7 ms·

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

ganoushoreilly 9y ago
It could also be that the chains aren't know for good food. When pressed with Spending money on Dinner, It's more often a local small restaurant that I go to vs. a chain. I think the excessive use of microwave cooking is what turned me off. I do however see the value in more casual dine and go restaurants. I'd rather order the food I want and get out with exception of date night.
- c0nducktr 9y ago
  I think it's more the atmosphere than the food. I like Buffalo Wild Wings food (well, the wings at least), but everytime I go there it's this gymnasium-sized open restaurant with awful music playing... There's a bar, but it's not what I want a bar to be. There are booths, but they offer no privacy. It's just a place to get wings, which is fine, but for what I spend going to bdubs I can go to any number of other places with equally good or better food, which also have a better atmosphere.
  - GVIrish 9y ago
    My thing with BW3's is that watching sports at a sports bar kinda sucks. You can't hear the commentating and you can't really hear your friends either. We'll still order takeout on occasion but if we're gonna sit down to eat there's no reason to eat at BW3's. Applebee's, Friday's , and Ruby Tuesday's just aren't good enough for the money you spend. I'd rather eat somewhere local with a more interesting and well executed menu for the money.
brightball 9y ago
Seriously, I would go to Applebee's if they had a better selection of gluten free options. My wife has celiac and the entire family doesn't go there to eat if they can't properly serve her. Right now, they bring out some giant chart and you have to decipher it while cross referencing the menu. It takes longer, lowers your confidence that they know what they are doing and is embarrassing for the person having to dig through it all. Somebody at Applebee's needs to take a trip to Outback and ask for a gluten free menu. Bottom line: if somebody in the group will have to worry about their meal, the restaurant is off the list.
- fred_is_fred 9y ago
  Everyone has "celiac" which is the problem I guess.
  - mark-r 9y ago
    The medical profession has refused to consider the possibility that gluten causes problems other than celiac disease. Or perhaps there are other components of wheat that cause those problems. I would be curious to know if some people on gluten-free diets would be just as well served by avoiding GMO wheat but allowing non-GMO - unfortunately that's a tough test to perform. I know two people who claim to be sensitive to corn. I'm not about to argue with them, I know the corn we have today in the U.S. is nothing like our grandparent's corn.
    - bitwize 9y ago
      > The medical profession has refused to consider the possibility that gluten causes problems other than celiac disease. Once the evidence rises above self-reported gluten sensitivity or self-reported improvement on a gluten-free diet, the medical community will consider that possibility. Until then, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data".
    - boomboomsubban 9y ago
      The medical profession refuses to consider things that have no evidence supporting them, which is why they aren't pointing the blame at GMO's. Yes, our corn is different. The change is partially responsible for millions of people being alive.
    - shalmanese 9y ago
      They've refused to consider the possibility that GMO wheat causes any special kind of harm in the wild because GMO wheat is not commercially available: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_wheat https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_wheat
      - 9y ago
gozur88 9y ago
Meh. The restaurant business is always in constant churn, and it's almost as trendy as fashion. This week "casual dining" is out; next week it'll be back in and the analysts will have some plausible-sounding explanation.
- Evansbee 9y ago
  Most likely it will be millennial focused.
sdiupIGPWEfh 9y ago
Let's read between the lines, as these articles rarely do. > "Millennial consumers are more attracted than their elders to cooking at home..." Almost as if this generation, having less to spend, has learned to enjoy cheaper options. > "...ordering delivery from restaurants and eating quickly, in fast-casual or quick-serve restaurants...Customers often spend less when ordering delivery..." Supporting the argument that they're poorer on average, with a dash of having less free time. I wonder how much this behavior intersects with having to work multiple jobs? Combined with sub-par food from these establishments, it's no wonder they're having problems.
Arainach 9y ago
Millennials are simultaneously not buying houses because we spend too much eating out (http://time.com/money/4778942/avocados-millennials-home-buying/ http://time.com/money/4778942/avocados-millennials-home-buyi...) and killing off chains by not eating out enough. At some point businesses need to stop blaming everything on the "millennials" bogeyman and accept responsibility for not adapting to modern trends. Fundamentally, I can get a far better meal by any metric - price, quality of food, flavor, often more than one of the above - pretty much anywhere other than casual dining chains like Applebees/Buffalo Wild Wings. If I'm going to dedicate the time and money to sitting down and going out, I'd like something better than two microwaved steaks and a platter of mozzarella sticks for $25.
