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Sperry's Restaurant, the folks who purchased Dales have now decided, without prior notice, to CLOSE!    All of those who purchased the discount cards from Sperry's will have to wait to see just how bad they have been messed over.  No word on why the closure but being so sudden makes you wonder.

Guess the wait at Georges just got a bit longer.

Be as the Bereans ( Acts 17:11 )

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I can understand if they made a business decision based upon declining business and having gone there many times I can say that they did not achieve the business that Dale's seem to maintain when it was there.  I think though there must be something more than just a declining business market.  I mean they put a boat load of money in restoring the building and no telling what they spent to buy out the Dale's name and now to just shut the place down without any advance notice?  Who knows if we will ever know why they chose to close the doors without hardly any notice. 

The problem I have with it is they sold a slew of discount cards that are good only at the Florence Sperry's location.    The would sell say $100.00 card which would buy the patron $200.00 worth food product.  There were many who purchased these cards that are set to expire in June of 2016 and now apparently are worthless.    For their patrons they should have at least advertised a month ahead or more that they had plans to close this location and thus allow those who purchased these cards to be able to use theem.  

Even if they decide to allow those who purchased these cards to use them at say their other restaurants such as Sam's Grille that isn't what people purchased the cards for and thus they are not getting the value they should have for the cards.  Additionally it would be impractical for those with the cards to use them at other Sperry's locations because they are so far away so I just wonder what would prompt them to close so unexpectedly and without any notice or warning. 

Regardless of why they closed, it looks as though they have committed some kind of fraud or theft by deception if they sold those cards with the promise that they could be redeemed for food and service and then made it impossible for the buyers to obtain them. At the very least they should offer a refund on the remaining value of the cards.

Last edited by Contendahh
csb518 2 posted:

I agree, unfortunately this city cannot support a "fine dining" restaurant. I am surprised the tower  restaurant is still open!  fast food seems to be the top of the spectrum.......

Perhaps the people have "more sense" than to fall for that "fine dining" spiel  instead of having "more money than sense". Most times "Fine dining" is code for "stick it to them". I love when restaurants fail because of bad fòod, quailty of fòod, bad service, and other reasons, yet want to blame it on the quality of customers. When a restaurant makes the claim they are a "fine dining" restaurant they better be able to bring it.

Last edited by giftedamateur
giftedamateur posted:
csb518 2 posted:

I agree, unfortunately this city cannot support a "fine dining" restaurant. I am surprised the tower  restaurant is still open!  fast food seems to be the top of the spectrum.......

Perhaps the people have "more sense" than to fall for that "fine dining" spiel  instead of having "more money than sense". Most times "Fine dining" is code for "stick it to them". I love when restaurants fail because of bad fòod, quailty of fòod, bad service, and other reasons, yet want to blame it on the quality of customers. When a restaurant makes the claim they are a "fine dining" restaurant they better be able to bring it.

A so called fine dining restaurant opened here. After a "so-so" nothing special expensive meal I ordered dessert. It was three small scoops of gelato, the scoops just barely larger then a melon scooper size, in a tiny little glass, and cost $6.00. You're absolutely right, if they call themselves fine dining they better have more than high a** prices. The restaurant didn't last long. Of course most areas without huge populations won't support high prices for simple meals such as the "fine dining" places serve.  If one is a food snob,  stay home and make all those "upscale" meals yourself.

I loved Dales but felt it had gone down over the years and at the time it was sold it seemed that the quality had diminished and you couldn't always depend on getting a great meal so I was hopeful when the restaurant was purchased and heard that it would reopen after renovations.  

I think though that the whole process was plagued with problems from the start.  For one the building was in far worse condition than the buyer expected and from what I hear some say they would have come out better to just purchase land and start over from new.  

