Steakhouse!

A steakhouse (or steak house) is a restaurant that specializes in beef steaks. These restaurants may also serve other types of meat, such as hamburgers, game, lamb, pork, chicken, and barbecue, as well as seafood (such as surf and turf) and pasta. The same type of restaurant is also known as a chophouse.

The Big Texan Steak Ranch

Front view of the Big Texan Steak RanchThe Big Texan Steak Ranch is a steakhouse restaurant and motel located in Amarillo, Texas, United States which opened on the previous U.S. Route 66 in the 4500 block of East Amarillo Boulevard in 1960 and moved to its present location on Interstate 40 in 1970. Fire gutted the west wing of the restaurant in 1976 and destroyed $100,000 in antiques. The restaurant reopened as a larger facility in 1977.

The Big Steak

Its reputation revolves around its 72 oz (4.5 pounds or 2 kg) steak ("The Texas King"), which is free if one can eat the entire meal (which also includes a bread roll with butter, potato, ranch beans, shrimp cocktail, and salad) in less than one hour. Otherwise, the meal costs $72.00. Several individuals annually are able to eat the steak and are listed at the restaurant.

According to the official website, "You don't have to eat the fat or gristle (if you can find any), but we must judge this. Again, we want you to win but we do know our meats and will judge accordingly."

Close-up of entrance to Big Texan Steak RanchThe building is painted a bright yellow, with blue trim. A large cow statue advertises the free 72 oz. steak. The now-closed Texas Tornado Museum resided off in a far corner of the parking lot on the property.

In the center of the large open floor of the main dining room of the restaurant is a raised platform. On the platform is a single chair and a table for one, with a bucket beneath the table. There are two full shakers of salt on the table, and nothing else. A digital timer stands at the back. On the wall behind the platform hangs an enormous cattle skull. This platform is the "stage" upon which those who choose to accept the steak-eating challenge eat their meal.

As the steak finishes cooking, the cook tells the host staff to encourage the participant to go to the bathroom. Before eating the steak, a manager explains the rules of the dinner, then the participant signs an agreement of health liability.

The restaurant also features a giant rocking chair, "shooting gallery," slot machines, limo service, and gift shop.

Eating Records

Fastest time to consume one meal: Competitive eating champion, Joey Chestnut, finished the meal challenge in 8 minutes and 52 seconds, breaking a 21-year standing record on his March 24, 2008 visit. (The "unofficial" record is held by a Bengal Tiger, who ate the steak in only 90 seconds.) Most meals in one hour: Brian Gookbong Lee from Pasadena, California, four complete 72-oz steaks; as a result, he was awarded a life-time pass to the Big Texan.

Big Texan Motel

Located adjacent to the restaurant on The Big Texan Steak Ranch property is the 54-unit Big Texan Motel. The cinder-block construction motel is designed to resemble a main street in an old west town, and features Texas themed decor and a Texas-shaped pool. In 2004, a 20 stall stable was added behind the main motel building.

Buffalo Grill

Buffalo Grill is a chain of steakhouses based in France, with over 280 outlets in Europe. Most of these outlets are located in France, but also in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain and Belgium. It is a mass-market chain serving American-style steaks with some concessions to French tastes, such as a roquefort sauce option.

History

British beef scandal

In December 2002 it was the subject of a major scandal when allegations emerged that the chain had sold British beef, banned in France due to fears of BSE contamination, between 1996 and 2000. In October 2003, manslaughter charges against the firm's executives were dismissed in respect of two vCJD sufferers, who claimed to have caught the disease from the firm's beef. Two of the firm's employees spent three months in prison prior to being acquitted. The firm's sales suffered considerably due to the scandal, but by 2004 were on the rise again.

Illegal employees scandal

On the 4th of June 2007, it was reported that approximately 15% of Buffalo Grill's employees were foreign. A significant number of them, mostly from Africa, had illegal immigrant status in France. The chain's management has been accused of slave-like work, unfair conditions, threats and disobeying state labour laws by some of its former employees, who are now occupying a restaurant in Viry-Châtillon (Essonne in the outskirts of Paris) daily from 9am to 11pm as a sign of protest.

