ground round going under?

the feds came in to the ground round i was eating at the other day in hazleton pa and they told all patrons and staff to get their coats on and leave, seems that the corporate stores are all closed and the franchised ones are still open anybody have any news?

Did you get to finish your lunch?

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

Did you get to finish your lunch?

No, we were all asked to put our coats on and leave, lucky for me i was almost finished. Nobody had to pay their bill

Gosh I hope this place gets closed down. I would say this is the most non-edible chain restaurant in existince.

I have no idea why the Feds were there, but running people off before they had finished their meals seems unnecessary. Officials could have prevented new customers from entering and allowed staff to finish serving customers. Customers, whose orders were taken could have been given adequate time to finish.

Some of those customers may not have had time to grab another meal before having to be back at work. And I'll bet wait staff lost most of their tips - income they had already earned.

Of course, officials could have planned better and done their thing before the business opened that day or before customers arrived, but then, there would have been less drama. I want government to do it's job, always, but not in a heavy-handed, showing off manner.

A dramatic closing, sensitive to both customers and employees, could have been managed with plenty of substantive publicity for the agency involved. But they wanted to go Hollywood.

quote:

Originally posted by marcbla

the feds came in to the ground round i was eating at the other day in hazleton pa and they told all patrons and staff to get their coats on and leave, seems that the corporate stores are all closed and the franchised ones are still open anybody have any news?

Sorry, but it couldn't have been the Feds involved in this one. If Bush had anything to say about this, he would have first leaked that Ground Round was responsible for the production of weapons of mass destruction (and anyone whose ever eaten there would surely agree!); then ammassed a number of troops on the border of Ground Round and Chili's; and after months of "searching" for these alleged WMDs, he would have just blowed it up anyway!

Of course, if Bush is found to be responsible for ridding the world of Ground Round, he COULD get re-elected!

Steve

They closed the one's here in Rochester the same way.

Shouldn't this thread be titled: "Ground Round's Goin' Down?!?!"

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Rushmore Jr.

Gosh I hope this place gets closed down. I would say this is the most non-edible chain restaurant in existince.

As someone who was once a health inspector in Orange County, Texas I want to know what a health inspector is on this forum.

Hode beat me to the news, saw this last night on TV. The local Ground Rounds were closed, but they didn't mention the feds doing it. If it was the Feds, the only reason I can think of is non-payment of taxes. After a long enough battle, they just close the business and lock the door.

Of course they could do that at the beginning of the day before the doors are open, but that would ruin the publicity. Glad I wasn't there, I'd get real upset when someone tries to tell me I can't finish my meal.

quote:

Originally posted by JimInKy

I have no idea why the Feds were there, but running people off before they had finished their meals seems unnecessary. Officials could have prevented new customers from entering and allowed staff to finish serving customers. Customers, whose orders were taken could have been given adequate time to finish.

Some of those customers may not have had time to grab another meal before having to be back at work.

Of course, officials could have planned better and done their thing before the business opened that day or before customers arrived, but then, there would have been no drama. I want government to do it's job, always, but spare us the the heavy-handed showing off.

I agree with JimInKy:

I have been doing business with Ground Round since the early 70's. I enjoyed them thin and I have noticed a decline in business. My last contact was with them in Minneapolis about a year ago. I had a great burger and I do not understand, but if the closure came as indicated, that is awful.

I will find out further info from the internet and I sincerely hope that the closure did not happen as described.

I enjoyed their pinball machines and peanuts for several years.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

quote:

Originally posted by marcbla

the feds came in to the ground round i was eating at the other day in hazleton pa and they told all patrons and staff to get their coats on and leave, seems that the corporate stores are all closed and the franchised ones are still open anybody have any news?

Marc,
You shoulda been eating at the diner down the street from downtown (heading toward McAdoo on 309) or at that great pizzaria in West Hazleton (on 93) instead!
I've never tried either place, but when I drove through your fair city, those two looked to be Roadfood material. Can you give me/us a true report?
Pottsylvanianly, Ort. Carlton in Athens, Georgia.
P. S. Eddie Rambeau, the guy who did the big hit of "Concrete And Clay" in 1965, hailed from Hazleton. His real name is Edward Flurie, or something very similar. His follow-up record, "My Name Is Mud," which didn't do diddley in the U. S., zoomed to # 5 in Canada. His LP is still in print there on a CD. Go figure.

I should imagine that the only reason the Feds shut the place down was due to a tax issue.

I once had local (Yankee blue blood) police come into my restaurant at 10pm on a ragingly busy Saturday night and take away my two teenage dishwashers for a very minor misdemeanor like not showing up in court for a traffic violation. I was furious! Me and my hard working and very tired cooks had to do all the dishes and clean the kitchen! Grrrr. Why couldn't they have waited 2 hours more?

