Denny's Operations

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Alpha8472
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Denny's Operations

Post by Alpha8472 »

Denny's must really be desperate now. They are doing all you can eat Endless Breafast for $6.99. This includes pancakes, scrambled eggs, and hash browns. Bacon or sausage is 99 cents extra.

I have not been to Denny's in years, but this is something that might make me go there just to try it out.

Some areas such as Los Angeles are charging $8.99.
Super S
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Re: Denny's Operations

Post by Super S »

In recent years, Denny's has improved a bit. They changed the way they make their pancakes, and actually have really good coffee these days. They are also remodeling many locations. With that said, they are getting more expensive. This actually might not be a bad deal, especially with the demise of buffets in many areas.

Denny's is a mixed bag. Some have good service and good food, and are always busy. Others leave a lot to be desired, and some franchisees do not invest in remodeling.

The pandemic did hit them hard in some areas, and many are not "always open" these days.
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Re: Denny's Operations

Post by Brian Lutz »

I haven't been to the local Denny's (or more accurately the remaining local Denny's, a lot of locations here have closed) in a while, but I did recently visit a "Classic Diner" style Denny's in Post Falls Idaho that was surprisingly busy (but seemed to be adequately staffed and functional) when we were there on a Wednesday evening. The location is next to I-90 but the crowd seemed to be mostly locals. Most of the time when I visit the local Denny's here in the Everett area there are a few people there but I rarely see it very busy. The staff is generally friendly though, but does seem a bit overworked. These days we end up at IHOP a lot more than we end up at Denny's when we're at home. Some of the items I liked have gone off the menu (I used to like the Chicken Loaded Potato skillet that was on the 2468 menu with a side of tortillas, but it disappeared and I'm not a big fan of the other skillet options) but I can usually find something to eat.
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Re: Denny's Operations

Post by arizonaguy »

Super S wrote: April 2nd, 2022, 6:36 pm In recent years, Denny's has improved a bit. They changed the way they make their pancakes, and actually have really good coffee these days. They are also remodeling many locations. With that said, they are getting more expensive. This actually might not be a bad deal, especially with the demise of buffets in many areas.

Denny's is a mixed bag. Some have good service and good food, and are always busy. Others leave a lot to be desired, and some franchisees do not invest in remodeling.

The pandemic did hit them hard in some areas, and many are not "always open" these days.
I've always liked Denny's. To me they are the one chain that has always delivered consistent quality at reasonable prices. I've been to multiple locations in multiple states at multiple times of day and have never had a bad meal or poor service at any. I did most recently go to one at the Scottsdale Pavilions in Scottsdale, AZ that is having some staffing issues where we went on a Wednesday morning and they only had one server and one employee in the back when we got in (so service took longer than normal) but the food was good and the service was good all things considered.

IHOP has always been the restaurant that friends think of first to go to but I've had some poor tasting food and terrible service at some IHOPs (although the last time I was at one I was pleasantly impressed with the service and food quality).
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Re: Denny's Operations

Post by storewanderer »

arizonaguy wrote: April 3rd, 2022, 7:55 pm
IHOP has always been the restaurant that friends think of first to go to but I've had some poor tasting food and terrible service at some IHOPs (although the last time I was at one I was pleasantly impressed with the service and food quality).
IHOP is supposed to be better quality than Denny's but my experience with IHOP has always been it feels overpriced and not really any better/different than Denny's.

Always liked how IHOP left a coffee thermos at the table. Maybe they stopped doing that? Seemed like a good way to save the staff time. Also in most breakfast places with as fast as they go through coffee at the point they pour you a cup from the pot the pot was likely brewed within the last 10 minutes. At IHOP you get your thermos and the coffee is an hour old after you've been there a while. Maybe it doesn't make much of a difference.
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Re: Denny's Operations

Post by Alpha8472 »

Denny's bought the Keke's chain of 52 restaurants. The company hopes that this will return many more Denny's to 24/7 operations.