- kemiller2002 9y ago
  I honestly hope that more people have the same attitude as you. I really think one of the major problems with America is that we don't really question what we are being sold and is it worth it. Too long have major corporations given us horrible choices for what we buy etc. and if the "millennial generation" is to blame for corporations suddenly realizing their cheapness and lack of caring in what they sell through financial difficulties, then bravo to them. I will do whatever I can to support my younger brethren in "helping" the organizations realize their time of taking advantage of people by offering the cheapest and worst option possible has come to an end.
- white-flame 9y ago
  > and killing off chains by not eating out enough. While I agree with your sentiment, the specific claim is that some types of chains are dying off because millennials are eating from other types of chains instead. But yeah, everybody's doing that, not just millennials. With the lowering quality of food, crammed bulk-rate table service, and no time or cost advantage, these sorts of places have turned off customers of all ages. Of course the newer-comers aren't going to attach to them.
- parennoob 9y ago
  Also these places aren't good at the things they (sometimes) claim to specialize in. The wings at Buffalo Wild Wings are not better than the wings at a random bar. Maybe millenials care about these things because we want value for our money and don't want to spend it solely on the basis of Super Bowl advertisements?
pg_bot 9y ago
Adapt or die, if you can't figure out what your customers want then you deserve to go out of business. I've never seen a company become successful by blaming their customers for their problems. Take a deep breath figure out what your flaws are and you can fix them.
jonbarker 9y ago
So are my parents.
CountSessine 9y ago
Speaking as a Gen-Xer, I'm always amused by these news articles accusing Millenials of killing one thing or another simply through non-participation. I guess back in my day I was responsible for killing country clubs and small-town bowling alleys. Go figure!
- cholantesh 9y ago
  I also appreciate the language of articles like this one and the one about malls that BI published awhile back. Wherein it's implied heavily that there is some moral imperative to support MNCs and millennials should be ashamed for abstaining from it.
  - CountSessine 9y ago
    millennials should be ashamed for abstaining from it I know - such selfishness! Think of the shareholders!
mrfusion 9y ago
I also feel like the food at these places has gotten worse over the past five or ten years plus smaller portions. I feel like ten years ago more of the food was cooked on premises but now it seems like almost everything is frozen and microwaved.
- hermanradtke 9y ago
  Yep and places like BWW completely changed their menu structure for the worse. These places sunk themselves.
  - novia 9y ago
    Within the last 5 years, BWW removed honey mustard from the selection of sauces available for wings, and they replaced it with "bourbon honey mustard," which absolutely tastes like ass. Whenever that was, that's when they lost this millennial's business. I complained to my server but they said the decision came down from corporate and there was nothing they could do.
fullshark 9y ago
The article hints at this but I think the rise of fast-casual is more responsible. Why pay 20% more just to have someone bring your food to you? The value just isn't there to justify it.
DiabloD3 9y ago
The entire article misses the point. All of the chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebee's serve absolutely horrible food, with horrible service, with no redeeming qualities anywhere in the experience. And then do so at an abusively high price. Fuck them, and they deserve to go under.
- khazhou 9y ago
  Sure the food and service are horrible, but on the other hand, the tables are sticky and the floor is filthy with scraps of food.
- chrismcb 9y ago
  Buffalo wild wings and Applebee's are bit the same type of place. Wild wings may but be for you, but they do have redeeming qualities. For me they are one of the better sports bars in the area with lots of large screens.
Zarath 9y ago
Buffalo Wild Wings is awful. I can barely have a conversation with anyone because everyone's attention is constantly being grabbed by 50 big screen tvs blaring sound and loud music. Not to mention the food is not good and the tables are always sticky. I also wonder if there is evidence that millenials are more health conscious and see these places as unhealthy?
- khazhou 9y ago
  Wait, the tables are sticky even AFTER they're wiped down with that filthy damp rag??
mattmurdog 9y ago