I've also had Immigration come into my restaurant (different establishment from the above) and cart off a couple of illegals. At the same restaurant (owned by a crusty septagenerian who was "affiliated" with the Mob ) we got robbed at gunpoint at 8PM on a Sunday nite with a full dining room. Some people were actually MIFFED that they did not get their dinners! All the cooks went to the emergency room! It was my night off.

Ground Round had been declining for several years here in Cincinnati, with the one near me shutting down maybe 4 years ago. I know one was open as recently as 2 years ago, but not sure if it is open now (opposite side of town from me). My wife and I actually liked that place when we first tried it around 97 or so, but within a year the food quality had tailed off considerably. Good soups, good burgers, long ago....

quote:

Originally posted by Ort. Carlton.

quote:

Originally posted by marcbla

the feds came in to the ground round i was eating at the other day in hazleton pa and they told all patrons and staff to get their coats on and leave, seems that the corporate stores are all closed and the franchised ones are still open anybody have any news?

Marc,
You shoulda been eating at the diner down the street from downtown (heading toward McAdoo on 309) or at that great pizzaria in West Hazleton (on 93) instead!
I've never tried either place, but when I drove through your fair city, those two looked to be Roadfood material. Can you give me/us a true report?
Pottsylvanianly, Ort. Carlton in Athens, Georgia.
P. S. Eddie Rambeau, the guy who did the big hit of "Concrete And Clay" in 1965, hailed from Hazleton. His real name is Edward Flurie, or something very similar. His follow-up record, "My Name Is Mud," which didn't do diddley in the U. S., zoomed to # 5 in Canada. His LP is still in print there on a CD. Go figure.

the only famous people from hzleton were digger phelps of notre dame basketball fame and jack palance who lived just north of town, are you from pottsville? home ot the oldest brewery in the us (yuengling) you are probably talking about the blue comet diner greek owned and operated just typical diner food no real highlites here! also many pizza places on rt 93 can you be more specific?

more info, apparently fedreal reps were there because of the bankruptcy, all managers were called about three pm and told to close immediately i will stop by the location today and see if there is any info posted on the door i called the hq of ground round and got no answer i also e-mailed them and got no response

i just called their hq and got an answering machine telling me to leave a message and phone number and they will call back then the machine said it was full of messages and hung up on me

quote:

Originally posted by pogophiles

Shouldn't this thread be titled: "Ground Round's Goin' Down?!?!"

or ground round grounds to a halt!

A similar thing happened at the Hardees in New Castle last year. The Feds came into the restaurant and ordered everyone to leave immediately. It appears the owner was having tax problems and they shut him down. It never reopened and a new bbq place has opened recently in its place (unfortunately its only average). This didn't affect the other Hardees, just the one he owned. BTW anything that decreases the number of mass chain restaurants is something I would be for.

I have never heard of this chain. Is it like a Chilis/Bennigans?

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

I have never heard of this chain. Is it like a Chilis/Bennigans?

yes, typical applebees type of place

a bit more family oriented, though...generally quieter than an applebees in my experience

There was a story about this in the Boston Globe this morning: most of the Ground Rounds in the Boston area are now shut, although the independently-owned franchises -- they mentioned one in Salem -- are still open. Given that there seems to be a Ground Round at nearly every rotary in eastern MA, that's going to be a lot of open real estate. I wonder who'll take them over.

quote:

Originally posted by marcbla

quote:

Originally posted by pogophiles

Shouldn't this thread be titled: "Ground Round's Goin' Down?!?!"

or ground round grounds to a halt!

"Ground Round's Down for the Count!"

BOSTON (AP) - The Ground Round restaurant chain pioneered casual dining in the 1970s and '80s. But the casual way about 60 of the chain's 130 restaurants were abruptly shut down last week left thousands of workers not only jobless but angry.
"I've been with the company 11 years and I felt like I got kicked in the teeth," said Bob Laudo, general manager of the Ground Round in Macedonia, Ohio. "The way they left it left everybody pretty salty."

Laudo's was one of the company-owned Ground Round restaurants nationwide that were preparing for a busy night last Friday when they got word on a conference call to kick out the customers, close the doors and stash the food in the freezer.

"I let them finish their meals. I couldn't do that to them," said Laudo, who after notifying the bewildered customers informed his 60 employees they were out of a job.

