Here's something that almost none ...

Here's something that almost none happens: Restaurant chains, hurt through less dining out, are cutting prices.

a of the biggest names in casual dining -- from Outback Steakhouse to the Cheesecake Factory to T.G.I. Friday's -- are chopping prices or offering of recent origin lower-cost options.

"This is unprecedented" said Paul Avery, chief operating officer of OSI Restaurant Partners, which concedes Outback.

Outback plans to carve prices across its menu starting in November - - in succession ribs, side salads, appetizers and drinks. Already it's carved $1 distant from the price of its popular sirloin steaks in about 40 percent of its markets.

"We've lowered prices from time to time," Avery said, "but at no time this magnitude."

Here's a taste of what's happening at other casual-dining chains to inveigle price-conscious diners:

- At Bennigan's, Monte Cristos -- usually $799 -- now fare for $5.99 on Mondays. in succession Wednesdays, half-pound burgers are $499 (they're usually $799) And, starting nearest month, Bennigan's in some markets will vend all burgers at $4.99, marketing chief Clay Dover said.

- The Cheesecake Factory has created smaller, cheaper luncheon entrees. For instance, its Shepherd's pie typically sold for $1395; now, there's a luncheon portion for $10.95.

- T.G.I. Friday's has a modern appetizer menu with limited-time discounts of up to 50 percent said Richard Snead, chief executive of the chain's parent company, Carlson Restaurants Worldwide.

FEWER CUSTOMERS

All of this was readyed by tough times for casual restaurants. Excluding the weeks after 9/11 this is the toughest period the industry has faced in nearly a decade, Snead said.

Casual restaurants saw same-store sales pendant by 1.8 percent in June the principally recent figures available. And the number of customers who went to those casual-dining flaws dropped, too, by 4.4 percent according to the research firm Knapp-Track, which monitors the restaurant industry.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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