Roadhouse Grill closes western New York locations

[tbird19482]

Michael Bacon wrote:

<quoted text>STOP YOUR CRYING!!!! Just get another JOB; be a SOLUTION to Your Problem; DON'T HATE!!!

For your info Buffalo N.Y. is in a DEPRESSION!!!!!!!!!! there are no jobs . we don't have G,W. looking out for us . helping all his OIL buddies / NO body gives a damn about Western New York , except tax them to death , tax them ,tax them / we are just about the highest taxed area in the country / we have some of the highest GAS prices in the country / natural gas prices/ and even with the largest Hydro powered Elect, producing plant in the world we pay some of the highest Elect. bills in the country/ so if you think it is sooooooooooooo easy to get a job that pays a living wage come on up here / and don't run rite to the welfare office / look for a job and see why the PEOPLE of BUFFALO have been saying we [ at least in this area ] are in a DEPRESSION>

[unbelievable]

Tbird I love how you blame GW for the depression in NY. NY IS RUN BY LIBERALS!!! all the high prices you complain about are because of extremely high taxes put in by the liberal government of NY state!! Maybe if you don't like the taxes you should start voting for a party that doesn't vote for a bigger government and higher taxes.

[Michele G]

just lost my job wrote:

What about all of the ex-employees who woke up wednesday morning to their co-workers telling them not to bother showing up to work anymore? No warning we would lose our jobs or anything. I never even heard from a manager or anything. And now there are 300 of us without a job and with no way of paying for school, our bills, our families, the list goes on and on. And don't forget we probably won't be getting our last paychecks (they owe me and many others 3).

I feel for you all who lost your jobs----For those of you who don't know---- The roadhouse was previously KENNY ROGERS ROASTERS--- They were actually doing great, better locally then boston market--I worked for KENNY's in high school, and then my manager called me saying "don't bother coming in tonight, corporate just came in and closed us immediately, I didn't even know, I am as shocked as you all. they are screwing us all, for the mighty dollar!" he later told me the only reason he was given was--- they want to change the chain and make it a steakhouse instead. Well then came the ROADHOUSE GRILL! and NOW THEY are BANKRUPT!!! I guess that is what they get for being greedy--
TOO BAD PEOPLE ARE BEING SCREWED AGAIN! I hope you all get your checks and find a new job asap!
The Government needs to stop corporate greed!!!

[i agree]

Michele G wrote:

<quoted text>
I feel for you all who lost your jobs----For those of you who don't know---- The roadhouse was previously KENNY ROGERS ROASTERS--- They were actually doing great, better locally then boston market--I worked for KENNY's in high school, and then my manager called me saying "don't bother coming in tonight, corporate just came in and closed us immediately, I didn't even know, I am as shocked as you all. they are screwing us all, for the mighty dollar!" he later told me the only reason he was given was--- they want to change the chain and make it a steakhouse instead. Well then came the ROADHOUSE GRILL! and NOW THEY are BANKRUPT!!! I guess that is what they get for being greedy--
TOO BAD PEOPLE ARE BEING SCREWED AGAIN! I hope you all get your checks and find a new job asap!
The Government needs to stop corporate greed!!!

Thank you it's nice to know people feel for us and are concerned about the future of NY state and want change. Change needs to happen how much longer can we live like this? And how much longer can we afford this?

[xwaiter]

People, there are plenty of other restaurants to get a job at--it is not very hard at all. Did anyone see the movie "Waiting?" You can be a psychopathic pervert and still get a job at a chain restaurant--get out there and apply!!!!!

[applying everywhere]

xwaiter wrote:

People, there are plenty of other restaurants to get a job at--it is not very hard at all. Did anyone see the movie "Waiting?" You can be a psychopathic pervert and still get a job at a chain restaurant--get out there and apply!!!!!

