What Happened To Duke'S In Bkk?

[Kilgore Trout]

Seemed like decent food at reasonable prices; but I see they have closed down. Too bad.

[BinKata]

Are you referring to Dukes at Emporium? If so, I was told that they had great burgers. So, I went and I was pleasantly surprise to find it was a really good! The owner happened to be there, I told him how much I loved it. he thanked me and processed to tell me it was their last night! He said that the location in the back of the food court was a bit too hidden and was hard to people to find. I agree, it took me a bit to find it.

[jimmybkk]

Was the Duke's in Bangkok related to Duke's in Chiang Mai? I've eaten at Duke's in CM a few times and I've always been really impresse. Seems to do good trade in CM too. Not been to the one in Bangkok but it sounds like a strange location that he chose.

Did the owner mention if he was planning to reopen in another location?

[bazmlb]

Posted as per request by the owner:

Many people felt that the location did not suit where a Dukes should be located, in Chiang Mai it is much better as a stand alone restaurant. Another location was found but it didn't work when we realized the kitchen was just too small for the amount of food it would be producing. By this time notice had already been given to the Emporium, they offered to extend for a period of time but it was best to just move on.

Duke's really needs a double shophouse in a prime location like the locations in Chiang Mai.

[jimmym40]

I was told by "Mr Duke" himself here in CM that the franchisee in BKK wasn't running the place up to speed and that the quality of food didn't meet "his" standards". I paraphrased, but that's what I got out of the conversation.

Duke's here in CM is my favorite restaurant. NEVER had a bad meal. At either location in CM.

[The Dancer]

I was told by "Mr Duke" himself here in CM that the franchisee in BKK wasn't running the place up to speed and that the quality of food didn't meet "his" standards". I paraphrased, but that's what I got out of the conversation.

Duke's here in CM is my favorite restaurant. NEVER had a bad meal. At either location in CM.

I haven't been to Duke's in CM but I went to the one in the Emporium once on a Stickman recommendation. That was the first and last time. Stale burger patty - definitely not up to snuff.

[jamstock]

I read on stickman that it was reopening on Sukhumvit soi 31 in August....

[eeeya]

Stickman got me twice with his "best" recommendations.. dukes being one and that taco chain being the other.

Worst food ever

Sent from my HTC One X using Thaivisa Connect App

[kblaze]

by taco chain, are you referring to the one that has a location in emporium near where dukes was and one near insomnia?

When I ate at Dukes CM (awesome btw) I too spoke briefly with mr. duke about his plans for expansion and specifically the dukes at emporium that had just opened up. At that time (1.5 years ago) he said that Greg (owns/runs "the taco chain", some subways) had the franchise rights to run the dukes branch in BKK and that he (Greg) had planned to expand and change the dukes to "dukes express" featuring the all star menu items. He was supposed to be using the original recipes.

Sad to see the plans never materialized as the food in CM (and to a lesser, but still satisfying degree BKK) was top notch and would be a nice addition to BKK. No doubt the location was bad.

Of course they were still busier than the "taste of india" place that is opposite where the dukes emporium was; that place NEVER has ppl in it. how do they stay afloat?

[eeeya]

I think there's a market for what dukes was/is trying to do. But the styling and location at emporium completely missed the mark. Just looked dark and un interesting stuck up the back of the food court.

My thinking is every country (that makes hamburgers) has different tastes and I didn't enjoy my meal (mushrooms and funny cheese don't belong, but beetroot, egg n pinapple and bacon do!)

Id love to see a place that does it all, pizza, burgers, hotdogs, giant roast beef sanwiches.

Me and the misses watch the series

'man v's food' and we both end up craving what's on tv.

I recon that would be a winner

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Edited July 11, 2012 by eeeya

[Kilgore Trout]

I think there's a market for what dukes was/is trying to do. But the styling and location at emporium completely missed the mark. Just looked dark and un interesting stuck up the back of the food court.

My thinking is every country (that makes hamburgers) has different tastes and I didn't enjoy my meal (mushrooms and funny cheese don't belong, but beetroot, egg n pinapple and bacon do!)

Id love to see a place that does it all, pizza, burgers, hotdogs, giant roast beef sanwiches.

Me and the misses watch the series

'man v's food' and we both end up craving what's on tv.

I recon that would be a winner

Sent from my HTC One X using Thaivisa Connect App

Don't think Adam from man vs food would ever come to Thailand, but Andrew Zimmerman has been here a few times

[jimmybkk]

by taco chain, are you referring to the one that has a location in emporium near where dukes was and one near insomnia?

When I ate at Dukes CM (awesome btw) I too spoke briefly with mr. duke about his plans for expansion and specifically the dukes at emporium that had just opened up. At that time (1.5 years ago) he said that Greg (owns/runs "the taco chain", some subways) had the franchise rights to run the dukes branch in BKK and that he (Greg) had planned to expand and change the dukes to "dukes express" featuring the all star menu items. He was supposed to be using the original recipes.

Sad to see the plans never materialized as the food in CM (and to a lesser, but still satisfying degree BKK) was top notch and would be a nice addition to BKK. No doubt the location was bad.

Of course they were still busier than the "taste of india" place that is opposite where the dukes emporium was; that place NEVER has ppl in it. how do they stay afloat?

Do you know if the Greg you refer to is the same Greg who runs Sunbelt Asia? Greg Lange I think his name is.

I guess this goes to show the risks of franchising out your business and your name - unless the quality of the product is very tightly controlled the possible negative impact can be very damaging.

If the owner of Duke's in Chiang Mai happens to be reading this - please open an original (not franchised) Duke's in Pattaya..

[maxme]

Found it too crampy to sit there and the staff wasn't even friendly but the food was not bad actually.