Millennials are not making as much as other generations, and at the same time they are spending outside their means. They spend money on travels, eating out at hipster places, bars and electronics such as upgrading their iphone every year. Chains like Buffalo are not exciting, they cater to Moms and Dads because they are not organic, fusion or Instagramable.
- djeikyb 9y ago
  A lot of my millenial friends are mothers and fathers... Anyway. We avoid Applebee's and Buffalo Wild Wings. The food is terrible. Even if it was mediocre, it's overpriced. There are better restaurants at the same price, or lower. > and at the same time they are spending outside their means It amuses me to no end that we millenials are simultaneously criticized for not spending enough.
dfansteel 9y ago
The Riblet is a terrible signature food and deserves to be destroyed.
brookside 9y ago
Won't somebody think of terrible corporate strip-mall sprawl America?
tyrw 9y ago
This probably also has something to do with the ability to get on-demand restaurant ratings for virtually any establishment. It used to be that the only way to know you'd get a decent meal was to visit a large brand name, and that's simply not the case anymore. Now the great restaurants have similarly great reviews and that's where people choose to go, regardless of whether they'd heard of it before.
- bigzen 9y ago
  I just wanted to highlight this comment. The rating review systems are becoming a trusted source of information more so than advertisements. Reminds me of another comment on here that talked about how so much of tech is solving communication problems. In this case the communication of past human experiences to a current restaraunt goer.
  - majewsky 9y ago
    > The rating review systems are becoming a trusted source of information more so than advertisements. And this is also precisely why I don't have any moral reservations blocking ads. Ads are being obsoleted as a source of information so that it's increasingly hard to justify why we would need any of them to fulfil our needs.
- jonheller 9y ago
  I was going to say the same thing. Just in case you've forgotten or have yet to experience the horrendous food of Applebees or Buffalo Wild Wings, a quick Yelp search will remind you and redirect you to a more palatable option. (Though, personally, I find Cheesecake Factory pretty darn good from a massive chain restaurant perspective)
SpikeDad 9y ago
Um, YAY!. Nothing is worse than some real estate baron dropping a couple mil and building some zombie chain restaurant. They know nothing about food and care only about squeezing profits out of the locals. Nobody local every opens a chain and so they don't care about the community or food quality. I try very hard to stick to locally owned restaurants but sometimes they're few and far between - especially in a college town like I live.
somberi 9y ago
I am over 40 and I normally patronize eateries in NYC or cook at home. Recently after years, I went to TGI Fridays. I was amused at how bad the food was in quality and nutritive value [1]. It was hard to find anything healthy to eat. Until a decade ago, going to TGIF or Applebees defined dining out, or chilling after work, in most of the US. The food, once cautiously chosen for pain avoidance, costed $35 for two. I won't know enough to comment how America at large treats these chains, or even if they have the same cultural relevance they had in the 1990s, but I for one see their whimsical demise. 1. https://www.tgifridays.com/pdf/nutrition.pdf https://www.tgifridays.com/pdf/nutrition.pdf
sehugg 9y ago
I wonder how much Netflix has affected restaurant sales. Given the choice between an expensive Sysco bag-o-food and my own cooking + superior bevs + catching up on shows, I know what I usually choose. It's a shame, because it's not just chain restaurants that serve crap, many mom-and-pop places do too for economic (or labor quality) reasons -- and their success is not strictly tied to the quality of the food.
Simulacra 9y ago
I think it's also possible that millennial's are realizing and recognizing the awful system that these chain restaurants perpetuate with servers making low wages, tipping, bad food, and high prices. Whereas my parents generation have always seen these as nice occasional dinners out, millennials see them as perpetuating a disadvantaged system.
squozzer 9y ago
As someone who has been around a little while, I've noticed that your typical casual-dining chain has a lifecycle that usually ends with bankruptcy. Their staying power depends mostly on their quality (both food and dining experience) and somewhat on their trendiness. Lower-tier restaurants, e.g. McD's or even Domino's, probably have some immunity to this problem because the expectations are rather low. As far as pizza goes, I've been known to eat the frozen stuff, so the big delivery chains are a huge step up. I have also noticed when dining at more ethnic places (in my case, Viet pho), younger people are more common there. Ditto for tapas - which some people my age don't seem to like because the portions are small. So if millenials are to blame - to echo the sentiments of another commentor - for the de-mediocritization of American dining, then I will die a little happier.