The one thing I never understood, even to today, is why buy out Dales then change so many things?   If they didn't want to be Dales why buy out Dales?  They came in and changed most everything.  No Dales sauce, French Onion Soup (highly dependent on Dales sauce) was totally different, the Steaks were totally different, the great Deserts that Dales had was no more and their fried shrimp was totally different.  In short Nothing was the same except the name and the bread sticks.   Because off that either the new owner was required to change the name from Dales to Sperry's because of all the changes that were not longer Dale's or the Owner just gave up and felt his product was so much superior to Dale's.  Something is just not right here because (again) why buy out Dales just to change Dales into something totally different?

I ate at Dales and ate at Sperry's.  Sperry's did have a good steak but not as good as Dales.  Sperry's did have a better Prime Rib though but their fried Shrimp, seafood and Deserts weren't near as good as Dale's with the exception of the Banana's Foster but the price and size was targeted toward serving it to two and even at that it was as expensive as a complete dinner at most places.  IF you are going to charge a very premium price then you need to justify it with a very premium product and they just didn't do that so they didn't maintain the Dale's business and build on it because they didn't maintain Dale's quality and build on that.  At least it will serve as a write off on the owner's taxes, an expensive one because I doubt they will get anything near what they invested back in the building and after all this time the Dale's name isn't going to bring what it did before and Sperry's name surely isn't going to sell in this area so it will most likely just be a vacant building.   

I've always hoped that someone would be able to open a DALE's in the building that Crocodile Ed's was in but then so many things have been there and failed that often you just have to tear down a building and start over because after a while it seems failure just follows a building/business.

Last edited by gbrk
direstraits posted:

Eat supper at Sperry's last Saturday. Great ribeye, ate everything except bone and fat.  Usually, I done order a large steak, but was hungry for one.  I'll miss the place.

Guess its either George's or Long Horn.  I like Outback's, but its usually quite busy.

 

_____

So you "eat supper" there last Saturday?  Ever heard of the past tense? Maybe you "done order" now at some other place. 

Contendahh posted:
direstraits posted:

Eat supper at Sperry's last Saturday. Great ribeye, ate everything except bone and fat.  Usually, I done order a large steak, but was hungry for one.  I'll miss the place.

Guess its either George's or Long Horn.  I like Outback's, but its usually quite busy.

 

_____

So you "eat supper" there last Saturday?  Ever heard of the past tense? Maybe you "done order" now at some other place. 

Yes, Miss Grundy, school marm, I know I wrote eat, rather than ate, and done, rather than don’t.  This was a quick post, I did not wish to spend time correcting. I assume you have quite a bit of time on your hands at the home.  If, this entertained you, fine.

direstraits posted:
Contendahh posted:
direstraits posted:

Eat supper at Sperry's last Saturday. Great ribeye, ate everything except bone and fat.  Usually, I done order a large steak, but was hungry for one.  I'll miss the place.

Guess its either George's or Long Horn.  I like Outback's, but its usually quite busy.

 

_____

So you "eat supper" there last Saturday?  Ever heard of the past tense? Maybe you "done order" now at some other place. 

Yes, Miss Grundy, school marm, I know I wrote eat, rather than ate, and done, rather than don’t.  This was a quick post, I did not wish to spend time correcting. I assume you have quite a bit of time on your hands at the home.  If, this entertained you, fine.

_____

Suit yourself with a semi-literate, low quality product.  If typing five lines correctly is such a challenge to you, then perhaps you should have your own cognitive functions checked out instead of boringly and repeatedly  alleging deficiencies in mine.

direstraits posted:

Eat supper at Sperry's last Saturday. Great ribeye, ate everything except bone and fat.  Usually, I done order a large steak, but was hungry for one.  I'll miss the place.

Guess its either George's or Long Horn.  I like Outback's, but its usually quite busy.

 

I, to, was at Sperry's Saturday night so we possibly was there at the same time.  My granddaughter had the Prime Rib which was her favorite and I had the tenderloin ends which was also really good and actually one of the lesser expensive items on their menu. 

