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Millennials are killing chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebee's

J

JC Lately

Member
Boomers: Millennials are so frivolous! You should spend your money more wisely!

Millennials: That's a good idea for once, grandpa. *stops paying for overpriced, garbage tier food*

Boomers: No! Not like that!
 
Kite

Kite

Member
From another article, some casual dining places that are actually bucking the trend are The Cheesecake Factory, Denny's and.. The Olive Garden? The last one surprises me, would have thought with the whole low carb craze that it would be suffering. *shrug* weird.

Olive Garden’s same-restaurant sales increased 3.1 percent throughout 2016, and The Cheesecake Factory has experienced 27 consecutive quarters of positive comparable sales.

“What we see from the top performers is the way they deliver the experience to their guests seems to be a big factor,” Fernandez says. “Service and value are the two key metrics in which we’re seeing better results from some brands [more than] others.”

At Denny’s, which had same-restaurant sales increase by 1 percent in its latest quarter and opened 13 new restaurants while closing five, the executive team has placed a focus on value to push the brand forward.
Click to expand...
 
S

Sophia

Member
I mean, if I'm gonna spend my limited budget going out to eat, I'm gonna go some place a bit better than Applebees. There's a lot of local food joints that have much better stuff. And more importantly, it's stuff I can't make at home.
 
A

AtomskEater

Member
Maybe improve the food. Last time I ate at a TGIF it was pretty bland, and I'm pretty easy to please and will eat almost anything. Why eat out at a place with bland food where I have to tip when I can buy ingredients and cook something better for less or just grab a greasy burger and fries? There are also some good dine in places around that tend to be better than the most widespread chains.

Companies better adapt or die.
 
W

Wilsongt

Member
Could be a combination of not having enough money to eat out all the time like generations before.

Also, I blame Chipotle.
 
A

Alex Stroud

Banned
Yup, I've essentially stopped dining out altogether. Mortgages ain't nothing with which I would like to fuck. Any specific dishes I miss I just recreate at home.
 
F

FiraB

Banned
Food trucks, food stands and popups that make better food. Seriously why go somewhere like that when you can get tastier, healthier and cheaper food elsewhere.

Can also make four meals for $20 which will give me two dinners and two lunches for work.

Millenials, the generation whos parents told them how to use money properly and not waste it like they did.
 
K

KO Traveling Hobo

Member
I loved Applebees when I was younger because they gave you these really delicious slices of (garlic?) bread for the table, but no one I talk to remembers this being a thing and they certainly don't do it anymore.

Also, casual dining is great. Chili's has top tier boneless wings.
 
F

Future

Member
foxuzamaki said:
You guys say every restuarant is shit.

The real reason is probably people not going as a family as much, when I was younger and it was a family meet up, we use to go alot, we still occasionally do do this but I don't even remember the last time I went to these places besides a date I had that happened like last year.

When alot more of us "millennials" settle down and have children, I think business will pick back up again.
Click to expand...

When you do, you still won't go to Applebee's.

The real problem with that terrible restaraunt and others like TGIF is that they have barely any identity. Nothing that stands out that would get me to return. Cheesecake Factory is sorta similar, but somehow much better executed. Especially in ambiance.

Applebee's was like a Marie Calendars or IHOP. too bright restaurant. But calendars has the pies and IHOP has the pancakes. What the hell does Applebee's have
 
Q

Quintin DM

Member
Man we're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't arn't we? I mean it's not like any of those restaurants are THAT great anyways so it's not much of a loss if they go belly up imo.
 
H

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
JC Lately said:
Boomers: Millennials are so frivolous! You should spend your money more wisely!

Millennials: That's a good idea for once, grandpa. *stops paying for overpriced, garbage tier food*

Boomers: No! Not like that!
Click to expand...
This exactly.

"Millenials are buying too much avocado toast; this is why they can't afford homes."

"Why aren't Millenials buying mediocre chain food and sustaining our economy???"
 
K

Kyrios

Member
You damn millennials, having the audacity to learn to cook your own meals!

But seriously when has Ruby Tuesday NOT been in trouble? lol I never tried Buffalo Wild Wings, but Applebees and TGI Fridays both suck, so maybe ditch the microwave food to actually be, you know, appealing?
 
P

Poor GRIMES

Banned
more like we are becoming woke to what's actually good food and worth spending money on

theres more options than ever before why the hell would anyone want to eat at Applebees
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
Maybe you shouldn't have fucked up so hard so we'd actually have the luxury of eating out all the time, boomers.
 
