Customers pulling into the Bennigan’s restaurants parking lots in St. Charles and Batavia this week discovered that the harsh reality of a struggling economy had taken down a favorite chain restaurant.

As customers got out of cars to read notes attached to the main entrance doors, they were shocked to learn about the closure of the popular restaurants.

“I’m starving, so I’m disappointed,” Dave Anderson of West Chicago said Tuesday afternoon outside the St. Charles location.

Anderson, who went to the St. Charles restaurant a couple times a month with his son, Neal, added, “We’ve got to find somewhere else to eat, I guess.”

The Bennigan’s restaurant chain has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, abruptly closing several hundred stores nationwide Tuesday, including several in the western suburbs.

There are five Bennigan’s in the western suburbs – Batavia, St. Charles, Oakbrook Terrace, Bolingbrook and Woodridge.

Repeated calls to the Batavia location went unanswered. An official with the Batavia Chamber of Commerce confirmed that the Batavia location has closed, noting that the restaurant manager was notified of the closing at 1 a.m. Tuesday.

A call to the St. Charles location was answered by the manager, confirming the closure of his store. No one was available for comment at the three other locations.

The restaurants are owned by Plano, Texas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group. National reports indicate that franchisee-owned stores might not close, and that the company’s other chains, including Bonanza and Ponderosa, are staying open. Three other Metromedia chains, Steak & Ale, 29 Degrees and Southlake Tavern, also have filed for Chapter 7.

Kelly Davies, 16, of Sugar Grove, received her driver’s license in May and celebrated by applying for jobs at restaurants in her area.

After submitting applications to Cold Stone, TGI Friday’s and Starbucks, she chose the Bennigan’s in Batavia because of its environment and the co-workers who helped her pleasantly pass the time.

When she received a call from her boss Tuesday morning that she was out of a job, the first thought that went through her mind was that she would never see her co-workers again.

“I was in complete shock (Tuesday) morning because I didn’t realize (Monday) night was the last time I’d be working with all these people,” Davies said. “I cried; I was really upset.

“I really did like the job that much.”

Going into her senior year at Kaneland High School, Davies now is looking for another job in her neighborhood to hold her over for the rest of the summer. She has her sights set on Ream’s Elburn Market, where many of her classmates work. As Bennigan’s was her first job, she planned on being there for a while.

“I was going to stay at Bennigan’s for as long as possible,” Davies said. “I loved it.”

Mike Evans, director of the Bolingbrook Area Chamber of Commerce, said that it’s the large chains that appear to be experiencing the most closures.

“When Starbucks recently closed one of its three stores in the Promenade Bolingbrook, my thought was why would a chain open up three stores within walking distance of each other, anyway? Where was the strategy?” Evans asked.

Evans cited recent Bolingbrook-area closures, such as Joe’s Crab Shack, Family Square, Starbucks and Bennigan’s to support the theory that large chains face more difficult economic times and that smaller chains and individually owned restaurants eventually might fill the vacancies appearing around town.

Staff writer Joe Lacdan contributed to this report.