Casual Dining Restaurant Chains

I love Round Table Pizza.

They're the best of all the chains.

270 Sizzlers?

I thought they went bankrupt and closed down?

They've closed most of the Pizza Huts by me. I used to love their pizzas. They had the best crust.

I used to love the IHOP when I was a kid. (But then I also loved Howard Johnson's.)

Never cared for Dennys or Friendly's.

I read a funny article about Red Lobster the other day:

[quote] ‘Very, very, very bad’: Red Lobster CEO Kelli Valade resigns after only 8 months

Red Lobster CEO Kelli Valade is resigning after just eight months at the helm of the Orlando-based seafood chain, a quick departure that one industry analyst called “very, very, very bad.”

A news release announcing Valade’s resignation did not give a specific reason for her departure, which she called “an incredibly difficult, but necessary, decision.” It is effective April 15.

Valade took over as CEO in August after the retirement of the brand’s longtime leader Kim Lopdrup.

San Diego-based restaurant analyst John Gordon called the resignation “very, very, very bad.”

“No CEO anywhere wants to be on board a company only eight months. That says it all,” Gordon said. “That is an indicator of severe stress and malfunction that you can only stay on a job eight months before some sort of irreparable break occurs.”

Prior to joining Red Lobster, Valade had been president and CEO of Black Box Intelligence since 2019 and before that she spent more than 22 years at Brinker International, including as brand president for Chili’s Grill & Bar.

“Kelli has a very sound, very, very strong reputation in the restaurant industry as a leader and in casual dining in particular through her experience coming up through the ranks in Brinker, which of course has both Chili’s and Maggiano’s,” Gordon said.

Gordon said the resignation is a bad signal to future CEOs for Red Lobster. He added everything becomes uncertain at a company following the departure of a CEO.

“This kind of causes a shiver of ice to go through the management ranks,” Gordon said.

When a tenure is as short as Valade’s time at Red Lobster it could be a mismatch in what was expected either by the executive or by the board from what the situation actually is, said Ron Piccolo, chair of University of Central Florida’s department of management.

“It would tell me it’s probably not a great culture to be in or the financial operating circumstance is challenging more so than it might appear on the surface,” Piccolo said. “Why so abrupt? It’s not known whose choice it is to break the relationship.”

He added it was unfortunate this would happen at a brand so important to Central Florida.

Red Lobster board member Paul Kenny is expected to be a “liaison” between the company’s leadership and board during the transition, and a search for a replacement is expected to begin immediately, the release said.

“On behalf of the Board, we thank Kelli for her service and accomplishments during her tenure as CEO, including navigating through the most recent wave of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rittirong Boonmechote, chairman of the Red Lobster Board of Directors, in the release. “She has helped us assemble a talented and highly capable leadership team to lead us forward. We wish Kelli the very best in the future.”

In 2020, seafood supplier and Red Lobster stakeholder Thai Union and a group of investors acquired the rest of the seafood restaurant company from private equity firm Golden Gate Capital. Thai Union has its headquarters in Thailand and its seafood brands include Chicken of the Sea, John West, King Oscar and others.

The investor group that was part of the acquisition included key shareholders Kenny, the former CEO of Asia’s Minor Food, and Rit Thirakomen, CEO and controlling shareholder of Thai chain MK Restaurant Group.

That sale came following concerns from outside analysts over a loan reaching maturity and while the coronavirus pandemic crippled much of the restaurant industry. Red Lobster, which has more than 700 restaurants, completed refinancing that debt last year.

Before that refinancing and sale, the loan had more than $355 million outstanding as of a June 2020 report from Moody’s.

Red Lobster’s operations “recovered significantly” in the fourth quarter of 2021, but saw a challenging start to 2022 with the omicron variant of coronavirus and higher costs, according to a presentation from Thai Union.

Is there really that big of a difference between IHOP and Denny's, R4?

To me, they're both the same.

R6 - I went to Dennys when I was kid and I didn't like it. My parents continued to take us to the IHOP.

I haven't been to Dennys since the first time, and I haven't been to an IHOP in many years.

IHOP was good when I was kid. I went there 30 years later, and it sucked. I don't know if it was me or the food is really bad now, but I could barely finish it. I think I went to a Denny's once while traveling. For some reason, they don't have any near me.

