Tom wrote:Yeah, isn't this the same thing as Bill Knapps going out of business? Aging "fun shit on the wall" chain with shitty food?

Those places don't have a terribly long shelf life.

are those gone now? as a kid my family would eat there as a treat. this was the first place i ever had cinnamon ice cream and goddamnit it was amazing. i always wanted to go there for the ice cream. i don't remember any fun shit on the wall, it was kind of an old man restaurant as i remember it. but last time i was there it was probably the late 80s.

In the filing, the company indicated that it has up to 49 creditors and owes less than $50,000. It said it will have no funds left after administrative expenses are paid to repay its creditors

.

Things were so dire for Bennigan's, it didn't even have $50k to pay its creditors? There are people with more debt than that. And surely a rich Bennigan's fan could have easily ponied up 50 grand.

Locations owned by franchisees were not part of the bankruptcy filing and will not be shut down

So that's good news for those who just have to have their Thai Chipotle Ravioli Skewers.

mr.arrison wrote:we were paid $1.85 per hour as tips were supposed to make up the rest).

The law states that if wages + tips do not equal minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. They didn't?

lemur68 wrote:The law states that if wages + tips do not equal minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. They didn't?

I can tell you from experience that this is an oft-ignored law.
I think you'd have to threaten a lawsuit to get most places to do that. Maybe it's different with chains though.

Kayte R. wrote:

lemur68 wrote:The law states that if wages + tips do not equal minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. They didn't?

I can tell you from experience that this is an oft-ignored law.
I think you'd have to threaten a lawsuit to get most places to do that. Maybe it's different with chains though.

It's no different. No restaurant on Earth does that ever.

Graham Hick wrote:

Kayte R. wrote:

lemur68 wrote:The law states that if wages + tips do not equal minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. They didn't?

I can tell you from experience that this is an oft-ignored law.
I think you'd have to threaten a lawsuit to get most places to do that. Maybe it's different with chains though.

It's no different. No restaurant on Earth does that ever.

The one I work for does. The one week that I needed it.

lemur68 wrote:

Big John wrote:Was there one time and the place was empty. Had some snax and beer was nice but the odd part is that they had the sound of people talking and eating comming out of speekers in the ceiling. It was odd only people there and it sounded like there were a ton of people in the resturant.

That's downright North Korean.

I was thinking The Village, but yeah - good one - beat me to it.

lemur68 wrote:Any word on whether Bennigan's management skims credit card tips?

Apparently not as much as they should have!

nick92675 wrote:

Tom wrote:Yeah, isn't this the same thing as Bill Knapps going out of business? Aging "fun shit on the wall" chain with shitty food?

Those places don't have a terribly long shelf life.

are those gone now? as a kid my family would eat there as a treat. this was the first place i ever had cinnamon ice cream and goddamnit it was amazing. i always wanted to go there for the ice cream. i don't remember any fun shit on the wall, it was kind of an old man restaurant as i remember it. but last time i was there it was probably the late 80s.

Yeah, they died about 6 or 7 years ago. They were losing money cos their clientele was pushing 100 and dying. To fix this, they updated themselves to appeal to a younger crowd. Result:


Bankrupt in a year. The old people didn't want to go their cos it was designed for the dorky teens of 1986.

Next time ya'll (if there is a ya'll that is playing) come to lansing, I'll make you a fuckload of fresh cinnamon ice cream.

Tom wrote:

nick92675 wrote:

Tom wrote:Yeah, isn't this the same thing as Bill Knapps going out of business? Aging "fun shit on the wall" chain with shitty food?

Those places don't have a terribly long shelf life.

are those gone now? as a kid my family would eat there as a treat. this was the first place i ever had cinnamon ice cream and goddamnit it was amazing. i always wanted to go there for the ice cream. i don't remember any fun shit on the wall, it was kind of an old man restaurant as i remember it. but last time i was there it was probably the late 80s.

Yeah, they died about 6 or 7 years ago. They were losing money cos their clientele was pushing 100 and dying. To fix this, they updated themselves to appeal to a younger crowd. Result:

Bankrupt in a year. The old people didn't want to go their cos it was designed for the dorky teens of 1986.

Yeah, but their birthday cakes live on. Someone bought the rights to bake and sell Bill Knapps' birthday cakes, and there are several stores here in Michigan where you can get 'em. When I was a kid, my folks took us to Bill Knapps a lot (EVERY year on Xmas eve), and without fail someone would be having their birthday there ... the one in Jackson had this rather scratchy copy of Bing Crosby singing "Happy Birthday To You" that they'd play if anyone ordered birthday cake (and they had a deal where you would get a percentage off your bill for how many years old you were -- eight years old, eight percent, twenty years old twenty per cent -- so birthdays were popular there). I'm convinced sales to Bill Knapps locations kept that damn record in print for years. For good or ill, I can work up many fond memories of Bill Knapps. Bennigans, feh.

When we were kids we used to always stop off at Bill Knapps. Not crap... at least that's what my 8-year-old mind used to think -- probably wouldn't be so great now, maybe. Baker's Square anyone (er... Pop 'n Fresh Pies)?

syntaxfree07 wrote:

Graham Hick wrote:

Kayte R. wrote:

lemur68 wrote:The law states that if wages + tips do not equal minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. They didn't?

I can tell you from experience that this is an oft-ignored law.
I think you'd have to threaten a lawsuit to get most places to do that. Maybe it's different with chains though.

It's no different. No restaurant on Earth does that ever.

The one I work for does. The one week that I needed it.

No place that I or any of my friends have waited at has ever done that in either Boston or Chicago. I haven't waited tables in ten years so maybe that is a new law or maybe it is your states law but I have never heard of it until this thread.

I just can't picture some cheap restaurant owner who's profit margin on food is already slim coughing up the difference to his servers on what would have to be a slow day for him too.

Until I see it for myself I just can't believe it.