They were being laid off anyhow, why not just stay and party?

@1, because the owners were literally pushing them out the door in the middle of their meals. Unbelievable dick move.

Damn...would have been the day to dine and dash!!

Why the hell wouldn't they just shut down at closing time? That's just wacky.

Well, yeah, they filed for bankruptcy. Perkins too. That's what happens.

But at least we still have Arby's. Ahem.

I live in Fremont .

We have lots of pie.

one more reason to avoid fremont.

@6, how's Fremont since it lost it's soul and is just like every other gentrified area in Seattle?

@2 - Ahhh, I read that as closing orders coming in the form of a phone call. The video link tells it in more detail.

Whomever Marie Callender's used as their corporate heavies—regional managers?—you know most of'em probably found the task difficult and depressing, but there was like that one dude that went full Dwight Schrute for the occasion. ALRIGHT DINERS, FORKS DOWN! Sir, step away from the Double Cream Blueberry NOW. SOMEBODY SHUT THAT BABY UP!

We're pieriffic.

So, remember, wear paint if you're riding nude, k?

@8, Fremont's fine as long as you're out of there by 9:00 or so and the frat boys start vomiting and pissing on cars, trees and pedestrians. The chances of running into Will in Seattle are actually quite low, as he never ventures into the commercial area. He couldn't successfully name a retail establishment there; go ahead, try him. Fremont's "soul" was a deeply overrated thing. The Fremont Sunday Market is better than ever, and with Jive Time and the underground antique market there it's a perfectly decent place to hang. I especially enjoy all those 7 AM beers at the George and Dragon when Spurs or Liverpool are playing.

Marie Calendar' has the most awful this-is-why-you're-fat menu I have ever laid eyes on.

Here is Cali, workers showed up at the Calender's nearby for work today to find out it was closed...bizarre. How can you not have even a little notice that you are declaring bankruptcy?

But where will octogenarians eat now?

@11,

I still miss the funky shop where I bought tights emblazoned with Elvis Presley's face oh so many years ago. Where else can I get a thing like that? Certainly not in Fremont.

"It is a well thought-out but a very difficult decision."

Yeah right. So well thought out that you had to kick out patrons mid-meal. Well Thought Out(tm) would have been graceful and dignified and leaving the communities willing to do business with you again. :)

And this would be the 26,189th time that Will has mentioned he lives in Fremont. Jesus shit-balls, you are one boring dude.

@14 it's back. On N 34th.

We also have pie.

So I would imagine that the customers didn't pay their bills. I assume, though, that that also means the waiters didn't get tipped?

Sad pandas. I've had many enjoyable family dinners at Marie Callender's, and I've brought many a pie from there to dinner parties and potlucks.

No, it's not a place you'd go to eat every week and hope to stay healthy. But it was a salve to my occasional salt-and-fat jones, and the atmosphere was pleasant. I fucking HATE places like Applebee's, Mimi's Cafe, and ESPECIALLY fucking Cheesecake Factory. Absolute cheek-by-jowl bedlam. Chicago feedlots, circa 1967. Whenever I'm dragged into one of those places I always leave with a splitting headache.

Many locations are staying open (just not in WA and recession-ravaged backwaters like Nevada), and hey, ConAgra Foods gets to keep slapping the MC logo on the grocer's-freezer versions of their menu items.

@16

I fucking tried to run Will's flabby ass down when I spotted him in a crosswalk in Fremont two days ago. Accursed Japanese motor cars today have no git up and go when you need it. None at all.

I'll be back. With an American V8 under me.

It was a choice between bankruptcy and doing a full-on Domino's: "We're so sorry about out cardboardy crust!"