I haven't heard of most of these chain restaurants.

Are they all in California and New York?

Quelle horreur.

Most of the big chains have been bought and sold numerous times and are saddled with debt. Hence the bad food and worse service. But they generate cashflow, so vulture capital keeps buying and selling them and keeps them in business as long as possible. This is what are economy has come to.

So none of them are profitable, R11?

I believe you that most of these chains are bankrupt, but at least a few must be profitable, right?

To me, you either go all in on a cheap diner meal (Denny’s is actually my go-to), or you go to someplace nice. It’s all the garbage in between - casual dining hell like Outback, Applebees, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, BJs, etc. - that I just can’t stand.

For most of America who live in small towns access to Red Lobster and Olive Garden is a gift.

Why is it a gift? Would they be better served at a local joint that makes a burger from fresh beef and roasts a turkey and a ham once a week?

Not r14, but my parents loved Red Lobster when I was growing up (70’s & 80’s). My mother had no idea how to cook seafood. She was from Missouri, and the best she could master was salmon patties from a can (YUCK). So we thought it was ultra sophisticated to have fish (usually fried). And their biscuits were wonderful. We would wear our Sunday best to dine there, on my dad’s grocery store salary.

I haven’t eaten there in years, but I have no doubt it sucks.

Because there are no Italian restaurants or seafood restaurants. Or a place like Cheddars even - nicely designed for Middle America to feel they are eating ina na upscale place with “different” types of food not available locally.

I kind of miss casual family dining restaurant chains that usually served breakfast and stayed open late nights. Places like Bob’s Big Boy, Carrow’s, Lyon’s, Shoney’s, Eat n Park and the like. Tons of regional chains. They remind me of being with my grandparents. Denny’s and IHop are kind of like that but their non-breakfast menus aren’t as good. Newport Creamery in Rhode Island reminds me of those places. It’s a throwback like lots of things in RI.

Stealth Fat whore thread.

That's a sweet story, R16.

How does a town not have a Pizza Hut?

Even the smallest towns in the middle of nowhere, have a Pizza Hut.

I live in a small town (pop. 2,500) and other than the obligatory fast food chains - McD's, Taco Bell and Subway, the one restaurant chain we have is Pizza Hut.

We eat at home.

So, what casual restaurant chains do you all like?

The chain I go to most often is Tropical Smoothie Cafe as it's a quick small meal that's good for lunch. I do like Bahama Breeze. I used to love Red Lobster, but they've gone downhill over the years.

For breakfasts, I like Big Boy (might be Elias Brothers in other parts of country?) They seem to have closed most of the Denny's and IHOPs around me.

The one constant in every city and small town is McDonald's.

It's actually a comforting sight, if you're a visitor and there's nowhere else to eat.

I’m very naïve. I had no idea that the chain casual dining restaurants were nothing more than big microwave ovens with a dining room until I went to Applebees and go an entree that was cooked in the outside and frozen on the inside.

Absolutely, R25.

Another reason for the obesity epidemic in America.

Frozen, processed crap food, loaded with sodium, sugar, and preservatives.

You're better off eating a banana and a bottled water.

As a kid, I loved the Howard Johnson’s over the Illinois tollways.

Everyone in my town loves the Chili’s. The parking lot is always full. I can’t stand it, yuck. During the pandemic, neighbors were always getting take out from them. I was always saying, order from your mom and pop restaurants, they desperately need the income.

When I worked at Applebee's 20 years ago, the food was mostly fresh, not frozen. Especially the steaks, chicken and burgers (anything that went on the grill). I also remember prep people cutting fresh avocados to make guacamole. Maybe it's changed since then.

Good for you, R28.

I would rather have a home made "from scratch" meal made by a mom and pop restaurant, than microwaved fast food.

Any day of the week.

R6 I would say IHOP is a fast food restaurant with servers while Danny's is a real restaurant. Denny's has a nicer atmosphere and they have real food on their menu, not just stuff you can cook on a griddle. IHOP's are harshly lit with very low booths. You can tell they want you to eat and get the hell out asap. To me it's like apples and oranges.