Was It Something I Said?

Last night my wife and I had dinner at the Denny's in Foothill Ranch (I had a coupon).  Today I read this in the OC Register:

Denny’s in Foothill Ranch (26712 Portola Pkwy) is closing as of Monday, according to a corporate spokesman. The franchisee has opted to shut the restaurant. Denny’s would not comment further. The closure marks another food retailer to go down in the bedroom community, says reader and resident Samantha Fahrney. “Philly’s Best, Rosie’s Soul Food, Berry Swirl, China Dragon, Fresca’s and Dairy Queen are all gone. But this (Denny’s) is the first BIG closure. They are usually packed on the weekends. This is one of the only sit down ‘breakfast’ places located in Foothill Ranch,” she said when tipping me off that the Denny’s was closing.

My parents used to eat at that Denny's quite a bit and got to know most of the employees and management very well. I'm sorry to hear they're closing.

Our family had a memorable Christmas Dinner there in 2006. After opening presents at my parent's house the whole family decided to go see "A Night at the Museum" in the Foothill Ranch theaters. After the show the only restaurant around that was open was Denny's. Here's what I wrote about the experience:

I have to give a shout out to the Denney's in Foothill Ranch (CA) where we ate last night. It was packed full of other people like us who were looking for something on Christmas night, and the staff did a terrific job. They obviously knew they were going to get blitzed (being the only thing open) and they were well prepared for it.

Denney's can be a real crapshoot. There's another one near our house that is perpetually understaffed and you can wait forever there for your food. That wasn't the case in Foothill Ranch. The staff was hopping, and despite the crowds, our food service was quick and accurate, and my hat's off to them for working so hard when everybody else was off.

I didn't eat there often, but I'll miss them.