The Green Onion closed

[Townsend]

http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=11115834

TULSA, OK -- A long-time Tulsa business has closed its doors.  Employees started moving things out of the Green Onion, near 51st and Yale, on Friday.     

The general manager tells The News On 6 the economy was the reason behind the decision to close. 

The Green Onion has been in Tulsa for 23 years

[Conan71]

Economy???  There's lots of other restaurants still thriving in that corridor, I call BS.  More like the ownership change was probably the problem.

[Bat Bat]

Used to go there all of the time when I was kid.  We always went with the whole family (grandpas, grandmas, everybody) for Sunday bruch usually on a special day like Easter, Mother's Day or Father's Day.  I haven't been there in year's though.

[lsimmons]

Ha, that figures. I just bought some restaurant.com certificates to there this morning. Oh, well.

[godboko71]

Economy???  There's lots of other restaurants still thriving in that corridor, I call BS.  More like the ownership change was probably the problem.

I would have to ditto the BS factor of the Economy being the main reason for closing.

Ownership change and poor management would most likely be the real factor in the closing. 

[Red Arrow]

Used to go there all of the time when I was kid.   I haven't been there in year's though.

So it's all your fault. 

[Patrick]

Ha, that figures. I just bought some restaurant.com certificates to there this morning. Oh, well.

E-mail restaurants.com and they will let you get another gift certificate.  We had the same thing happen a few months ago.

[sgrizzle]

E-mail restaurants.com and they will let you get another gift certificate.  We had the same thing happen a few months ago.

Maybe I should try that with my "Up the Creek" certificates.

[tulsa_fan]

Our family went there for Father's Day this year, my first trip ever.  We had the brunch, I was very under impressed.  The restaurant was hot, the food was extremely bland and the service, so so . . . I had no intentions of going back.  Always hate to hear something closing, but I can see why this place was struggling.

[Breadburner]

It wasn't the economy...It was mismangement.....

[DTowner]

No doubt ownership/management played a role in its demise (is usually does for a failed restaurant), but the weak economy is particularly hard on restaurants and that patch around 51st and Yale has not fared well in the past year - Carraba's, Steak & Ale and Denny's in this area also closed.  I doubt this is the last long-time Tulsa restaurant we'll see fail before the economy picks up.

[godboko71]

No doubt ownership/management played a role in its demise (is usually does for a failed restaurant), but the weak economy is particularly hard on restaurants and that patch around 51st and Yale has not fared well in the past year - Carraba's, Steak & Ale and Denny's in this area also closed.  I doubt this is the last long-time Tulsa restaurant we'll see fail before the economy picks up.

Steak & Ale: (Poor Corporate Management)
Whole Chain went out, as did  Bennigan's owned by the same company they over extended themselves and expanded to fast it financially crippled the rest of the corporation, would have happened in better times.

Carrabba's:
Another corporate scale back, that location of Carrabba's was successful but not as successful as the 71st street location so they chose to close it. Don't be surprised is you see a scale back in there Outback Steak House brand as well over the next couple of years.

Denny's: (Poor Regional Management)
Poorly Managed regional franchisee was set up as a big fat pile of fail.

The economy is bad, but it isn't those main factor in any of these closings some  like Stake & Ale have been on the verge of corporate collapse for a long time others like Denny's where poorly managed, didn't participate in the chains national sales (most of the time) and where over all poorly managed.

Over the years The Green Onion has changed, food quality has gone down, service had become poor, all signs of poor management, people for the most part stopped going there because it wasn't what it used to be not because the economy was poor. There problems started well before the down turn.

[DTowner]

All those closed restaurants may have had poor management, but they probably had poor management for a long time yet survived until recently.  The biggest change is the economy slowed and folks cut back on dinning out.  The 51st & Yale area, where all of the listed examples were located, appears to be an area in somewhat overall decline.  The looming I44 expansion is probably a factor, which will hardly be good for anyone's business in that area in the short term, but it seems hard to blame it on that one factor.

My earlier point was every restaurant to recently close has been instantly chalked up to "poor management" by some on this board.  I don't think there has been a sudden rash of bad managers taking over every restaurant that has failed, but that a bad economy is making survival in an always tough business even tougher.  I'm sure well run restaurants offering good food and service at a fair price engender loyality among its customers that will probably tide it over through the bad times.  However, every restaurant owner I've spoken with has described 2009 as a year in which they've simply tried to survive.

[Conan71]

All those closed restaurants may have had poor management, but they probably had poor management for a long time yet survived until recently.  The biggest change is the economy slowed and folks cut back on dinning out.  The 51st & Yale area, where all of the listed examples were located, appears to be an area in somewhat overall decline.  The looming I44 expansion is probably a factor, which will hardly be good for anyone's business in that area in the short term, but it seems hard to blame it on that one factor.

My earlier point was every restaurant to recently close has been instantly chalked up to "poor management" by some on this board.  I don't think there has been a sudden rash of bad managers taking over every restaurant that has failed, but that a bad economy is making survival in an always tough business even tougher.  I'm sure well run restaurants offering good food and service at a fair price engender loyality among its customers that will probably tide it over through the bad times.  However, every restaurant owner I've spoken with has described 2009 as a year in which they've simply tried to survive.

Try again.  Lone Star, Marie Callender's, Picadilly, Applebee's, Outback, and Jamil's all appear to be doing great if you drive by at peak dining times.   In an economic downturn, the strongest and best will survive, the mis-managed and bland will fail.  Even in great economic times, mediocre will only play for so long.  As I understand the new owner was in the ad business, or at least a name I remembered from the ad business.  There's a big difference between knowing how to market a restaurant and knowing how to run one.  If you get the people in the door and the dining experience sucks, they won't return and they will engage in the most effective form of marketing: word of mouth.

[waterboy]

The place went downhill. I used to love to take my wife there on Valentines day and buy Salmon smothered in almond sauce. The quality went down, the prices rose, the place needed remodeling and we lost interest. The floors were filthy. Then one day my nephew ended up working there. He told me that if I ever saw the food prepared I would never go back. I didn't.