I hate to say it but I had some worries that something like this might happen although I didn't think it would be this soon.   I chose there Saturday because I had a $50.00 gift card they gave me because of a past meal that wasn't so good and I chose to use it at that time because I had a thought that if I didn't I might lose it or something (like happened) might come about.

I also thought that Sperry's had the best Prime Rib in the Shoals area though and I'll also miss the Banana's Foster as they did that very well also but I was so full that I couldn't justify having it Saturday.  I wonder when the employees found out because I didn't notice anything that would make me think that they had any indication that it was going to be their last night.  I knew their business was down, compared to what Dales used to do, but I thought it was enough to make ends meet and at least turn a profit but guess I was wrong.   I still doubt though they will ever get back out of the place what they invested in it along with buying out Dales.

Contendahh posted:

Regardless of why they closed, it looks as though they have committed some kind of fraud or theft by deception if they sold those cards with the promise that they could be redeemed for food and service and then made it impossible for the buyers to obtain them. At the very least they should offer a refund on the remaining value of the cards.

Well I'm one that bought cards for there and have around $130.00 in value left to purchase.  I really don't know how I feel about it given that I can use them at Sam's Grille as the cards value means that whatever I purchase is effectively at half price.  If I knew that Sperry's wasn't going to be there I doubt I would have purchased them at all, because I really don't eat at Sam's Grille that often, although the times I have it's been very good.  If offered a refund for the amount of the card I'd have to think hard but one thing is for sure.  Using them at one of the other Sperry's locations is out of the question for Driving to Nashville in order to purchase a meal at a discounted price is absurd. 

gbrk posted:
Contendahh posted:

Regardless of why they closed, it looks as though they have committed some kind of fraud or theft by deception if they sold those cards with the promise that they could be redeemed for food and service and then made it impossible for the buyers to obtain them. At the very least they should offer a refund on the remaining value of the cards.

Well I'm one that bought cards for there and have around $130.00 in value left to purchase.  I really don't know how I feel about it given that I can use them at Sam's Grille as the cards value means that whatever I purchase is effectively at half price.  If I knew that Sperry's wasn't going to be there I doubt I would have purchased them at all, because I really don't eat at Sam's Grille that often, although the times I have it's been very good.  If offered a refund for the amount of the card I'd have to think hard but one thing is for sure.  Using them at one of the other Sperry's locations is out of the question for Driving to Nashville in order to purchase a meal at a discounted price is absurd. 

There are websites that buy gift cards at discounted prices.

direstraits posted:
Contendahh posted:
direstraits posted:

Eat supper at Sperry's last Saturday. Great ribeye, ate everything except bone and fat.  Usually, I done order a large steak, but was hungry for one.  I'll miss the place.

Guess its either George's or Long Horn.  I like Outback's, but its usually quite busy.

 

_____

So you "eat supper" there last Saturday?  Ever heard of the past tense? Maybe you "done order" now at some other place. 

Yes, Miss Grundy, school marm, I know I wrote eat, rather than ate, and done, rather than don’t.  This was a quick post, I did not wish to spend time correcting. I assume you have quite a bit of time on your hands at the home.  If, this entertained you, fine.

You know he has to "coment"(as he spells it). I'm surprised he doesn't place an "add"(as he spells it) to tell everyone how wonderful he is.

Last edited by Bestworking
Bestworking posted:
direstraits posted:
Contendahh posted:
direstraits posted:

Eat supper at Sperry's last Saturday. Great ribeye, ate everything except bone and fat.  Usually, I done order a large steak, but was hungry for one.  I'll miss the place.

Guess its either George's or Long Horn.  I like Outback's, but its usually quite busy.

 

_____

So you "eat supper" there last Saturday?  Ever heard of the past tense? Maybe you "done order" now at some other place. 

Yes, Miss Grundy, school marm, I know I wrote eat, rather than ate, and done, rather than don’t.  This was a quick post, I did not wish to spend time correcting. I assume you have quite a bit of time on your hands at the home.  If, this entertained you, fine.