There are so many people out there looking for jobs in restaurants right now everyone i've applied at they have said there have been other ex-roadhouse employees in there trying to get jobs too. It's not as easy as it sounds.

[NY taxpayer]

I feel bad that everyone lost their jobs but I went to 2 of their locations and had the worst service and the worst food I have every gotten. And many of my friends and family had said the same thing. I hope everyone finds employment quickly, many of the chain restaurants in the area always are looking for experienced workers. Good luck to all!

[xwaiter]

There are TONS of chain restaurants for us to get new jobs at-----Transit Road, Milestrip Road, Sheridan---you can't drive 2 miles without running into a Crappy McJonezie's or a Shenaniganz! Get out there and apply!

[applying everywhere]

xwaiter wrote:

Just keep at it Applying Everwhere---you should apply 10 to 15 places per day. Get a contact name and call them as well---follow up! Don't just fill out an application and hand it to some chump---you have to be a little aggressive--but not angry like the clip below:
http://youtube.com/watch...

Thanks for the advice.

[can i get my damn money]

i just want to know how in the hell can i get my last paycheck. this situation is crazy. how can the owner no give anyone warning;not to mention not give us our last paycheck. if anyone has any info on this please tell us.

[xwaiter]

Here's the info you need---NO ONE IS GETTING THEIR LAST PAYCHECK! Now get out there and start applying at the Olive Garden, Outback, Red Robin, Pizza Hut, etc.

[where are our paychecks]

can i get my damn money wrote:

i just want to know how in the hell can i get my last paycheck. this situation is crazy. how can the owner no give anyone warning;not to mention not give us our last paycheck. if anyone has any info on this please tell us.

I and many others would also like to know if anyone has any idea what the hell is going on with our paychecks so I'd really appreciate if someone could provide some info about this!!

[Peter]

I'm going to miss some of those cute looking guys they had working there. Alton's has some hotties, especially on Sunday mornings.

[Bababooey]

From the Palm Beach Post:
WEST PALM BEACH — With the swing of a gavel Tuesday, Roadhouse Grill was gone.
The restaurant doors were chained shut without notice. Employees were left without final paychecks. Assets were abandoned.

It was not how John Metz wanted the deal to go down.
The West Palm Beach turnaround man who bought the beleaguered steakhouse chain last fall was reportedly just two weeks away from a sale that could have paid the rent and kept an estimated 2,000 workers on the payroll.
But lawyers on the case said tighter bankruptcy deadlines and increasingly impatient landlords turned Roadhouse into roadkill.
When a loan to cover unpaid rents fell through, Roadhouse was forced this week to shut down its restaurants and liquidate its assets, Craig Kelley, Roadhouse's West Palm Beach attorney, said Friday.
A few more days could have changed the story.
The fine print of a 3-year-old change in bankruptcy law gave Roadhouse until May 5 - 210 days after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October - to agree to pay $1.25 million in unpaid rents, Kelley said.
Landlords in six states, including Florida, weren't budging. A U.S. bankruptcy judge gave the company until May 9 to fork over the cash.
With that deadline looming, Kelley said a big-money buyer, a publicly traded company he declined to name, was circling, willing to pay an estimated $4 million for the steakhouse.
But now? It's worth zip. Not even the restaurants' equipment and furnishings are valuable enough to auction off.
"The landlords are not going to get paid. They'll get their properties back, but they won't be paid," Kelley said.
Tampa investor MCF Development LLC was going to lend Metz the $1.25 million, but the two couldn't agree on terms in time. The money was waiting in escrow when the judge said time was up, Kelley said.
Without the cash, Roadhouse had to give up the leases and convert to Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Roadhouse's 21 remaining locations, including restaurants in Delray Beach and Greenacres, were closed overnight after the ruling Tuesday. Employees showed up Wednesday morning to find chains on the doors.
"We had no choice but to close it down immediately," Kelley said. "We had to chain the doors, because if steaks and bottles of booze started walking out the door, Roadhouse's principals would be personally liable."
Boca Raton trustee Robert Furr was appointed to liquidate the company's assets. On Friday, he said he would have to abandon the equipment and furniture left at the 21 restaurants. Auctioneers said they could have brought about $20,000 at each location, but it would have cost more than that to set up the sale, Furr said.
Remaining assets amount to little more than $75,000 in cash, Furr said. That means that it is unlikely the out-of-work employees will ever get their final paychecks.
He also pointed to the bankruptcy law changes Congress made three years ago that shortened the time debtors had to pay landlords. "It's difficult to put something together in 210 days," he said. "Everybody loses in this case."
Metz bought Roadhouse last fall from Palm Beach Gardens-based Duffy's Sports Grill. Duffy's had bought the chain, then based in Pompano Beach, in May 2007 with plans to sell half the locations and convert the rest to Duffy's.
"It was a financial disaster," Duffy's owner Paul Emmett said. "We're not surprised it went under."
But Metz, who specializes in rebuilding struggling companies, wanted to see Roadhouse through its problems. He shut down about half of the 54 stores, retrained employees and spruced up the restaurants.
Just before the liquidation this week, Roadhouse was breaking even, Kelley said.
"That's how close they were," he said.

