FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Marie Callendar's sudden restaurant closures

J. Clarke[_2_]

In article >, says...
>
> Mark Thorson wrote:
> > Nearly half of their locations closed suddenly today,
> > taking even long-time employees by surprise. The company
> > is in Chapter 11, and more closings are anticipated.
> >
> > I think I only went there once, decades ago. Normally
> > I wouldn't comment on a non-event like a restaurant or
> > even a whole chain closing, but it was the lead item on
> > the local news. Employees were interviewed expressing
> > shock at the lack of warning.
> >
> > Reminds me of the way they did it at an electronics company
> > where a friend of mine worked. A manager pulled the fire
> > alarm, and after everybody was outside the now ex-employees
> > could only go back to their desks to collect their personal
> > stuff with a security guard escort.
>
> Wow! I haven't eaten there in years. I went once to the one by Northgate
> in Seattle and had a tuna melt. My dad would get greatly annoyed at me when
> I did this, saying this was something I could easily make at home. Well no
> it wasn't. I tried. Mine were never good. Oddly he could make one that
> was good even though he doesn't know how to cook much of anything. The
> sandwich was so huge and drippy and messy that it took me 2 hours to eat it.
> I was then banned from ever ordering another tuna melt when my dad was
> present. Heh.
>
> When we moved to CA, we would stop there on the way home from shopping at
> Travis AFB. I should add that restaurant would never be my first choice.
> It just happened to be in the right location.
>
> I once asked for a side of veggies for my daughter and I was told by the
> waitress that they didn't do that. I protested because there was nothing on
> the kid's menu that had veggies with it unless you count the fries. She
> said she would have to charge me for a salad bar and would have to take a
> little dish of corn or something from the salad bar in order to give her
> some veggies. I think the price at the time was $8.99. They did not offer
> an add on salad bar for kids at a reduced price like they did for adults.
> My daughter didn't eat much salad in those days. She was very young. She
> would only eat certain types of greens and they didn't have those. She did
> love black olives and there were a few other things she would eat a bite or
> two of. So I would have to sneak her food from my plate.
>
> I usually got the turkey dinner when we ate there. I could not eat the
> stuffing. I don't know what they put in it but it was overly sweet and
> spiked my blood sugar badly. Their cornbread was weird too and I wouldn't
> eat that either. I would always get a tiny apple on my plate and that was
> my daughter's favorite thing. I would always give it to her.
>
> I heard on the news today that Wendy's just sold the Arby's chain and that
> they were failing.

I can see Arbys failing. In a three block radius here there are Burger
King, Dennys, Arbys, two Mcdonalds, KFC, Friendlys, Wendys, Figaro
(local), Pizza 123 (local), Quiznos, some Chinese fast food place in the
mall, Olive Garden, Hazard Grill (local), D'Angelo, Taco Bell, Dunkin
Donuts, Cheng's Garden (local), Five Guys, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a
half a dozen others. Of those as you drive past at noon, Arbys is the
only one with an empty parking lot.

> I think overall, people are just dining out less. I don't think they can
> afford it. I know we are dining out less.