of the chains listed here such as TGI Fridays, Cheesecake Factory, or Jack in the Box really are endangered however.

Basically all of them are going through some post-pandemic contraction. But 75% of them will still be around in ten years, and those that aren't (Ruby Tuesday's, Ponderosa) were heading in that direction anyway.
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« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2021, 09:27:06 PM »

Not surprised. The rise of food delivery options has provided a convenient alternative to traditional sit-down and dining. Why would I go to Red Robin or Applebee's for some overpriced though decent enough dishes when I could doordash some Wendy's and not have to leave the house?
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Skunk
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« Reply #11 on: June 28, 2021, 08:11:02 PM »

Hope Noodles and Company doesn't go under any time soon, I love that place.
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Nathan
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« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2021, 06:11:13 PM »

Maybe this is just a matter of getting old, but lately I find myself just as bored with the trendy independent spots. There is an oppressively generic quality to, say, the typical microbrewery as of 2021.

The distinction seems to fall between between local or immigrant businesses, where character shines through, and the kind of place that some rich individual or couple retiring out of finance or software built because they had money to spare. Many of these places look like they have been designed off of a template.

Granted, I have never lived anywhere with a shortage of reliably decent restaurants. This is a problem that I notice more often when traveling, especially to places in the West or South.

There's this place in Northampton whose name I can't remember right now that has this "shabby chic" repurposed-industrial-furniture-and-mason-jars aesthetic that I've always found absolutely infuriating but that a decade ago was at least distinctive. Nowadays there are at least four or five such places in Northampton, plus at least one or two in pretty much every other city or town of any size that I spend time in.
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« Reply #13 on: June 29, 2021, 07:17:31 PM »

Maybe this is just a matter of getting old, but lately I find myself just as bored with the trendy independent spots. There is an oppressively generic quality to, say, the typical microbrewery as of 2021.

The distinction seems to fall between between local or immigrant businesses, where character shines through, and the kind of place that some rich individual or couple retiring out of finance or software built because they had money to spare. Many of these places look like they have been designed off of a template.

Granted, I have never lived anywhere with a shortage of reliably decent restaurants. This is a problem that I notice more often when traveling, especially to places in the West or South.

There's this place in Northampton whose name I can't remember right now that has this "shabby chic" repurposed-industrial-furniture-and-mason-jars aesthetic that I've always found absolutely infuriating but that a decade ago was at least distinctive. Nowadays there are at least four or five such places in Northampton, plus at least one or two in pretty much every other city or town of any size that I spend time in.

Back when my father and stepmother, in full midlife crisis mode, moved to Mount Vernon (about five blocks north of where I currently live) in their attempt to be hip and enable Amtrak commuting to DC, they made a habit of going to whatever restaurants seemed most hip to them through their "lived in the suburbs since the late 80s" filter, which were naturally whatever locals tended to shy away from. I remember quite clearly a very unremarkable pub-cum-microbrewery that they kept going to even after moving out of the city, all the while discussing how horribly managed it was and how they'd inevitably go underwater. I still regularly eat somewhere right across the street from there and reflect on what that stands for in a gayborhood where all the gay and lesbian bars have been closing for a decade and my <500 square foot apartment is still a thousand a month.

I can't remember the last time I patronized a chain restaurant, nor do I care to.
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ultraviolet
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« Reply #14 on: June 29, 2021, 08:20:02 PM »

Actual clickbait article, most of these chains will remain don’t worry
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beaver2.0
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« Reply #15 on: June 30, 2021, 11:38:34 AM »

I wish Panda Express was on that list.  I hate that place.  Their fried rice is just rice dyed brown.  Everyone involved in its creation should be exiled to the South Atlantic.
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H. Ross Peron
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« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2021, 02:01:12 PM »

I wish Panda Express was on that list.  I hate that place.  Their fried rice is just rice dyed brown.  Everyone involved in its creation should be exiled to the South Atlantic.

Panda Express is perfectly fine as long as you dont think it's real Chinese food. Most Asian friends I have love eating there lol.
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beaver2.0
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« Reply #17 on: June 30, 2021, 02:16:38 PM »

I wish Panda Express was on that list.  I hate that place.  Their fried rice is just rice dyed brown.  Everyone involved in its creation should be exiled to the South Atlantic.