24 hour restaurants outperform limited hour restaurants significantly. Denny's is working with its franchises to return to 24 hour operations. However, staffing restaurants 24 hours is a serious problem right now for restaurants.

If Denny's is consistently 24 hours, more customers will be attracted to this brand.
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Re: Denny's Operations

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: August 3rd, 2022, 5:17 pm Denny's bought the Keke's chain of 52 restaurants. The company hopes that this will return many more Denny's to 24/7 operations.

24 hour restaurants outperform limited hour restaurants significantly. Denny's is working with its franchises to return to 24 hour operations. However, staffing restaurants 24 hours is a serious problem right now for restaurants.

If Denny's is consistently 24 hours, more customers will be attracted to this brand.
I've never heard of Keke's but one of the biggest things that I've seen places cut out as a result of labor shortages is the 24 hour operation. It is difficult to get people to work in the middle of the night. Hours like 5 AM to 2 AM are somewhat do-able (you can find people to work those shifts).

Keke's is going to be run independently of Denny's and I do not see it going to a 24 hour concept (it does not appear to have the right format/locations to be 24 hours).

Also there are more and more safety issues with the middle of the night operations. This leads to franchisees making bad decisions on policies. Like a certain franchisee did in the 90's requiring certain customer groups to "prepay" for their meals in the middle of the night while at the very same restaurant at the very same time not requiring other customer groups with the same number of customers in the group ordering similar/identical meals to "prepay."

I think going to 24 hour operations should only be done where it makes sense, not every location. I know consistency is important but there comes a point where you have to look at the reality of the situation and make decisions on more of a case by case basis.
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Re: Denny's Operations

Post by Brian Lutz »

We don't go to Denny's nearly as much as we used to since the one near our house closed (torn down in 2019 for an unspecified construction project currently underway) but looking over the nearby Denny's locations it appears a couple have returned to 24 hour operation, and several others have resumed partial 24 hour operation, but there are also a few that still close nightly.

- Edmonds, Seattle SODO, Auburn: Always open
- Lynnwood, Arlington, South Seattle, SeaTac North, Federal Way: 6AM-Midnight daily
- Everett: 6AM-Midnight Monday-Wednesday, 24 hours Thursday-Sunday
- Monroe: 6AM-11pm Monday through Thursday, 6AM-Midnight Friday, 24 Hours Saturday-Sunday
- SeaTac South: 6AM-2AM Sunday through Wednesday, 6AM-3PM Thursday through Saturday
- Kent: 6am-10pm Tuesday, 12PM-Midnight Wednesday, 24 hours Thursday-Sunday, Midnight-10pm Monday

For comparison, most IHOPs here (they have a lot more locations than Denny's, and have actually grown while Denny's has shrunk) are on roughly a 6am-10pm (give or take an hour on either end) schedule, although there are 24 hour locations in Seattle and Bellevue and one location in Renton that closes at 5PM daily. While they aren't quite like some of the "Pancake House" type places that close at 2pm, most IHOPs tend not to be very busy in the evenings but jam-packed before Noon, especially on the weekends. We met with a friend at the one in Lynnwood on Sunday morning and waited 30 minutes for a table.
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Re: Denny's Operations

Post by Alpha8472 »

Keke's seems to only open from 7 AM to 2:30 PM. Denny's will probably try to make them open for dinner as well or even 24 hours.

The Original Pancake House has not done well in the San Francisco Bay Area. They only open for breakfast and lunch. Many of the locations have closed in recent years.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, people love to have breakfast foods late at night and even at dinner time. If a restaurant is not open for dinner or late night, they lose out to the 24 hour restaurants. There are many customers that go out to eat late at night. You have college students, people who are leaving bars, people who attend concerts, etc. If the diner is not open late then those customers will go to Taco Bell or some other 24 hour fast food restaurant.

Black Bear diner is very popular in California, but they do not open past 9 PM or so. They would do tons of business if they were to stay open later. Midnight would be a good time.
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