Bennigan’s is in the midst of an effort to bring the brand back from the brink with its latest location in Mandan, N.D., Co-Owner Gwen Mangiamele’s hometown.
Mangiamele worked with childhood friends and locals Monte Stein and Rob Knoll to bring a Bennigan’s to the town of roughly 22,000 people.
“Rob and I are passionate about Mandan, and we’re advocates for bringing economic development to our community,” Stein says. “We felt the timing was right for a world-renowned restaurant brand like Bennigan’s to come here.”
“Bennigan’s has been very successful in the smaller markets that so many other brands ignore, and we [all] agreed that Mandan is a perfect fit for our development strategy,” Mangiamele says. “Couple that with Rob’s and Monte’s capabilities as franchisees, and we felt like we had an ideal model for success.”
The restaurant will feature a booth dedicated to Mangiamele’s parents and long-time Mandan residents Lillian and Leonard Bachmeier.
Since the end of 2012, Bennigan’s has opened new franchise locations in Clarksburg and Frederick, Md.; Sacramento, Calif.; Melbourne, Fla.; Monahans, Texas; Lexington, Ky.; Veracruz, Mexico; Larnaca, Cyprus; Obarrio, Panama; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai, UAE.
New restaurants are coming soon to Steubenville, Ohio, and Memphis, Tenn.; and internationally in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Amsterdam and Pakistan, with more than 100 additional locations in development.