For the rest of the story:

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAEDDPGSQD.html

quote:

Originally posted by marcbla

quote:

Originally posted by Ort. Carlton.

quote:

Originally posted by marcbla

Marc,
You shoulda been eating at the diner down the street from downtown (heading toward McAdoo on 309) or at that great pizzaria in West Hazleton (on 93) instead!
I've never tried either place, but when I drove through your fair city, those two looked to be Roadfood material. Can you give me/us a true report?
Pottsylvanianly, Ort. Carlton in Athens, Georgia.

the only famous people from hzleton were digger phelps of notre dame basketball fame and jack palance who lived just north of town, are you from pottsville? home ot the oldest brewery in the us (yuengling) you are probably talking about the blue comet diner greek owned and operated just typical diner food no real highlites here! also many pizza places on rt 93 can you be more specific?

Marc,
No, I'm from Georgia, but I've been to Pottsville several times. Yuengling is my favorite regionally-available beer - unless someone's going to where they can bring me some Straub's.
The Blue Comet may well have been the place. It was about two or three blocks off the main east-west drag (93), turning right and heading toward McAdoo on 309... right by the railroad crossing.
The pizzaria I'm wondering about is right where 93 makes that 45-degree turn from West Hazleton into Hazleton. Maybe you can tip all of us off to those good places in your area... I wanna go back up there sometime, and I'll file the information away. You sound like a person who knows. If you don't wanna post it here, you can e-mail me.
In Mahanoy City, there's an oldtime bar that serves real, live Serbian home cooking. I didn't get there, but it's right on the main drag. Poor Mahanoy City; I could buy a house there for under $10,000 and move in tomorrow if I wanted to... but I bet I could write a novel there, and there would be plenty of Yuengling to drink for cheap!
Inspirationally, Ort. Carlton in Yuenglingless Athens, Georgia.

Ort.Carlton, we agree completely, and there is no Straub or Yeungling's to be found here in the Boston area unless I reaally look hard. My sister in law is from Sharon,PA, and once or twice a year they travel from MA to PA and return with a case of Straub.
We should have known Ground Round was doomed when they were separated from HoJo's.
DaveM

Soon they will be eligible for:[url='http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=479']THIS topic[/url].....[:o]

quote:

Originally posted by Ort. Carlton.

quote:

Originally posted by marcbla

quote:

Originally posted by Ort. Carlton.

quote:

Originally posted by marcbla

Marc,
You shoulda been eating at the diner down the street from downtown (heading toward McAdoo on 309) or at that great pizzaria in West Hazleton (on 93) instead!
I've never tried either place, but when I drove through your fair city, those two looked to be Roadfood material. Can you give me/us a true report?
Pottsylvanianly, Ort. Carlton in Athens, Georgia.

the only famous people from hzleton were digger phelps of notre dame basketball fame and jack palance who lived just north of town, are you from pottsville? home ot the oldest brewery in the us (yuengling) you are probably talking about the blue comet diner greek owned and operated just typical diner food no real highlites here! also many pizza places on rt 93 can you be more specific?

Marc,
No, I'm from Georgia, but I've been to Pottsville several times. Yuengling is my favorite regionally-available beer - unless someone's going to where they can bring me some Straub's.
The Blue Comet may well have been the place. It was about two or three blocks off the main east-west drag (93), turning right and heading toward McAdoo on 309... right by the railroad crossing.
The pizzaria I'm wondering about is right where 93 makes that 45-degree turn from West Hazleton into Hazleton. Maybe you can tip all of us off to those good places in your area... I wanna go back up there sometime, and I'll file the information away. You sound like a person who knows. If you don't wanna post it here, you can e-mail me.
In Mahanoy City, there's an oldtime bar that serves real, live Serbian home cooking. I didn't get there, but it's right on the main drag. Poor Mahanoy City; I could buy a house there for under $10,000 and move in tomorrow if I wanted to... but I bet I could write a novel there, and there would be plenty of Yuengling to drink for cheap!
Inspirationally, Ort. Carlton in Yuenglingless Athens, Georgia.

i will get the info about mahanoy city yes that was the blue comet you were talking about . and the pizza place in west hazleton is now closed i have relatives in acworth and warner robbins, my cousin took me to the varsity for a hot dog and then i went an had my first krispy kreme doughnut, i think it's still inside me i can't take eating them when they are still warm, i know they tast better warm but not for me, well more later time for two or three yuengling lagers.....

Spoke to my mom tonight: she's a big Ground Round fan in my small hometown. Turns out, they were one of the 60 that bit the dust. It was always crowded, too. Apparently, the local manager decided to not throw people out, but let them finish their meals and then leave without paying.

To me, that's the right thing to do. Yes, I understand that the corporate management didn't want disgruntled staffers to start giving away considerable amounts of food, but throwing people out like it's a raid only hurts the reputation of the remaining outlets. Look how the word is already spreading.