Panda Express is perfectly fine as long as you dont think it's real Chinese food. Most Asian friends I have love eating there lol.
I disagree.  It is filth personified.  I went there once as a child and was so offended and my dyed rice I can never return.
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PSOL
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« Reply #18 on: June 30, 2021, 09:17:52 PM »

I wish Panda Express was on that list.  I hate that place.  Their fried rice is just rice dyed brown.  Everyone involved in its creation should be exiled to the South Atlantic.

Panda Express is perfectly fine as long as you dont think it's real Chinese food. Most Asian friends I have love eating there lol.
I disagree.  It is filth personified.  I went there once as a child and was so offended and my dyed rice I can never return.
Panda Express isn’t that bad.
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H. Ross Peron
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« Reply #19 on: June 30, 2021, 09:33:03 PM »

I wish Panda Express was on that list.  I hate that place.  Their fried rice is just rice dyed brown.  Everyone involved in its creation should be exiled to the South Atlantic.

Panda Express is perfectly fine as long as you dont think it's real Chinese food. Most Asian friends I have love eating there lol.
I disagree.  It is filth personified.  I went there once as a child and was so offended and my dyed rice I can never return.
Panda Express isn’t that bad.

The Orange Chicken is pretty good. I've noticed that in other Chinese takeout places, Orange Chicken often tends to become soggy pretty quickly and lack crispiness.
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Nathan
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« Reply #20 on: June 30, 2021, 10:34:56 PM »

Panda Express isn't that bad by the standards of Chinese takeout in the US. It's one of those cuisines that American restaurants just can't seem to get right in non-full-service contexts.
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H. Ross Peron
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« Reply #21 on: June 30, 2021, 10:36:39 PM »

Panda Express isn't that bad by the standards of Chinese takeout in the US. It's one of those cuisines that American restaurants just can't seem to get right in non-full-service contexts.

What would you say are other such cuisines? Incidentally, I'm pretty fond of Boston-area Chinese-American takeout with fried rice being more savoury than elsewhere and unique dishes such as Chinese chicken fingers. Calling dumplings "Peking ravioli" is silly though.
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Geoffrey Howe
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« Reply #22 on: July 01, 2021, 09:00:29 AM »

Maybe this is just a matter of getting old, but lately I find myself just as bored with the trendy independent spots. There is an oppressively generic quality to, say, the typical microbrewery as of 2021.

The distinction seems to fall between between local or immigrant businesses, where character shines through, and the kind of place that some rich individual or couple retiring out of finance or software built because they had money to spare. Many of these places look like they have been designed off of a template.

Granted, I have never lived anywhere with a shortage of reliably decent restaurants. This is a problem that I notice more often when traveling, especially to places in the West or South.

There's this place in Northampton whose name I can't remember right now that has this "shabby chic" repurposed-industrial-furniture-and-mason-jars aesthetic that I've always found absolutely infuriating but that a decade ago was at least distinctive. Nowadays there are at least four or five such places in Northampton, plus at least one or two in pretty much every other city or town of any size that I spend time in.

I know exactly what you mean. I went to a place in your and Averroes' part of the world in Littleton, NH (20 mins from St Johnsbury) which was an old converted warehouse straddling the Ammonoosuc River that managed to avoid this ambience and be rather enjoyable. The lack of students and tourists (they seem to go closer to the White Mountains) helps, I think.
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« Reply #23 on: July 01, 2021, 10:10:56 AM »

Boston Market has been through a hell of a lot, but I admit it does, as some others have stated here, radiate boomer energy. When I was a kid I remember it was always that boring sh**ttier version of fast food my parents liked but I didn't, but in adulthood I rediscovered it and really like it. I hope there will still be some around the next time I visit America.
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GregTheGreat657
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« Reply #24 on: July 15, 2021, 11:01:29 AM »

Golden Corral is simply the greatest thing to ever exist...like ever.

And if it ever goes under, I will be sounding the clarion for a Second American Revolution. 
Very based
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