You know he has to "coment"(as he spells it). I'm surprised he doesn't place an "add"(as he spells it) to tell everyone how wonderful he is.

In other forums, I tell trolls to buy a boat. Then, go trolling for real.  At least, they'll have dinner.  Condie probably can't get out much anymore, so I spare him.

Bestworking posted:
direstraits posted:
Contendahh posted:
direstraits posted:

Eat supper at Sperry's last Saturday. Great ribeye, ate everything except bone and fat.  Usually, I done order a large steak, but was hungry for one.  I'll miss the place.

Guess its either George's or Long Horn.  I like Outback's, but its usually quite busy.

 

_____

So you "eat supper" there last Saturday?  Ever heard of the past tense? Maybe you "done order" now at some other place. 

Yes, Miss Grundy, school marm, I know I wrote eat, rather than ate, and done, rather than don’t.  This was a quick post, I did not wish to spend time correcting. I assume you have quite a bit of time on your hands at the home.  If, this entertained you, fine.

You know he has to "coment"(as he spells it). I'm surprised he doesn't place an "add"(as he spells it) to tell everyone how wonderful he is.

____

Poor desperate Best--she has to reach way back in the forum  to find mistake by me to toss out later in one of her anguished diatribes, all the while ASSerting that I make errors all the time, which is just one more bogus ASSertion.

She also conveniently left out the last part of the string she pasted, namely:

"Suit yourself with a semi-literate, low quality product.  If typing five lines correctly is such a challenge to you, then perhaps you should have your own cognitive functions checked out instead of boringly and repeatedly  alleging deficiencies in mine.

Editorial license perhaps or just standard Bestian connivance?

Although Sperry's closed for normal business it was open tonight for a special group meeting and the wife and I were invited to be a part of that.  I've ate at Sperry's before but never in a group meeting where pre-selected entrees and options were made for you.  It was fairly obvious, when we entered, that the Sperry's kitchen wasn't going to be preparing anything and  I can say with certainty today that the meal was one of the worst I've had in a meeting type setting.   

If this is the type of food Sperry's sold to large groups it's no wonder that their business has dropped off.  I've had better tasting food at Ryan's' (before they went out of business).  

Since they closed though I've found another source of Prime Rib and that's Outback and they provide just as tasty a Prime Rib dinner but with Outback you get a far more lean piece of meat.  Sperry's Prime Rib was always very good but each serving had about 30% fat whereas with Outback their serving has about 5% fat so you get a better deal at Outback.

 

The owner's of Sperrys have now messed over those of us who trusted them and purchased those gift cards for Sperrys.  Not only did they not give advance notice that the cards should be used but now they only give three options for using them.

1) Travel to one of the Tennessee (Nashville) locations of Sperry's and use the cards there (unknown if the discounted amount will apply, see #2)

2) Use the cards at Sam's Grill but ONLY FOR the Purchased amount and not the amount (discounted) that they were valued at if used at Sperry's.  In other words you can only get CASH VALUE of that you spent and are forced to use it at Sam's Grill at a non-discounted value.   NO CASH RETURNED FOR THE CARDS

3) Hold on to them and lose the total amount.

This is basically defrauding those who purchased the cards and the question from here is:

  • Is there the possibility to recover loss or value in Small Claims Court?
  • Is there the possibility to take the owner's to court by securing an attorney
  • Is the best course of action to go through the Better Business Bureau?

Either way Sperry's owners have not treated their patrons in an honest or respectable way.  Maybe the loss that the owner is going to realize from their purchase of Dale's is just Karma due to their treatment of those who trusted them to deal honestly with the public and their patrons.

Time will tell what can be done or what will be done.  The very least they should have done is provide a refund for the remaining cash amount of the cards, in cash, so that the patrons can spend the money where they want to spend it but they are attempting to force those who purchased the cards that are now useless to spend that money they spent at Sperry's in Sam's Grill rather than in a place of their own choosing.

 

 

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