It could also be that the chains aren't know for good food. When pressed with Spending money on Dinner, It's more often a local small restaurant that I go to vs. a chain. I think the excessive use of microwave cooking is what turned me off. I do however see the value in more casual dine and go restaurants. I'd rather order the food I want and get out with exception of date night.

c0nducktr 9y ago
I think it's more the atmosphere than the food. I like Buffalo Wild Wings food (well, the wings at least), but everytime I go there it's this gymnasium-sized open restaurant with awful music playing... There's a bar, but it's not what I want a bar to be. There are booths, but they offer no privacy. It's just a place to get wings, which is fine, but for what I spend going to bdubs I can go to any number of other places with equally good or better food, which also have a better atmosphere.
- GVIrish 9y ago
  My thing with BW3's is that watching sports at a sports bar kinda sucks. You can't hear the commentating and you can't really hear your friends either. We'll still order takeout on occasion but if we're gonna sit down to eat there's no reason to eat at BW3's. Applebee's, Friday's , and Ruby Tuesday's just aren't good enough for the money you spend. I'd rather eat somewhere local with a more interesting and well executed menu for the money.

brightball 9y ago

Seriously, I would go to Applebee's if they had a better selection of gluten free options. My wife has celiac and the entire family doesn't go there to eat if they can't properly serve her. Right now, they bring out some giant chart and you have to decipher it while cross referencing the menu. It takes longer, lowers your confidence that they know what they are doing and is embarrassing for the person having to dig through it all. Somebody at Applebee's needs to take a trip to Outback and ask for a gluten free menu. Bottom line: if somebody in the group will have to worry about their meal, the restaurant is off the list.

fred_is_fred 9y ago
Everyone has "celiac" which is the problem I guess.
- mark-r 9y ago
  The medical profession has refused to consider the possibility that gluten causes problems other than celiac disease. Or perhaps there are other components of wheat that cause those problems. I would be curious to know if some people on gluten-free diets would be just as well served by avoiding GMO wheat but allowing non-GMO - unfortunately that's a tough test to perform. I know two people who claim to be sensitive to corn. I'm not about to argue with them, I know the corn we have today in the U.S. is nothing like our grandparent's corn.
  - bitwize 9y ago
    > The medical profession has refused to consider the possibility that gluten causes problems other than celiac disease. Once the evidence rises above self-reported gluten sensitivity or self-reported improvement on a gluten-free diet, the medical community will consider that possibility. Until then, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data".
  - boomboomsubban 9y ago
    The medical profession refuses to consider things that have no evidence supporting them, which is why they aren't pointing the blame at GMO's. Yes, our corn is different. The change is partially responsible for millions of people being alive.
  - shalmanese 9y ago
    They've refused to consider the possibility that GMO wheat causes any special kind of harm in the wild because GMO wheat is not commercially available: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_wheat https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_wheat
    - 9y ago

gozur88 9y ago

Meh. The restaurant business is always in constant churn, and it's almost as trendy as fashion. This week "casual dining" is out; next week it'll be back in and the analysts will have some plausible-sounding explanation.

Evansbee 9y ago
Most likely it will be millennial focused.

sdiupIGPWEfh 9y ago

Let's read between the lines, as these articles rarely do. > "Millennial consumers are more attracted than their elders to cooking at home..." Almost as if this generation, having less to spend, has learned to enjoy cheaper options. > "...ordering delivery from restaurants and eating quickly, in fast-casual or quick-serve restaurants...Customers often spend less when ordering delivery..." Supporting the argument that they're poorer on average, with a dash of having less free time. I wonder how much this behavior intersects with having to work multiple jobs? Combined with sub-par food from these establishments, it's no wonder they're having problems.

