Pour one out for the last Monte Cristo!

[Michael_in_TX]

Okay, maybe not the last, but at least the last Monte Cristo (tm).

Today the last abandoned Bennigan’s restaurant in Houston was torn down. It was the one at I-45 at 610, just southeast of the University of Houston.

It was shuttered in 2008 when Bennigan’s abruptly declared bankruptcy.

[RonB]

I went there once, but haven't beenagin.

[Michael_in_TX]

I see what you did there lol....

[Jerod Broussard]

I forgot those places even existed.

[Panhead John]

OMG! What’s next, is K-Mart going to go under?!

[Donw]

Don’t worry John, they were bought by Sears so all will be well!

[au4stree]

As a kid K-mart had the best toy section. Miss that place. And of course that hilarious commercial a few years back, “I just shipped my bed!” 😂😂

[bbqLuv]

No-no-no, say it ain't so

[Michael_in_TX]

Panhead John At least we can still eat in that dungeon of a restaurant, Steak & Ale! (Oh wait....)

(Kinda do miss their salad bar....)

[RonB]

Oh Michael...

https://steakandale.com/

[Jerod Broussard]

We should open a franchise.

[FireMan]

To the funny farm where……….

[FireMan]

Kin we say funny farm in this day and age?

[Bkhuna]

They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!

[RonB]

Just for grins I googled Bennigan's, and guess what. It's back.

https://bennigans.com

[Michael_in_TX]

Oh wow....will you look at that. I don't even want to know how much it cost for them to acquire the brand!

[SheilaAnn]

Michael_in_TX or how much debt came with!

[SheilaAnn]

Now I want broccoli bites!!! And a burger club!

I worked at bennigans when they did that 30 minute lunch with those freaking stopwatches on the tables. And we had to bus our own tables in order to turn them. I always said, if you can work a lunch shift at banana-gans, you can work anywhere.

[Murdy]

There's one in Elgin, IL, that never closed,

[texastweeter]

Yeah, I eat at the one in LasColinas a few times each year. It has special significance for me and amanda.

[jfmorris]

I loved Bennigan's in the mid 1980's in Atlanta. The location near Windy Hill was a weekly lunch spot when I worked at the IBM Wildwood facility. I used to meet a pretty girl who was the receptionist at one of the local radio stations for lunch. Wait. Did I say that out loud? She was before Yvonne, so can't be real. We would sometimes go there after work on Friday's from the IBM office, for drinks and such.

The Monte Cristo was my go-to, but never had anything bad there. About 15 years ago, one opened in Huntsville, Alabama, and I got to go there all of 3-4 times before it suddenly shut its doors about a year after opening. Likely coinciding with that 2008 bankrupcy. The location has changed hands several times since, and is currently a Full Moon BBQ (chain out of Birmingham). I would rather it was a Bennigan's still!

I would love to see someone else with that amazing Monte Cristo sandwich. I feel like I tried to make it once, but it was a lot of work for a sandwich.