Bennigan's was a vaguely Irish-themed American restaurant chain, not unlike TGI Fridays or Chili's. I always ordered chicken strips with cinnamon apples and a dinner roll. That meal could have used a vegetable. I had a couple memorable birthday dinners there. There are technically a few locations still open globally, but I consider them defunct.
My family visited Toys "R" Us often. I would always end up entranced by video game demos, like Sonic Adventure, Pokémon Stadium, and Star Wars Episode I: Racer. Coincidentally, all of those games came out in 1999 so I guess we went to Toys "R" Us a lot that year.
Houston has never been the same since the loss of Astroworld. I can't believe it's been over 20 years since it closed. My parents took us several times when we were kids—we even had Season Passes a year or two. My sister and I went during the last Fright Fest, but I never got to experience having my own money and spending it on overpriced park food and carnival-style games to win oversized, bootleg Sonic plushes or whatever.
Everyone always talks about Blockbuster, but my local video rental joint was a Movie Gallery. They sold chocolate bars with Lara Croft on the wrapper and Crash Bandicoot gumballs. My mom would often take us there after school on Fridays to pick out a couple movies and maybe a game, then down to the dollar store for a Mr. Pibb and pack of Sour Punch Straws.
Garden Ridge was awesome when I was a kid. It had a snack bar and smelled like popcorn and cinnamon pine cones. In 2012, I worked there for four days. Someone cut their hand badly enough to drip blood on the floor and people kept dragging boxes through it, smearing it all over the concrete. I already had another job lined up and quit, then the building burned down. The company rebranded as 'At Home' but are filing for bankruptcy. Rest in piss.