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Business & Tech

Two Street Road Restaurants Closed for Business

The Old Country Buffet and the Sonic Drive-In shuttered in recent weeks.

The retail scene along Street Road just west of I-95 along with many local employees have been hit with the closure of two eateries.

The in the Brookwood Shopping Center and the further east on Street Road have closed in recent weeks.

The Old Country Buffet shutdown is one of 81 announced Jan. 18 as part of Buffets Inc. second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in two years. But spokesman Nathan Riggs told Bensalem Patch the company is optimistic.

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"We filed in 2008 and when we emerged the company still had a great deal of debt -- $250 million -- and we weren't able to get rid of our underperforming restaurants," he said while adding that the recession has hurt sales. "This is a prepackaged filing in which we erased all of our debt."

While unable to give specific numbers on the Bensalem site, Riggs said most Old Country Buffet restaurants employ between 35 and 50 people, with 10 to 20 being full time. He said the company is helping those affected in Bensalem by offering positions at other sites and severance packages.

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Buffets Inc. now has 413 restaurants in 38 states. That includes six different franchises including Old Country Buffet.

Meanwhile, the Bensalem SONIC Drive-In sports a sign saying it is closed for renovations.

But that wasn't specifically mentioned in a short statement provided to Bensalem Patch on Thursday.

"Over the past few months, SONIC and the franchisee have been evaluating this location. After careful consideration, the franchisee who owns and operates this drive-in made the difficult decision to temporarily close the location on Jan. 15, due to a variety of reasons. A re-open date has not been set at this time.

"The decision to close a drive-in is never easy. We feel privileged to have had the opportunity to bring our Carhop service and extensive menu variety to Bensalem residents and look forward to continuing to serve the community at our other drive-ins."

The closest SONIC Drive-Ins are in Cinnaminson and Willow Grove.

"SONIC is determining how to help impacted employees find alternate employment at another SONIC," spokeswoman Anita Strohm wrote in an e-mail to Patch.

Attempts to get further information were unsuccessful.

SONIC began in the early 1970s and is based in Oklahoma City. The Bensalem drive-in hamburger franchise opened in August 2008.

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