2009 has been a rough year for casual dining, with many restaurant chains struggling to stay afloat. The solution proposed at Denny's? Become friends with the cool kids. Denny's, a 24-hour eating establishment with a reputation as a family road trip pit stop, is attempting to transform itself into an all-night hotspot for young adults.
With the onset of its Allnighter program last year, Denny's began its metamorphosis into a night-owl oasis, blasting rock and country from the hours of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The company also started offering a Rockstar menu at night, hawking dishes like burritos designed by Good Charlotte and a country-fried steak combo created by Rascal Flatts.
The payoff has been meager with late night traffic increasing by only 5 percent. Still, the chain continues to promote its newly-minted image to college campuses, in hopes that schools will consider changing the names of existing locations to "Allnighter" and offer the restaurant's Rockstar menu. I haven't hit up a Denny's since my last road trip, but I'm curious to know if any of you have checked it out. Does the new late-night Denny's lounge seem to have an edge on the competition?
Photo by sun dazed
Vanessa Bruno
I don't think I've ever been to Denny's during regular eating hours. Even when I was a kid, my family would only take me there after midnight. I only see it as a place to eat after a late night. I wish they had a better night menu though. I feel like the menu they currently have at night is a bit too limiting. They need chocolate chip pancakes. Perfect post-concert food.
1I agree with filmgirl, Denny's for me is only for late night eating.
Also what competition? Where I live after 10 pm its either Denny's or Steak and Shake (which isn't that great) oh and IHOP which is only good for yummy pancakes!
2I thought Denny's was already an established late night spot for college kids. At least it was in my area. There's no place better to go 3am after a long night bar hopping!
3Around here, there is Perkins if you want to eat something late at night. I remember when I used to work 2nd shift at a warehouse near a Perkins. After work we'd go there for dinner...it was a lot of fun. I haven't eaten at many Denny's though. If the food was decent, I might be tempted to give it a shot.
4If they serve bacon 24/7 I'm in!
5when i lived in the south we always used to hit up waffle house, but now that i'm on the west coast denny's is the best for when we're heading back from a late night out
6ugh, they can keep trying...i am NOT a denny's fan.
7I'm with a lot of you ladies, Denny's already is a late night place.
8The Denny's around here all have a 1 hour no-loitering rule...they are going to have to fix things like that in order to make it work. Also, marketing free wi-fi always helps with college students! I know I am always looking for a great spot to do homework into the wee hours of the a.m.
9Where I live we have many options for late night/24-hour dining. I would love to see them try to market it in Miami or NYC where there's tons of late night spots.... Maybe if they served liquor I'd be more willing to go....
10I miss having all-night dining options. My husband and I are late eaters and if we decide we want to go out, we have to decide early. Everything around here seems to be closed by 8--and a lot of the pizza places close their kitchens by 9, which seems insane to me. A couple weeks we were in Nanaimo, looking for breakfast around 6:30 and we couldn't find anything. A lot of cafes opened at 7 or 7:30, but all we really wanted was a Denny's or IHOP--and there wasn't one in sight.
As to Denny's new Allnighter program--well, I can't wait to try it out on our next roadtrip. It's not that I'm such a fan of Denny's food, but I am a huge fan of not having to stop at greasy, gross truckstops that make me feel the need to shower afterward.
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