Coach's Neighborhood Grill, 973 Chesterfield Highway: January 2025
Coach's Neighborhood Grill is a regional restaurant chain that offers food similar to what you might find at an Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday, O'Charley's, etc. This location opened a couple of years after Fatz Cafe had closed. As my daughter recently observed when I told her that Coach's was closed, it seems this location may be "cursed".
The few times I ate at Coach's, I thought the food was fine, although I figured out that the sandwiches were better than the main entrees. I recall ordering their grilled chicken breast entree once and receiving a portion of meat that was greatly disproportional to the cost of the meal...and no, I don't mean that in the vein of, "Wow! Look at how much I got for just this little money!" but more like, "Wow...that's it...ok then..."
According to a number of reviews I have read online and my own experiences, this Coach's likely failed due to being perpetually understaffed, which led to long waits for service...which led to poor reviews. I recall going to Coach's on a weekday evening last year and walking inside to what seemed to be an empty restaurant. The lights were on. We could hear some banging around in the kitchen so we assume that one or more employees were there. There was no host(ess) up front, and we stood for about 5 minutes before walking out. There was still one hour left, at least, before the restaurant closed. There was at least one car, if not two, in the parking lot, and having not seen any customers, I assumed that (1) there were employees present and (2) the restaurant was open.
I cannot say that I had ever walked into a restaurant before only to wonder if I was breaking and entering!