The location was not the best one, that I agree on since some of the other restaurants there barely had customers during the busiest time of the day.

[dantilley]

Posted as per request by the owner:

Many people felt that the location did not suit where a Dukes should be located, in Chiang Mai it is much better as a stand alone restaurant. Another location was found but it didn't work when we realized the kitchen was just too small for the amount of food it would be producing. By this time notice had already been given to the Emporium, they offered to extend for a period of time but it was best to just move on.

Duke's really needs a double shophouse in a prime location like the locations in Chiang Mai.

Bad news as I thought it was excellent. Any idea if a new location will be opening?

[kblaze]

by taco chain, are you referring to the one that has a location in emporium near where dukes was and one near insomnia?

When I ate at Dukes CM (awesome btw) I too spoke briefly with mr. duke about his plans for expansion and specifically the dukes at emporium that had just opened up. At that time (1.5 years ago) he said that Greg (owns/runs "the taco chain", some subways) had the franchise rights to run the dukes branch in BKK and that he (Greg) had planned to expand and change the dukes to "dukes express" featuring the all star menu items. He was supposed to be using the original recipes.

Sad to see the plans never materialized as the food in CM (and to a lesser, but still satisfying degree BKK) was top notch and would be a nice addition to BKK. No doubt the location was bad.

Of course they were still busier than the "taste of india" place that is opposite where the dukes emporium was; that place NEVER has ppl in it. how do they stay afloat?

Do you know if the Greg you refer to is the same Greg who runs Sunbelt Asia? Greg Lange I think his name is.

I guess this goes to show the risks of franchising out your business and your name - unless the quality of the product is very tightly controlled the possible negative impact can be very damaging.

If the owner of Duke's in Chiang Mai happens to be reading this - please open an original (not franchised) Duke's in Pattaya..

yeah, same guy.

[kyb789]

Stickman got me twice with his "best" recommendations.. dukes being one and that taco chain being the other.

Worst food ever

Sent from my HTC One X using Thaivisa Connect App

Agree completly with both comments. Dukes was great and I look forward to a re-opening.

As for that taco place. Worst Mexican food I ever had.. and I am from California. Chips like cardboard. Any Mexican food lover goes to Phoenchit BTS for the best ever.

[dantilley]

Of course they were still busier than the "taste of india" place that is opposite where the dukes emporium was; that place NEVER has ppl in it. how do they stay afloat?

They were always busier than all the places nearby, never once saw them empty anyway, not something you can say about their neighbours... that said the location was pretty bad and the place was tiny, must be no more than 20 people could fit in there.

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[up-country_sinclair]

Are there any updates on re-opening in a different Bangkok location?

[varun]

The Dukes burger is fantastic indeed, best burger I had in Chiang Mai.

I've only eaten once at the Emporium 'hole-in-the-wall', the food wasn't too good.

[lukeskywalker]

Stickman got me twice with his "best" recommendations.. dukes being one and that taco chain being the other.

Worst food ever

Sent from my HTC One X using Thaivisa Connect App

Agree completly with both comments. Dukes was great and I look forward to a re-opening.

As for that taco place. Worst Mexican food I ever had.. and I am from California. Chips like cardboard. Any Mexican food lover goes to Phoenchit BTS for the best ever.

Can you please be more specific on where this Mexican food place is? What is the name of it? Etc.

THX

[lukeskywalker]

The Dukes burger is fantastic indeed, best burger I had in Chiang Mai.

I've only eaten once at the Emporium 'hole-in-the-wall', the food wasn't too good.

I think their best food is their pizza. The Italiano is my favorite. LOADED with meet and olives. Also, the large is 450 baht, BUT, it's so big, I get 3 meals out of it! And it is one of the best pizzas I've ever had in my life! No joke.

I just had it in CM and they have a flier on the tables that tell their locations. One line reads: "Bangkok: Terminal 21 - Coming Soon".

[smokie36]

Stickman got me twice with his "best" recommendations.. dukes being one and that taco chain being the other.

Worst food ever

Sent from my HTC One X using Thaivisa Connect App

Agree completly with both comments. Dukes was great and I look forward to a re-opening.

As for that taco place. Worst Mexican food I ever had.. and I am from California. Chips like cardboard. Any Mexican food lover goes to Phoenchit BTS for the best ever.

Can you please be more specific on where this Mexican food place is? What is the name of it? Etc.

THX

I should be getting commission for this.

http://www.lamonita.com/La_Monita_Taqueria/Welcome.html

[AdamBangkok]

I've just heard on the Bangkok jungle drums Duke's are opening up in the site recently vacated by Coyote Bar and Grill on Sukhumvit near the corner of soi 33 - will be a couple of months from now.

Happy days!

[theDukes]

Just a quick FYI. The Duke's will be taking over the location currently vacated by Coyote Sukhumvit which has already closed. This will be a company run store and will feature the same full menu currently in Chiang Mai and also our new signature Prime Rib Sandwich. It will take a couple of months to do the remodel.

[up-country_sinclair]

Great!

Looking forward to it!

[AdamBangkok]

It would appear that the Bangkok jungle drums are becoming more reliable!

[lukeskywalker]

Just a quick FYI. The Duke's will be taking over the location currently vacated by Coyote Sukhumvit which has already closed. This will be a company run store and will feature the same full menu currently in Chiang Mai and also our new signature Prime Rib Sandwich. It will take a couple of months to do the remodel.

sniff..I'm so happy I could cry..sniff

[kblaze]

great great news.

By "company run store" you mean it won't be running as a franchise as the emporium branch was?

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Renovations at the former Coyote location appear to have resumed. Newspapers are covering the windows and workers were hard at it mid-evening this past week. Maybe Dukes have come to a deal on the lease.

[smokie36]

We live in hope....