The Strip experienced a shake-up this past week, as two restaurant options for students were eliminated.
Chili’s Bar and Grill, smack dab in the middle of the Strip, closed its doors on Wednesday. McDougal’s, located at the corner of 17th Street and White Avenue, stopped frying chicken fingers just days prior.
Danielle Smith, public relations spokeswoman for Brinker International, the parent company of Chili’s, said former employees of the Strip’s Chili’s could find new employment at two Chili’s locations within six miles of the former restaurant: Chili’s at 7304 Kingston Pike and Chili’s at 6635 Clinton Highway.
Due to the size of the restaurant’s staff, she said finding a new position at one of the other local Chili’s locations would be dependent upon room for hire at the other locations. But if the former employees so desired, Brinker International would attempt to facilitate a switch.
Smith could not say whether having two Chili’s locations close to the Strip location was a contributing factor to its closing.
“We have more than 1,500 Chili’s across the nation and other countries and areas where the brand is popular,” Smith said. “The demand is there, and that is where there are locations. ... It is common to have multiple restaurants in such a close proximity.”
She also said other Chili’s locations are close to universities as well.
“I went to Texas A&M, and there was one right across the street from campus,” Smith said. “There are definitely instances where it’s that close.”
She said the decision was part of an annual evaluation process the company does, which led to this year’s closing of the Strip location that opened in October 2003.
“From time to time, we choose to decline lease renewals in restaurants that, for a variety of reasons, are not expected to generate sufficient future cash flows,” she said.
Unlike Chili’s, which announced its closing a week in advance, McDougal’s closed so suddenly that one former employee did not know his job was gone until after the fact.
Hassan Salloukh, former McDougal’s employee and senior in political science, said he heard the day after from managers.
McDougal’s proprietor Tommy McDougal left a note on the door of the restaurant, which read the following: “To our loyal following and for those just now discovering us, we are so sorry to say we have closed this location. It’s a very sad day for the McDougal family and our fellow employees. We gave it all we had but just couldn’t keep going. Our two stores in Nashville are doing great and will continue to crank out our amazing chicken that we’ve all become to love. Thanks for all your support, and come see us in Nashville.”
Salloukh said he started the day the store opened, back in late October, and worked late evenings from 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. until the store’s 9 p.m. close. He said all the students who worked there were part-time.
He said the closing of the restaurant took him off guard because changes were recently made to the menu to include hamburgers.
In the store’s final month, McDougal’s modified its menu to include the drink with a chicken basket meal, rather than charging extra for the drink. The store also eliminated its trademark sauce bar.
In addition, a Valentine’s Day special — buy one chicken finger basket and get one free — led to the store running out of chicken two hours before closing.
Matt Roebuck, junior in enterprise management and another former employee of McDougal’s, said the runout of chicken was due to McDougal’s using fresh, not frozen, chicken.
“So when it’s out, it’s out,” Roebuck said. “You can’t just go in the freezer and get more. ... We season it for a period of 24 hours before we serve it.”
Roebuck was also surprised by the timing of the closure and is currently looking for a way to replace that income.
Salloukh did not put much stock in the competition with Guthrie’s and Zaxby’s on the Strip because he said McDougal’s established itself as something different. The store strived for higher-quality chicken fingers and figured students would pay higher prices and wait longer for them.
Roebuck attributed much of what McDougal did at the restaurant to experimentation.
“He did a lot of things where he was just trying new stuff, things like that,” he said.
Unlike Guthrie’s and Zaxby’s, McDougal’s closed for an extended period of time during Christmas break, but Salloukh did not attribute that as a factor to the eatery’s closing.
“It was mostly college students (eating at the restaurant), and the majority went back home anyway,” he said. “He (McDougal) said it himself that he didn’t want to be like everyone else. He was more catering to our needs.”
Salloukh said McDougal achieved differentiation from the two other chicken places on the Strip.
“Zaxby’s is more of a franchise, and Guthrie’s is, I look at it like a late-night stop,” he said. “McDougal’s was more of a fun atmosphere, compared to others. Just look at all the sports memorabilia he had on the wall.”