Thank you, Steve for your amazing insight. However, you could have timed it a little better and voiced your opinion on how horrible Bennigan's was at a time when its (former) employees weren't still shocked and terrified about their sudden unemployment. Maybe you should wait awhile before you share anymore of your opinions. Right now it really feels like you are kicking us when we are down...

I work for a company that manages and tracks gift cards, and I've been following retailers filing for bankruptcy on savvywallet.com. Ponderosa and Bonanza are still accepting Metromedia gift cards. I'm not sure about franchise owned Bennigans's. My advice? Go spend your gift cards, we simply do not know how long they will be accepting them. Don't forget The Sharper Image incident: $25m in unused gift cards.

Not really one to make negative remarks, but I will this time--I am sorry for the people that work there and it's a shame that corporations treat their employees with such disrespect. Having said that , Bennigan's was such a poor excuse for an "Irish" restaurant--not sure what exactly was Irish about it, other than the watered-down Guinness. Perhaps had they tried to be a bit more ethnic they would have done better? I think, actually, market saturation, a serious problem here in the States, has led to the downfall of many companies. Do we really need a CVS on every corner? An Applebees, Friday's or Bennigan's at every strip plaza--or while I am on a roll, do we need so many new strip plazas...??!!?? Mom and Pop shops still can give the best service and, after owning my own coffee house, certainly a better atmosphere than any cookie cutter could ever give (ie. any one of the ubiuitous Panera, Caribou, Starbucks)