I can't believe how quickly that Metz guy ruined them.

[xwaiter]

There is your answer, just like I said---WE ARE NEVER GETTING OUR LAST PAYCHECK! Now get out there and apply--there are hundreds of crappy chain restaurants out there looking for angry psycho xwaiter's to add to their staff!

[sharleen]

I heard that another restaurant was accepting Roadhouse gift cards. Does anyone know which restaurant that is?

[Bababooey]

Texas Roadhouse is beginning to. The one in North Tonawanda does as are ones in Orlando now.

[MomTo2]

sharleen wrote:

I heard that another restaurant was accepting Roadhouse gift cards. Does anyone know which restaurant that is?

The Texas Roadhouse (Colvin Blvd. area by Gander Mountain store) will give you $10.00 off your bill if you present a Roadhouse gift card. Unfortunate if your gift card value exceeded that amount, but $10.00 is better than NO dollars.

[MomTo2]

And, for the record, our family's last 2 experiences at Roadhouse justified our non-shock when we heard of the restaurant chain shutting it's doors. I do feel badly for those who actually liked their jobs there, and performed their duties well, although it seemed to us that in the recent past, this type of employees were the exception to the norm at Roadhouse. To use the term "service" was somewhat of a joke, as one person took our order, someone else dropped off the food, we had to flag-down a third employee for a beverage (water for our child, which came back WARM) and then waited 10 minutes for a manager to take back my husband's meal shortly after table delivery, as the meat was RANCID.(Seriously, the manager himself agreed that the meat was in fact spoiled.) Our best wishes to those who are now searching for another job - hope that you find one in a truly reputable and upstanding establishment and are happy for a LONG time to come.

[Bababooey]

Sadly that is a symptom of restaurant chains across the board. When your internal safeguards (training, re-training, incentives)go adios then the whole company suffers. I watched as little things changed, some good and quite a bit were simply labor savers. The NY stores always seemed in my opinion to do a better job as they did not have quite as much turnover as other parts of the country. It is a shame that greed, ignorance and corner cutting will be the death of this genre of restaurant. I just read that Texas is getting ready to open their 300th location. I would be willing to go out on a limb to say that will like ly be the last new one for a while (outside of franschises). They seem to have a better grip on knowing what location means. That was a HUGE part of what killed RHG, 30 locations opening in less that 2 yrs and most in places nobody would know right off the top of their heads. Then you are stuck in 10+ year leases in BFE with underperforming stores that should have never been opened in the 1st place. Can't imagine why the guy who was doing them came, got his $$$ and ran.I know they did promise shareholders/board members to have a certain amount opened by a certain time, but even THEY didn't question location?