July 29, 2008, - 2:43 pm

Hmmm, Bennigan’s: Maybe Catering to Illegal Aliens Wasn’t Such a Good Idea

By Debbie Schlussel
Recently, I told you how Bennigan’s decided to offer it’s menu in Spanish at all locations. This was clearly a move to pander to illegal aliens and those here who won’t learn to speak English.
I also told you how Bennigan’s dropped the “Irish-American” part of its name, another part of its pandering, “We Are the World,” PC mentality.
Well, it looks like those moves didn’t serve Bennigan’s too well:

Customers showing up for lunch at Bennigan’s restaurants in Chicago and across the country found quite a surprise Tuesday morning, when all the corporate-owned locations had signs on display reading “closed for business.”

Old Bennigan’s Emblem Versus the New One . . .

bennigans.jpgbennigans2.jpg

. . . Versus the New, New One

bennigansclosed.jpg

As CBS 2’s Joanie Lum reports, Bennigan’s Grill and Tavern closed all of its corporate-owned locations nationwide after filing for bankruptcy. Independent franchises remain open for business as usual.
The corporate-owned locations comprise about half the entire chain.

Buh-bye, Bennigan’s. Or in this case, Adios.
It’s very sad for all of the people who worked there and have now lost their jobs. I feel bad for them. They are the victims of Bennigan’s bad marketing strategy of catering to invaders. And I hate to say good-bye to yet another large American business. But in this case, the company made clear that the “American” part was mucho expendable.
Hasta La Blarney, Baby.






11 Responses

I used to dine there… but that was a long time ago. When an American business becomes politically correct, it shouldn’t be surprised when the market turns south. No one will miss the “new and improved” Bennigans now that’s its out of business. Full disclosure: I dined in their restaurants some years ago in Detroit.

NormanF on July 29, 2008 at 3:15 pm

Of course I’m also sorry for those (legal) employees who lost their jobs. I wonder though, whether the pandering to illegal aliens wasn’t a last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy. Bankruptcy usually takes longer to develop than the relatively short time that they had their illegal-alien-pandering sign up. That said, of course I was against the sign, and they deserve to go the way of the mortgage institutions that pander(ed) to illegal aliens.

c f on July 29, 2008 at 3:34 pm

What’s wrong is wrong.
And what goes around comes around.
Do the right thing and you will reap good, desirable results.
The stores closing is just another example of the consequences of doing the wrong thing and not working diligently to do the right thing.

Independent Conservative on July 29, 2008 at 4:55 pm

Debbie:
It’s time to speek out against HBO’s “Weeds.” Early in the series, the housewife heroine was portrayed as a Bush beleagured desperate housewife who had to resort to a family grow op, to keep her family together after the death of her husband. Currently, she is flush with cash and providing a cover for a tunnel operation by Mexican marijuana smugglers. Last I heard, it is mostly Heroin, Cocaine and designer drugs that come north; Americans prefer local grow op product. Oh yeah, they also smuggle people, which has provided a new occupation for the heroine’s brother. Last I heard, 10% of persons brought to the US by “Coyote” smugglers, were of Middle East origin. Hollyweed distorts again.
Comment on same, and I will link same to at least 10 widely read forums.

supercargo on July 29, 2008 at 7:26 pm

I liked Bennigan’s and thought it was a solid food chain, on the order of Friday’s and Chili’s. A good fish & chips choice.

barrypopik on July 29, 2008 at 8:21 pm

To the last guy out. Shut the lights out, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!

Jackson Pearson on July 29, 2008 at 11:10 pm

Most of the Irish (except for those that became politicians) worked for a living and learned the English language when they immigrated to the US,legally, unlike many of these Mexican invaders. Bennigans and all these other businesses and employers who cater to illegals can “fook off” as the Irish like to say.

Ron Taylor on July 30, 2008 at 1:02 am

Bennigan’s’ executives drove the company into bankruptcy and they thought illegal aliens who don’t speak English, and whose diet consists of re-fried beans, tacos, and Corona were going to save the company? Gee, maybe they should’ve catered to Somali muzlums. It’s no wonder the company is on its death bed.

Thee_Bruno on July 30, 2008 at 10:01 am

Here’s an alternative scenario. Bennigan’s is hemorrhaging money, so they throw a few “Hail Mary” marketing passes to try to stem the flow. Maybe if we take Irish out of the name we’ll get diners who may have been offended by it. Maybe if we introduce a Spanish menu we’ll attract new customers who never ate here before. But it turns out neither ploy saved them, so they went under.
Debbie might as well have argued that rehab causes overdoses. It doesn’t, it’s just one of the final signposts on a road to a place that you were going anyway.

henrybowmanaz on July 31, 2008 at 3:22 pm

Leave a Reply

* denotes required field