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.