Arainach 9y ago

Millennials are simultaneously not buying houses because we spend too much eating out (http://time.com/money/4778942/avocados-millennials-home-buying/ http://time.com/money/4778942/avocados-millennials-home-buyi...) and killing off chains by not eating out enough. At some point businesses need to stop blaming everything on the "millennials" bogeyman and accept responsibility for not adapting to modern trends. Fundamentally, I can get a far better meal by any metric - price, quality of food, flavor, often more than one of the above - pretty much anywhere other than casual dining chains like Applebees/Buffalo Wild Wings. If I'm going to dedicate the time and money to sitting down and going out, I'd like something better than two microwaved steaks and a platter of mozzarella sticks for $25.

kemiller2002 9y ago
I honestly hope that more people have the same attitude as you. I really think one of the major problems with America is that we don't really question what we are being sold and is it worth it. Too long have major corporations given us horrible choices for what we buy etc. and if the "millennial generation" is to blame for corporations suddenly realizing their cheapness and lack of caring in what they sell through financial difficulties, then bravo to them. I will do whatever I can to support my younger brethren in "helping" the organizations realize their time of taking advantage of people by offering the cheapest and worst option possible has come to an end.
white-flame 9y ago
> and killing off chains by not eating out enough. While I agree with your sentiment, the specific claim is that some types of chains are dying off because millennials are eating from other types of chains instead. But yeah, everybody's doing that, not just millennials. With the lowering quality of food, crammed bulk-rate table service, and no time or cost advantage, these sorts of places have turned off customers of all ages. Of course the newer-comers aren't going to attach to them.
parennoob 9y ago
Also these places aren't good at the things they (sometimes) claim to specialize in. The wings at Buffalo Wild Wings are not better than the wings at a random bar. Maybe millenials care about these things because we want value for our money and don't want to spend it solely on the basis of Super Bowl advertisements?

pg_bot 9y ago

Adapt or die, if you can't figure out what your customers want then you deserve to go out of business. I've never seen a company become successful by blaming their customers for their problems. Take a deep breath figure out what your flaws are and you can fix them.

jonbarker 9y ago

So are my parents.

CountSessine 9y ago

Speaking as a Gen-Xer, I'm always amused by these news articles accusing Millenials of killing one thing or another simply through non-participation. I guess back in my day I was responsible for killing country clubs and small-town bowling alleys. Go figure!

cholantesh 9y ago
I also appreciate the language of articles like this one and the one about malls that BI published awhile back. Wherein it's implied heavily that there is some moral imperative to support MNCs and millennials should be ashamed for abstaining from it.
- CountSessine 9y ago
  millennials should be ashamed for abstaining from it I know - such selfishness! Think of the shareholders!

mrfusion 9y ago

I also feel like the food at these places has gotten worse over the past five or ten years plus smaller portions. I feel like ten years ago more of the food was cooked on premises but now it seems like almost everything is frozen and microwaved.

hermanradtke 9y ago
Yep and places like BWW completely changed their menu structure for the worse. These places sunk themselves.
- novia 9y ago
  Within the last 5 years, BWW removed honey mustard from the selection of sauces available for wings, and they replaced it with "bourbon honey mustard," which absolutely tastes like ass. Whenever that was, that's when they lost this millennial's business. I complained to my server but they said the decision came down from corporate and there was nothing they could do.

fullshark 9y ago

The article hints at this but I think the rise of fast-casual is more responsible. Why pay 20% more just to have someone bring your food to you? The value just isn't there to justify it.

DiabloD3 9y ago

The entire article misses the point. All of the chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebee's serve absolutely horrible food, with horrible service, with no redeeming qualities anywhere in the experience. And then do so at an abusively high price. Fuck them, and they deserve to go under.

khazhou 9y ago
Sure the food and service are horrible, but on the other hand, the tables are sticky and the floor is filthy with scraps of food.
chrismcb 9y ago
Buffalo wild wings and Applebee's are bit the same type of place. Wild wings may but be for you, but they do have redeeming qualities. For me they are one of the better sports bars in the area with lots of large screens.