L

LegendofJoe

Member
This is almost as funny as the story about businesses complaining that millennials don't buy fabric softener. It's a useless product that will actually cost you money in the long-run because it makes fabrics decay faster. These damn kids have figured out our scam. How dare they?

And also we're fucking poor, we have to be more discerning with what we spend our money on.
 
D

Despera

Banned
Last time I ate at Applebee's every single food item tasted like salted cooking oil.

I say keep at it Millennials
 
V

v1lla21

Member
So yall motherfuckers tell us to be frivolous, support local businesses, eat healthy, and countless other shit just so yall can complain. Those places suck anyways.
 
depths20XX

depths20XX

Member
It sounds like they're criticizing millennials for making good decisions.

BWW is overpriced and Applebees in general is just garbage. Who gives a shit if they're losing business? Good riddance.
 
K

kuYuri

Member
If there's one thing I wouldn't describe Chipotle around here, is that it's cheap. Shit is expensive af for what it is.
 
V

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Fast Casual killing this off. Stuff that's more like Chipotle or Five Guys vs Applebee's or TGIFridays.

You can order what you want and get it faster without having to deal with sitting down with a waiter/waitress as well as the added cost.
 
U

UltraMav

Member
marrec said:
The thing is, a lot of towns have local places that are cheaper and have much better atmosphere. So even when people our age have disposable income they can choose to simply go to better places.
Click to expand...

True. A couple of our local restaurants that offer similar food are a good five bucks cheaper or so. I can definitely see why they're failing.
 
tkscz

tkscz

Member
Unless you're huge into sports, I don't see the point of going to BW3s. I like their food, but I hate going in. Plus, I can rarely afford it when KFC, Popeyes, Richie's or just cooking chicken ate home is much cheaper.
 
Z

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
Good. If you don't want to close offer a more compelling dining experience.

They would honestly be smart though to not brand all their restaurants the same. Same ownership group/company, but have different branding in different cities, or even multiple different restaurant names in the same city and have slight menu variations.
 
C

Crimson_Echidna

Banned
"Millennial consumers are more attracted than their elders to cooking at home, ordering delivery from restaurants and eating quickly, in fast-casual or quick-serve restaurants,"
Click to expand...

I mean...they're not wrong, at least about me specifically. I do choose to either cook at home or order take out.
 
E

EatinOlives

Member
old said:
Who want's to pay $12 + tip for frozen dinner quality food?
Click to expand...

Those damn millenials!

giphy.gif
 
M

Malleymal

You now belong to FMT.
Not going to lie... I like BWW. I will go there for the "cheap" wings on tuesdays. I can't really speak on applebees . I can say that I have free reign to go to many restaurants on my job's dime and I never go to fridays, chilis, or applebees.

I think that I just associate it with being the place I went with my friends in college or when I didn't have money. So I picture the crowds being similar.
 
Hari Seldon

Hari Seldon

Member
Tipping is what kills me. If I get takeout I don't have to pay an addition 15-20% of the cost. It is a complete waste to eat out. Also drink prices at restaurants are out of control.
 
S

Smokey_Run

Member
Overpriced, garbage food. I only go to these places because they're open late. Take tonight for example. Saw Wonder Woman and got out of the theater at 9:30 and most of the good places were closed or closing very soon. We went to iHop and got served garbage quality food for $13.50. We usually go to local restaurants that serve quality food in larger quantities for the same price or cheaper.
 
B

BlueTsunami

there is joy in sucking dick
I had wings at Buffalo Wild Wings once. The texture of the wings felt like cooked frozen wings tossed in whatever sauce you ordered with the Kansas City Chiefs playing on all the screens. Was a literal hellscape.
 
Nydius

Nydius

Member
CaviarMeths said:
"Millenials" is a funny way of saying "our failure to adapt to a changing market."
Click to expand...

No doubt. My wife and I are in our 40s - so definitely not millennials - and we haven't eaten at the places brought up in the story in years. Over priced shit-tier food with additional mark ups in the forms of tips because of our ass-backwards minimum wage laws allowing restaurants to pay wait staff like slaves. Even then you don't know if your tip is being properly received - a local Applebees made the news for the owner pooling tips and then taking a generous cut for himself...
 
K

Kenai

Member
5 years ago when myself and a group of alumni went to San Antonio for our yearly conference I practically begged to go to Whataburger cause we didn't have em out east. Everyone else chose to go to fucking Buffalo Wild Wings.

I'm not saying the franchise is closing because I am still salty about it after all this time, but it makes me feel better to pretend that if there ever were a next time, they'd have no choice but Whataburger.
 
V

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
It's also worth noting fast casual as a market segment barely existed 30-40 years ago.

Now I'd almost argue it is the preferred market for people sub 40.
 
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