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I think for many restaurants like Ham's there are other internal factors that come before the economy with regard to the success or failure of their business. Things like quality of food and employees as well as cleanliness and an ability to change with your area competiton have more to do with sucess or failure than the overall economy. If you do everything else very well you can survive a downturn in the economy, especially with Ham's reasonable price points. Growing too fast seems to be another huge problem for many restaurants as of late.

This is not a surprise. The half a dozen times I have been in a Hams I was disappointed. The number one complaint is cleanliness. Establishments for whatever reason are more apt to hire young people who have no desire to keep things neat and tidy, especially in a bar type setting. Nothing makes me wanna get up and walk out the door faster than a grimy, greasy bar. And that is a Ham's trademark.
Here's a tip for owners and managers. Hire at least one bartender who is a true pro, who will teach the less experienced not to pour a beer into a warm glass, and don't take a presumed tip off the bar until the patron has actually left, and good grief...wipe the bar and tables down often!
I know I would have spent more money in Ham's over my 40 years if they had run a tighter ship.

We've been to the Ham's at Brassfield a couple of times this month. The food and service were great.

I want to like Ham's, but aside from the fresh chips, nothing good about the place is memorable. The food and the service just aren't competitive. The last time I went to the Ham's at Brassfield, it reeked of cigarette smoke. I had to change clothes when I got home due to the smoke. A complaint to Ham's corporate management was completely ignored.

Bad management always catches up with you, eventually.

We ate at Hams tonight! Food was good and inexpensive!
My wife is the biggest smoke, hater in the world.
She had no complaints. I think most of these smoke complaints are just people trying to control other people!

Thanks, folks. I agree about the smoke and the service. But the sandwiches and chips are good and the prices are better. And, I suppose I'm a sucker for a longtime landmark. That, plus my wife used to go to Ham's for lunch when she was at Grimsley a few years ago. Gotta count for something.

I was a former employee of Hams while I was finishing school, they may be a Greensboro institution, but they are a horribly run company. They had no consideration for staff or customers, everything was strictly about the bottom line. Needless to say this mentality rolls down hill from the top. I know it may sound like a bitter ex-employee rant, but the truth is after seeing the inner workings of this company I don't believe anyone would care to spend money at their establishments. The unfortunate news is for the hourly employees who may have to look for work in a tough environment, my heart does not bleed for this company though.

I have been a Ham.s customer since high school ( 1950's ). Clean as the other restaurants, best chips in town, really good ribs, good service most of the time, fair prices. What more can you ask?

Anton's is another GREAT Greensboro institution!!!!!

The Ham's establishment and the Irwin family have been generous contributors to our community for a number of years. Greensboro should be grateful for the charitable giving of this organization. According to the paper, 1,000 jobs are in jeopardy - slightly more than the 900+ lost due to the Dell closure. If poor management is the cause of this then I am sure it must be a humbling experience for the Ham's family and hope that changes will be made. I've been going to Hams for more years than I care to post and hope that Greensboro with continue to support this Greensboro based business - especially now.

lakeshia & lilleebella
I hope you both will try Anton's again. I have been a customer there since the 1950's. As a matter of fact i was eating lunch there the day President Kennedy was shot in 1963. I still eat lunch there at least one time a week.Tommy Anton, Bill's son, is now running it. Thursdays special is chicken parm w/ side spaghetti, salad and Florida Street Bakery bread. Best bread in town. fridays special is lasaguna. absolutely the very best in GSO. Bertie still works there , over 50 years. Please give Tommy a secon chance.

A business observation would be this is a corporate management issue coupled with the posibility of interlacing personal issues that have probably persisted for more than 18 months. You don't get that far behind in payroll taxes and vendors' payables overnight. The recession is not the problem, no more than complaints of poor service or food, someone got caught with too much in their plate and tried to manage cash flow on the back of payroll taxes and unpaid vendors. Your reputation in Greensboro is hard pressed to pull you out of this one.

I would bet, inside of three months a new owner will emerge. Ervin will have to pay the trust funds personally and the vendors will take thirty cents on the dollar. Mortgage debt will be restructured and for say less than 1 million you can have it all and perserve your local heirtage. Just a guess, might be wrong.

The Ham's on Friendly was the site of the first date my parents had. Guess that can be said for lots of folks. But my mother is nearly 86, my father has passed and they walked there from my late aunt's house on Elam Avenue which was, in 1942, just about the western boundary of Greensboro. All our children know that story. It's nice to have a place like that in your family's - and city's - history.