They used to say that opening a restaurant chain like McDonald's was the sign that a country had joined the developed world.
So what does it say when all the chain restaurants are fleeing?
The last remaining Denny's in San Francisco closed its doors this month because customers would frequently leave without paying their bill in the crime-plagued city, according to the restaurant's owner.
Chris Haque shuttered the 24-hour diner at 816 Mission St. near the Union Square section on Aug. 1 after 25 years.
'We're the only store left, and we operated until the last day that we could,' Haque told SFGATE.
The cost of doing business in San Francisco, Haque said, is "tremendous," due to "vandalism, and people come and eat and walk away, and there's no one to stop them."
Honestly, it's hard to see how the joint stayed open this long even without the crime factor. Eating there was expensive:
In 2022, Haque's Denny's was dubbed with the dubious distinction of being named the most expensive in all of California.
The cheapest meal — the Fit Slam, which comes with an egg white scramble with spinach and tomatoes, turkey bacon and an English muffin — cost $17.99, which was $5 more than the meal cost at a Denny's in San Diego or Los Angeles, according to SFGATE.
To be sure, there are plenty more expensive options in San Francisco. But that's the point! Denny's is supposed to be dirt cheap. Paying $18 for turkey bacon and some egg whites is just absurd.
You might as well spring for a gas station sausage biscuit!
Another Denny's in Oakland closed down earlier this year, meanwhile, while "fast food chain In-N-Out also shut down its Oakland location this year because of a rash of violent crime and theft."
We covered that one:
Call me crazy, but I'm kinda starting to think something might be going wrong with California.
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