Pilots plans for Flying J restaurants

Or until Flying J dies. Luckily for you I think they'll go first.

 

Awhile back I asked at several Flying J's as to when the switch over would be made to Denny's or something else or just national brand fast food or close all food service down at their respective J's.

I was told that the decision would be made around Christmas ... well, it's December 22, 2009 ... close enough for me.

Does anyone have CURRENT news as to what will happen with food service at the Flying J's?

Thanks.

 

The early restaurant closings are the product of a three pronged hit:

1- No smoking laws. Yeah, I know smoking isn't good for you yaddayaddayadda. However, this is an industry that has a lot of smokers, and a lot of those smokers (like me) used to stop at all hours at a t/s restaurant with a couple other drivers for a liar session. Ask almost any waitress at a t/s restaurant what happened to her tips after a no smoking law went into effect, usually it's a 50% drop.

2- HOS. The 14 hour rule has precluded drivers from stopping during the day (or night as the case may be) for a sit down meal and break. We all know that with the 14 hr rule we get in and go, not stopping for those meal breaks we used to.

3- Current economy. We're all eating in restaurants less, whether truck stops or regular restaurants. Our main customer is one of the big meat producers, and talking with a shipping supervisor at their main plant one day a couple months ago he said their lower end cuts and "value" offerings were still selling well, but higher end cuts were way down and the food service side (restaurants, corporate cafeterias, etc.) had been cratering for months.

Fast food restaurants don't need waitresses, bussers, cashiers, etc. They're a lower overhead than the sit down restaurant. Plus a lower invventory cost versus a full service menu. Expect fewer and fewer full service restaurants, as they're not as profitable.

There is a Denny's at the Pilot in Clear Lake, Iowa. It was installed before Pilot bought the location and was grandfathered into the setup. It brings in lots of auto traffic, and I would think IHOP or Denny's would be good draws for the current J locations, as they are brands that non-truck drivers know and trust.

 

this good news i never like the flying j's resturant. i'm looking forward to my return the road and maybe pulling into a flying j for a denny's grand slam breakfast.

 

Right around Christmas Flying J has a special "Huevos Rancheros" and it was delicious.

So delicious I spent half of January trying to get to another Flying J. (The new non-24 resteraunt hours, and the places I was driving kept me away from Flying J for weeks, pure coincedence)

Then I finnally found a Flying J that was open, on my route, and I could stop for breakfast at.




Yeah you guessed it. No more Huevos Rancheros.

Really isn't anything else on the menu I'm gonna miss. But I hope the IHOP rumor is true.

 

I work at the Flying J in Fargo,ND and have been doing a little research on what will happen to the Flying J restaurants. Denny's will be getting all of Flying J and Pilot's restaurants. Ihop is not even mentioned in the merger agreement. Ihop is giving Denny's a hard time with just who is number 1 and this is Denny's way of making sure they stay number one. This will happen when the merger is approved by the FTC. This will happen very soon.

 

I'm more likely to eat a Denny's than I am a Thad's/Country Market/Cookery(may be it should be called Crockery- because the prices were a crock).

I've eaten a few dinners in the "cookery" and they were OK..

 

I for one will not miss the Flying J restaurants. They are bland and over priced.

 

Amazes me that people will think Denny's will be an improvement and that the price will be better.