Black Angus in the Red
 

Black Angus parent files bankruptcy. Is this because I've never eaten there? Is Stuart Anderson still alive? Will this turn of events be detrimental to his health?

It's their second time in Ch. 11 -they also filed in 2004.

I ate in their Fresno location a couple of decades ago - I remember it being barely OK. My mother and brother went to the same location within the last couple of years, and said that it was terrible - cold, bland food served by indifferent waitstaff.

I've gone into the one in Vallejo quite a bit for lunch with friends or relatives (they run coupons for $7 lunches pretty frequently). Can't think of a time when I haven't had excellent service and a pretty good meal. That location has always appeared to do good business, so I'm a little surprised about the bankruptcy filing. Even at night their parking lot was full.

Well, (1) it is the parent company. I don't know what % is franchised, etc. (2) $7 lunches don't keep the place afloat. (3) Plenty of busy places are hurting. All it takes is for each table to order 1 item less, and there could be the entire profit, such as no dessert, water instead of a beverage, skip the booze, etc.

Ok, I don't know why, but I found that downright hilarious.

Honestly, the food there is terrible really IMHO, and it will always be remembered by my wife and I as the place we went to, got seated and then were ignored for 45 minutes. Not a single person came to the table, talked to us, brought water, NOTHING for 45 minutes. After a while, we just kept sitting there to satisfy a perverse urge to see how long it would go. We finally overcame the urge and left.

I've seen Black Anguses all over the Lower 48, but up here we have a Cattle Company (same parent company). It's not half bad (as far as chain steakhouses go for us, it's either that, Lonestar, or Outback up here), but I don't know how it compares to a Black Angus.

Are there Cattle Companies anywhere else out there?

Where, oh where, will everyone's grandmother go for steak and a baked potato on Thursday nights now?

I've eaten at their Bellevue, Washington location once. The food was mediocre but I fondly remember my wife being 9 months pregnant (it was actually 2 days before she gave birth to MileageAddict Junior). She was feeling great after not eating much for a number of weeks. I remember her pounding away a monsterous steak, baked potato, etc.

They DO give a lot of food. They always had that deal where you got 2 steaks, a "Wagon Wheel Sampler" with a ton of appetizers, two salads, mashed potatoes and veggies and a giant chocolate cake all for like 30 bucks. Mediocre, but plentiful.

:o:o:o

There's one off the interstate north of Seattle, but it hasn't been updated in years. Black Angus is one of those elderly brands that sells value over quality and you're surprised to see around still, like Howard Johnson's or Morrison's.

I think they also experimented with lodging in the distant past. There's an old "Black Angus" motel on a strip in north Seattle with weathered signage similiar to the restaurants.

Possible explanation for failed experiment: The 'g' burned out on the neon sign?

It goes way back, but my only recollection of Black Angus was in Virginia Beach, possibly 1978-1979. I remember an interior dominated by the color red and nothing about the meal.

We're going to see probably many more of these chains fail. And if not the entire chain, major franchisees.

Where does Black Angus fall in the spectrum as compared to Claim Jumpers in terms of motif, food and quality. A lot of the posts here remind me of Claim Jumpers.