Zarath 9y ago

Buffalo Wild Wings is awful. I can barely have a conversation with anyone because everyone's attention is constantly being grabbed by 50 big screen tvs blaring sound and loud music. Not to mention the food is not good and the tables are always sticky. I also wonder if there is evidence that millenials are more health conscious and see these places as unhealthy?

khazhou 9y ago
Wait, the tables are sticky even AFTER they're wiped down with that filthy damp rag??

mattmurdog 9y ago

Millennials are not making as much as other generations, and at the same time they are spending outside their means. They spend money on travels, eating out at hipster places, bars and electronics such as upgrading their iphone every year. Chains like Buffalo are not exciting, they cater to Moms and Dads because they are not organic, fusion or Instagramable.

djeikyb 9y ago
A lot of my millenial friends are mothers and fathers... Anyway. We avoid Applebee's and Buffalo Wild Wings. The food is terrible. Even if it was mediocre, it's overpriced. There are better restaurants at the same price, or lower. > and at the same time they are spending outside their means It amuses me to no end that we millenials are simultaneously criticized for not spending enough.

dfansteel 9y ago

The Riblet is a terrible signature food and deserves to be destroyed.

brookside 9y ago

Won't somebody think of terrible corporate strip-mall sprawl America?

tyrw 9y ago

This probably also has something to do with the ability to get on-demand restaurant ratings for virtually any establishment. It used to be that the only way to know you'd get a decent meal was to visit a large brand name, and that's simply not the case anymore. Now the great restaurants have similarly great reviews and that's where people choose to go, regardless of whether they'd heard of it before.

bigzen 9y ago
I just wanted to highlight this comment. The rating review systems are becoming a trusted source of information more so than advertisements. Reminds me of another comment on here that talked about how so much of tech is solving communication problems. In this case the communication of past human experiences to a current restaraunt goer.
- majewsky 9y ago
  > The rating review systems are becoming a trusted source of information more so than advertisements. And this is also precisely why I don't have any moral reservations blocking ads. Ads are being obsoleted as a source of information so that it's increasingly hard to justify why we would need any of them to fulfil our needs.
jonheller 9y ago
I was going to say the same thing. Just in case you've forgotten or have yet to experience the horrendous food of Applebees or Buffalo Wild Wings, a quick Yelp search will remind you and redirect you to a more palatable option. (Though, personally, I find Cheesecake Factory pretty darn good from a massive chain restaurant perspective)

SpikeDad 9y ago

Um, YAY!. Nothing is worse than some real estate baron dropping a couple mil and building some zombie chain restaurant. They know nothing about food and care only about squeezing profits out of the locals. Nobody local every opens a chain and so they don't care about the community or food quality. I try very hard to stick to locally owned restaurants but sometimes they're few and far between - especially in a college town like I live.

somberi 9y ago

I am over 40 and I normally patronize eateries in NYC or cook at home. Recently after years, I went to TGI Fridays. I was amused at how bad the food was in quality and nutritive value [1]. It was hard to find anything healthy to eat. Until a decade ago, going to TGIF or Applebees defined dining out, or chilling after work, in most of the US. The food, once cautiously chosen for pain avoidance, costed $35 for two. I won't know enough to comment how America at large treats these chains, or even if they have the same cultural relevance they had in the 1990s, but I for one see their whimsical demise. 1. https://www.tgifridays.com/pdf/nutrition.pdf https://www.tgifridays.com/pdf/nutrition.pdf

sehugg 9y ago

I wonder how much Netflix has affected restaurant sales. Given the choice between an expensive Sysco bag-o-food and my own cooking + superior bevs + catching up on shows, I know what I usually choose. It's a shame, because it's not just chain restaurants that serve crap, many mom-and-pop places do too for economic (or labor quality) reasons -- and their success is not strictly tied to the quality of the food.

Simulacra 9y ago

I think it's also possible that millennial's are realizing and recognizing the awful system that these chain restaurants perpetuate with servers making low wages, tipping, bad food, and high prices. Whereas my parents generation have always seen these as nice occasional dinners out, millennials see them as perpetuating a disadvantaged system.

squozzer 9y ago

As someone who has been around a little while, I've noticed that your typical casual-dining chain has a lifecycle that usually ends with bankruptcy. Their staying power depends mostly on their quality (both food and dining experience) and somewhat on their trendiness. Lower-tier restaurants, e.g. McD's or even Domino's, probably have some immunity to this problem because the expectations are rather low. As far as pizza goes, I've been known to eat the frozen stuff, so the big delivery chains are a huge step up. I have also noticed when dining at more ethnic places (in my case, Viet pho), younger people are more common there. Ditto for tapas - which some people my age don't seem to like because the portions are small. So if millenials are to blame - to echo the sentiments of another commentor - for the de-mediocritization of American dining, then I will die a little happier.