How America Lost Its Taste for the Middle
TGI Fridays, Denny’s, and other restaurants in the country’s middle tier are struggling.
Another sign the USA is going down
- Thread starter BradStevens
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They’re just all so old and shitty and gross. I’m not convinced that sector is dead just the chains that fill it are worn outHow America Lost Its Taste for the Middle
TGI Fridays, Denny’s, and other restaurants in the country’s middle tier are struggling.www.theatlantic.com
Yeah most are very tired. Chilis seems to be the only one around that is putting money back into some of their locations. The rest are stuck in like 2005.
Hard to imagine, but people used to wait 2+hours for tables back at Applebee's and Friday's on the weekends 25 years ago.
And Chili's is doing really well. The thing is, for all of them (except Cheddars), do I want to pay that kind of money for essentially a TV Dinner? At least Cheddar's makes their food in house.
Yep. Also saw someone bought Steak and Ale IP is trying to relaunch that one. They have one location open in like Minnesota so far
It really is! Friday’s was awesome. I loved their appetizers. I don’t know if you had houlihans but that was another one. My friends and I would go play golf and the loser had to buy all the big Juan’s at houlihans. That was like their monster margarita. Loved it. And you’re right. Like 25 years ago. I couldn’t imagine a buddy suggesting fridays or Applebees today. I’d think they were joking
We used to go to Applebee's to watch late night games and get half priced apps and those tall drafts. Decades ago they had steak that was also actually pretty decent for the $11 or whatever. I can't imagine the steaks are worth a shit today.
Steak in a basket with fries or something. I always associate it with road-trips and late
Apparently they're coming back, was just announced.
We had a Chilis and Applebee’s near our house for years. The Applebees closed recently. Not surprising. It had really gone downhill.
Bourbon Street steak came out on the hot skillet
We all ate at one for lunch a couple years ago. Nobody has ever asked to go back
Oh shit outback... Yeah my high school buddy and I would go and get those loaded cheese fries and they would serve us margs underage. Didn't have enough cash to order a steak plus booze
The founder was my client. Well not mine. The firm. He was a slob. Had to have someone tie his polo boots
This is the most Cooler thread of all time. 🤣
On edit: P.S. I'm glad to see that you, like me, had your priorities in order at the time. The steak was much cheaper at Taco Bell.
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I will say there’s a Texas Roadhouse by my mom’s house and that lot is packed!
On the other hand I read that Chi Chi’s is coming back after a 20 year absence.How America Lost Its Taste for the Middle
TGI Fridays, Denny’s, and other restaurants in the country’s middle tier are struggling.
Started in Clarksville, Indiana, near where I grew up. The original is still there.
Houlihans had a moment around here like mid to late 2000s. It was really popular. Used to go there with a girlfriend for Wednesday wine night and the bar was hopping with cougs.
Unsurprisingly, I have some insight on this.How America Lost Its Taste for the Middle
TGI Fridays, Denny’s, and other restaurants in the country’s middle tier are struggling.
Casual dining is still plenty profitable. Done correctly, you can make plenty of money running a casual, upscale casual, or family dining establishment. Here are the problems:
1. Profits aren't as high as they used to be pre-Covid, which for brands owned by private equity firms, which at this point is almost all of them, is tantamount to failure. So they declare bankruptcy before they need to, they shut down restaurants that are or at least could be profitable, and they trim costs wherever they can, to make the investor prospectus sheet look better.
2. Most companies that hold these restaurants don't intend to keep them. They are trying to squeeze as much money out of them as they can, and then sell the brands. In order to make these decimated brands attractive, they focus more on bumping the bottom line than they do growing or sustaining the business itself. This is what ultimately killed Red Lobster.
3. The restaurant industry right now is enamored by a business model that focuses entirely on labor efficiency above all else. This isn't exactly new, but the level it's being taken to is making running restaurants near impossible for many people. It used to be, you'd make your profit by cutting waste, by earning new customers, and by keeping labor down to a reasonable level. Now, you just slash labor. Period. And you expect the small number of people who are left to find some way to still sell the food.
4. The menu is unwieldly. Related to #3, you can't use a skeleton crew to sell a ten-page menu. Very few companies have come to grips with the fact that, if you are going to slash labor to a minimum, you need a tiny, streamlined menu that just a small number of people can handle. Waffle House has figured it out. Go to a Waffle House sometime, and ask yourself why you can't even get French Fries anymore. The reason is, because they figured out how to design a menu that even during a busy period, only three employees could handle.
Long story short, the casual dining concept is (or could be) alive and well, but the people who own many casual dining concepts haven't yet figured out what they need to accept to make it happen.
The food tastes fantastic after a few 48 oz frozen margaritas. Especially if you’re sharing with the local cougars.
Chi Chi’s was the best, back in the day. Great Chimichangas.
I hope they open close to here or in Georgia.
Fast casual places like Chipotle Panera have contributed to killing places like Chili's. Those and their are so many mom and pop places that do the same type of food but better. Literally no reason to go to those joints.
what's funny is that chipotle etc are getting run down and shitty here too. i took my minion to breadco just last week and it was dirty, the workers were nasty, all of it was awful. i won't go back. it's like these chains have a shelf life. goat's long email in this thread was an intersting read
as for the mom and pop's definitely
Agree. Chipotle is going downhill. Very inconsistent quality and prices keep going up for what is basically 50 percent rice/tortilla.
It was big in like the 70s and 80s. I was barely old enough to remember it, but was the local date night spot for a lot of boomers
There’s a Texas Roadhouse near me. The high school kids love that place. It’s packed 7 nights a week and my kids always ask for Roadhouse gift cards for bdays.
My youngest asked to have her bday there recently. I had a steak and it was pretty decent for $22.
For cheap steaks, Roadhouse is good. The last several visits between it and Outback, it has been better.
My biggest complaint about Roadhouse is how loud it is. One almost need to learn ASL to converse in there. So for cheap I like Longhorn.
And all I visit are the low-end places, I am far too cheap to go to Elmo's, Fogo, or even Janko's. If I had Musk's money, I would have a standing reservation at Fogo.
Used to get loaded at half price margs and every Friday at the one in Castleton. Worked across the street. Thank god no cell phones existed although there’s a few pics I’d have probably kept.
I’d rather just buy a good steak and do it myself to be honest.
Cuts down on the noise as well. Shit St Elmo’s is loud as hell too.
For the price Texas Roadhouse is the best.
Can't that be said of most foods? Short of Mexican, I have never had someone make a Mexican meal as good as a restaurant, just about anything else I "can" get at home about as good. Especially Italian, good pasta and a good sauce isn't hard. I scare quoted can because the issue becomes time, and practice. It is far easier to open a box of pasta and a jar of sauce so making a really good sauce just isn't done often.
I keep thinking I should get into smoking meat, but I am skeptical I would spend the time needed. A SiL smoked turkey for Thanksgiving, holy cow was that good. I had never had a turkey I thought to be good before, just versions of "edible".
Smoking meat is a lifestyle choice. Do you understand that Marv? It’s not something you just say you’re going to do for dinner. That old salt lick mr myron mixon doesn’t decide on a Saturday at 3:30 he’d like to smoke some meat. It becomes part of your social calendar. Who you are.
I’ve had sex in cars parked outside of all three restaurants. Elmo’s in Indy. Zagreb in Bloomington. And fogo in Chicago
