Bennigan's had hundreds of locations — and was gone in a weekend

Bennigan's was an Irish-themed casual-dining chain born in 1976, and Steak & Ale, founded a decade earlier, was its sister brand. Both were owned by Metromedia Restaurant Group through its S&A Restaurant Corp. subsidiary, which ran hundreds of locations across the US.

By 2008 the casual-dining segment was wilting: rising food and energy costs, falling traffic, and a credit crisis that made the chains hard to sell. Metromedia put the brands on the block, but when no deal could be reached, lender GE Capital declared the company in default. On July 29, 2008, S&A Restaurant Corp. filed for Chapter 7 liquidation — and locked the doors of roughly 150 corporate Bennigan's restaurants and every corporate Steak & Ale that same day.

Nearly 300 locations nationwide closed in one day. Only Bennigan's restaurants owned by franchisees — about 138 of them — survived the parent's liquidation. The collapse became a landmark of the 2008 restaurant shakeout, a reminder that a beloved brand means nothing when its balance sheet cannot be restructured.