Robby J’s and Denny’s
Well, it’s official: two days after I reported that Robby J’s is closed, it’s hit the Bulletin. I had already received two separate confirmations by email yesterday, too. (Apparently, Chef Jacques Duc is going to be moving back to California.)
By the same vein, Denny’s is closing as well, as of March 5th. Duncan actually reported this first, yesterday, and then Lyle confirmed it on his blog yesterday as well.
The owner of Denny’s partially blames the parkway for the Denny’s closure, but I don’t know… there are other restaurants off or inconvenient to the parkway that seem to be doing fine. I’d look more to the "upper-scale-ification" (is that a word?) of the area as a more likely culprit.
Maybe Chili’s or one of the other missing franchises can take over the spot? My darling wife says Third Street is "terrible," you don’t want to cross lanes etc. – but for the right dining experience, I would;-)
getting the scoop is kinda fun. word I got was that it just got too hard to keep good help.
Finding good help has been a problem up until recently. With the housing downturn, the labor pool has gotten a little crowded so that excuse is not as valid.
The way I read the article, the impending new lease agreement had some say. With that fact, I would have to agree with both hack’s and duncan’s original deductions.
One thing did kind of throw me, however. The article said that they only had 15 employees. For a 24 hour restaurant, that doesnt seem right.
I’ve eaten at a few Dennys over the years and I honestly think the closing has more to do with this particular restaurant than anything else.
Dennys isn’t exactly fine dining but you can at least expect to get a decent meal if you see the sign. This one was awful, run-down and not in charming way. It’s right in front of a motel with a questionable reputation, the food was bad even for a chain and it was absolutely filthy.
I think the Dennys closing does have something to do with the upscaling around Bend but not in the way that you probably mean. With the cost of living being what it is here and wages that do not reflect that at all—why pay good money for such poor quality anything?
With Dennys leaving what 24 hour restaurants does this leave us with???
Um, Shari’s…
Two of them even, really good burgers and sandwiches. They even do to go, and they’ve been around forever.