I am reservist currently serving overseas, but my job it home was as a senior manager for Bennigan's.  I have spent ten years of my life with the company and the news is a shock and saddening.  Bennigan's problems are somewhat unique and yet also indicative of the industry as a whole.  As expensive as people believe it to be, the actual profit margins that casual dining restaurants operate in are very slim.  When the prices of goods go up dramatically as they have with the uptick in fuel costs, those costs cannot be passed on to the consumer as it takes many months to change a menu corporate wide.  So the company bites the cost.  If a company is already on shakey ground as Bennigan's has been for sometime, it just might be too much.  Look for closures at Applebee's, Friday's, and Ruby Tuesday's.

MY BELOVED STEAK-N-ALE? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

No surprise at all. bad service and declining food quality is a bad receipe for any restaurant. Maybe other s will take notice, there are still alot worst out there.

As a Canadian who only ever went to the Bennigans across the street from St Pete's beach a couple of times,we will miss it the next time we visit down there.They treated the kids well in terms of choices and if I can ever afford to drive 1200 miles down to St Petes again I guess we will look for someoplace new.As a business traveller as well I can relate to the previous poster who said that the consistency(good or bad) of the large franchises makes it easier to know where to eat while on the road.The best place to eat while on the road in Canada for me is the local Safeway,premade Cobb salad a couple of treats from the bakery and an apple and you have a meal that doesn't get cooked in butter and you can sleep at night.It also takes care of the corporate bottom line,all that for under $10

I love the Bennigans Monte Cristo! haven't been in awhile... Applebee's is absolutely horrible! Steak and Ale is way overpriced!

Shifted my eating out to local Diners! With trial and error, great diners w/good portions and lower prices is where we go!

The economy is causing a trend--community...local diners, vacations are closer to home and more creative, even a cup of coffee is putting people around the kitchen table or office coffeemaker.

The bright side of inflation.... back to basics, back to community....

90% of you people have no clue what it takes to run a restaurant.  Chain restaurants make 4 cents on the dollar as the bottom line.  When the economy is terrible and no sight of gas prices decreasing the company must absorb the increased cost of fuel and food prices.  Stop complaining and yakking at the mouth about stuff that you have no knowledge.  Maybe now everyone will see what high gas prices are doing to the economy. The restaurant industry employs more people than any industry other than the government.  How horrible to see these people lose their job and you sob's are laughing and making comments about them.  Maybe your job will be next.  The next time you eat at your beloved neighborhood diner and get food poisoning you will remember that the big casual dining chains have strict food safety controls.

It is a shame when any business goes under.  So many people were employed and left with nothing, the worst part is there was no major warning.  Most of the places of business thought they were slowly getting phased out, so they could at least try to find something else.  

It was the "always Happy Hour" that did them in.  Restaurants make most of their money on drinks, whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic.  To give away so many had to cut deeply into their profits.  Goodbye, Bennigans.  I'll miss Happy Hour.

My question is how much are the CEO's that led the companies to bankruptcy are going to get.

THAT is a huge part of the problem for most companies, IMHO.

AIG is failing, yet they paid their ex-CEO over $40M for driving them almost out of business.

If these companies board of directors would start paying these idiots what they are really worth (around $.02 in a lot of cases these days) their companies would be seeing a lot less economical damage.

Or better yet, pay ME $40M. I can screw up just as badly as they did. More if it means more money! I can make a mess of a corporation, I can put thousands of people out of work, I can borrow millions and leave a company to pay the bill. I know I can. These days that should be worth over $50M.

I am hoping that the Bennigans in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan is independently owned.  It is a wonderful gathering place for family and friends as the food and service are great and the staff couldn't be more friendly and welcoming. I agree with others who commented that it's not the lack of patrons that has put Bennigans in bankruptcy, but poor management at the top of the chain.