There used to be one in downtown St Cloud, one in Waite Park, one in Alexandria, one in Brainerd, one in Buffalo, one in Little Falls, one in … well, you get the idea.
I was a big fan of Quiznos sandwiches, but it’s becoming harder and harder to find a location. As of right now we are down to only three in the Minnesota Restaurant Search coverage area - Monticello, Sartell and Wadena.
What’s happening?
There have apparently been issues between Quiznos and its franchisees for a while now. Back in 2007 (when the downtown St Cloud location closed) a class action lawsuit was being filed against Quiznos. Allegations included complaints that still seem to be heard to this day - that franchisees are forced to buy their supplies directly from Quiznos at inflated prices, and then forced to set their retail prices too low to be profitable. There was also a charge that key company information is omitted when new franchisees are recruited.
New management was hired and changes were made to the menu, including adding lower-priced items.
In 2008, in just one suit against the sandwich company, Federal District Judge Wiley Y Daniel in Colorado refused to dismiss any of the claims alleged against Quiznos. The judge found that Quiznos franchisees have valid claims of breaches of good faith and fraud against the sandwich company.
So, it would appear that we’re down to just three Quiznos locations on Minnesota Restaurant Search because owners just couldn’t make a go of it under the restrictions of their franchise agreements. One or two closings could be attributed to bad individual store management, but not this many. And if the economy were to blame, we’d see other chains closing multiple stores as well.
Earlier this year Quiznos received an economic stimulus of their own when primary shareholders injected a bunch of capital into the company. Quiznos responded by announcing a plan to open 600 new stores this year - many of which will be company-owned. Rick Schaden, the current CEO, said the company-owned stores should allow them to more closely align with the franchise owners and better identify best practices.
In March they announced plans to open quick-service outlets in convenience stores.
In January they launched a program that allows potential store owners to buy a location for as little as $5,000 down.
Obviously only time will tell if Quiznos will turn things around from a business perspective. I never had a problem with the food. Now those singing cats, I don’t know…
Unless you’ve been in the wilderness for the last couple weeks, you’ve heard about the salmonella oubreak and the subsequent recall of a half-billion eggs.
If you chose to order eggs when you dine out during this outbreak, make sure to avoid over-easy. You people who like to mop up the yolk with your toast are our of luck for a while. Customers can also potentially get sick from salad dressing with a raw egg, from soup that includes under-cooked eggs, or from the meringue in pie.
I’m a pretty regular viewer of the 
After the 24 hours the doors are opened (the restaurants are right next to each other) and people get to decide where they want to eat based on the menu and decor. Then a team of four judges dine at each location and pick a winner based on the “concept, execution and viability” of the restaurant. The winning team gets $10,000 to invest into creating their own real, actual restaurant.
24 Hour Restaurant Battle airs on Wednesday nights at 9pm central time and of course is repeated at various times throughout the week.
The 
The web site for the 
I spent the last week on a road trip through Ohio with my family - including stops at 
Everyone is drawn to the waffle iron - young and old, male and female, rich and poor, strong and weak.