As we pulled up to the stop right by the restaurant I was surprised to see there wasn't a line at all. It looked like they were closed.
A parking spot just down the way opened up so we parked and walked back to the restaurant. There wasn't a soul in line and we walked right in and were seated.
Now I've eaten at the Chicken Dinner Restaurant probably 3 dozen or more times and I don't think I've ever waited less than 30 minutes, and have on occasion waited as long as 90 minutes.
Something's up.
I thought we had just gotten there a bit early, but when we left the restaurant at 12:25 I snapped a photo of the waiting line:
Nobody....at 12:25 pm on Sunday afternoon. That can't be a good sign for the economy.
A couple of other notes - I mentioned I've eaten there a bunch of times. I always get the chicken dinner, but this time the chicken was...well, bland. I know they claim to be using the same recipe as always, but it was as though they left out all the spices.
The price is now $15.90, and that includes soup, salad, 4 pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, biscuits, and dessert. Drinks are $3.50. We split the meal and had two drinks - $24.90 with tax. That could as be a factor in their loss of patrons - it's pretty pricey and usually a lot tastier than it was today.
On the way out I stopped by a display case I hadn't seen before. My wife was interested in the original wedding china that was used by Cordelia Knott when she first started serving chicken dinners, and I read a letter written in April, 1968 by Walter Knott to his employees. It talked about the tough times the park was going through and blamed much of the demise on "young people" who were hanging out in Ghost Town and possibly scaring away paying customers.
He had a hippie infestation. 1968 was the height of hippie days and kids used to hang out in the park because there was no admission fee. Families weren't keen on going to Knott's and being around all the unwashed youth.
The letter went on to explain that they were going to fence off Ghost Town and start charging admission to anyone over 12 effective June 1. They've had an admission fee ever since and far fewer hippies.
Now if they can just do something about that chicken...
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Not surprised to hear your account of the current situation regarding Knott's Chicken Dinner restaurant.
The prices are in line with other bankrupt restaurant chains such as Stuart Anderson's Black Angus and the long since closed Country Star restaurant at Universal City next to Universal Studios. The financial difficulties these restaurant operations went through should be a very large hint for Knott's, don't you think?
I remember not being able to leave Country Star for less than $25 per person (tip included). Using your figures for Knott's Chicken Dinner restaurant, standard dinner for two (meal, drinks and 15 percent tip) is $48.97 (using Los Angeles County's recently increased sales tax rate of 9.75 percent). Yes, if you share the (overwhelmingly large) meal, you save some dough. But not enough for me to consider going there.
On the other hand, if you go to someplace like Hometown Buffet (newly out of bankruptcy) with one of their two for one coupons, one can spend only $11.65 plus tax for two! Huge difference. . . and that's why places like Hometown Buffet are still alive and in business, and places that charge outrageous amounts for portions that are out of sync with the times are struggling and going bankrupt.
Sad to hear the flavor is no longer the way it was with the chicken. It was delicious the way it used to be years ago. One more reason not to return. . . what were they thinking? (sigh)
The way it was, Knott's was a destination restaurant, with excellence in preparation and worth the trip for a date or special memorable engagement. By not keeping the distinctiveness of the chicken recipe (blanding the flavor down) and not downsizing the portions to more affordable portions, they are assuring their own demise.
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