Bennigan’s To Relaunch in the Lone Star State

DALLAS-A little more than three years after restaurant company Metro Media Group filed for bankruptcy, shutting down its Bennigan’s and Steak and Ale restaurants nationwide, Bennigan’s new owners are relaunching the brand name in Texas. To that end, Bennigan's Franchising Co. is seeking space in the DFW area to build a prototype restaurant/training center, with hopes it will be up and operating within the next six to 10 months.

In addition, locally based Bennigan’s Franchising Co. is actively recruiting franchisees to open up to 10 restaurants throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Houston, five in San Antonio and Austin, and single restaurants in smaller Texas cities. The plan is to roll out the new Bennigan’s restaurants during the next several years.

“DFW is considered an incubator for restaurant launches and restaurant rebrands,” says Daniel Harris, senior vice president with Henry S. Miller Brokerage’s retail division. Harris is leading the team on a real estate search for the company’s flagship/training restaurant, as well as for likely sites throughout the Lone Star State for future Bennigan’s franchised restaurants. Targeted locations for the flagship/training restaurant, which will measure between 4,000 square feet and 6,000 square feet, are North Dallas, Addison, Plano and Las Colinas.

Harris tells GlobeSt.com that opening a prototype training restaurant in Texas made sense for the company. It means Texas franchisees won’t have to fly to Wisconsin to train at the 4,200-square-foot Bennigan’s restaurant located in that state. He goes on to say that the Texas flagship restaurant will be owned by Bennigan's Franchising Co., though the entire chain will be primarily a franchise operation. 

Though sites of former Bennigan’s restaurants are viable for expansion, Harris explains the new design concept will be more flexible. “We’d like franchisees to consider those old locations, but Bennigan’s no longer has to be on a stand-alone pad,” he continues. “End-caps will work. So does in-line space.” Bennigan’s is also developing a fast-casual “Bennigan’s On the Fly” format, which is geared for airports, colleges and similar locations.

Harris notes that ideal locations for the new Bennigan’s format would include high visibility, strong traffic counts and a middle-to-upper income population. The locations would also require plenty of parking and strong daytime populations.

Though the Irish pub theme will be the same as Bennigan’s former incarnation, Harris says the new Bennigan’s restaurants interior and exterior designs will be more flexible based on location and customer base. Franchisees have options such as leasing, ground leasing and even ownership as well.

“These new restaurants won’t have cookie-cutter appearances,” Harris says. “They can adapt to fit the customer base and there is some flexibility on the restaurants’ design and layouts. But the overall theme will be the same.”