Claim Jumper

Claim Jumper restaurant, Fresno, CaliforniaClaim Jumper is a restaurant chain headquartered in Irvine, California with 45 locations in Arizona, California, Illinois, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, Wisconsin and Oregon. Founder Craig Nickoloff opened the first Claim Jumper Restaurant in Los Alamitos, California in 1977. Until 2005, CWN Management, Inc., which operates the Claim Jumper chain, had been privately owned by the Nickoloff family. Leonard Green & Partners purchased a majority stake in the company in 2005 for a reported $200 million.

Claim Jumper restaurants are typically known for the level of detail in their atmospheres. The restaurants feature a California Gold Rush theme, although newer locations have not included the numerous "artifacts" of the time period that are prevalent throughout the original stores.

They are known for fairly large portions of their dishes. The large menu features a wide range of foods, including sandwiches, pizzas, and salads, but focuses mainly on meats such as steaks, and ribs. They have become well known for their signature desserts, most notably their Chocolate Motherlode cake, which comes in six or three layer sizes. Each restaurant also features a full "saloon" bar which includes signature drinks.

Claim Jumper has licensed its name to frozen food producer American Pie, LLC to create a line of frozen dinners, which are sold in numerous grocery stores.

Claim Jumper has a program once a year called "Tip-A-Cop" which aids the Law Enforcement Torch Run, a day when sheriffs and children with disabilities come in and help serve the guests, with all of the tips donated to the Special Olympics.

Gallagher's Steak House

Gallagher's Steak House was founded in November 1927 by Helen Gallagher, a former Ziegfeld girl, the wife of Edward Gallagher (1873-1929), and Jack Solomon a colorful gambler with a large loyal following from the sporting element. These were the days of Prohibition and Gallaghers was one of the first speakeasy gathering places for gamblers, sports figures, and stars of Broadway. There is now a location in the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The restaurant opened, next door to the Alvin Theater just nights before "Funny Face" opened. In 1933 when FDR took office he fulfilled his promise to end Prohibition. With liquor now legal, Gallagher and Solomon brought a new style of restaurant: Broadways first steak house. This is where the first New York Strip steak was served. With just the basics and an informal atmosphere of speakeasy and American country inn. The walls were covered with photos of the stars of Broadway, Hollywood, business, politics, and athletes past and present. Even the stars of Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack at Jamaica are honored.

When Helen died, Jack Solomon married Irene Hayes, who was also a former Ziegfeld girl and one of the top florists in Manhattan known as Irene Hayes Wadley & Smythe. After a number of years at the helm, as the sole owner of Gallagher's, Irene decided to sell and chose Jerome Brody, the restaurateur responsible for the Rainbow Room and the Four Seasons.

Gallagher's is open 365 days a year from 12pm to 12am.

The Trophy Room is a space for business meetings, private dinning or events. Located on the second floor it features a bar, real wood-paneled walls and an extensive photo collection. The Trophy Room accommodates 110 seated, 200 reception style, 100 theater style, and the entire restaurant 400 seated.

Gorat's

A griddle-cooked T-bone steak at Gorat'sGorat's Steak House is a restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska, at 4917 Center Street.

It is best known as billionaire Warren Buffett's favorite steakhouse, where he annually holds dinners for the largest investors in his company, Berkshire Hathaway, and entertains business colleagues and CEOs, including Michael Eisner, Bill Gates, and Martha Stewart.

Gorat's was founded in 1944 by Louis and Nettie Gorat. It has been one of Omaha's most famous restaurants for the past 60 years. Gorat's is a traditional-style Italian steakhouse which serves pasta dishes, seafood, and chicken, as well as steak. The house specialty is the T-bone steak, which is favored by Buffett, who orders it cooked rare, with a double order of hash browns and a Cherry Coke.

There is dancing and live entertainment on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Hoss's Steak and Sea House

Hoss's Steak and Sea House, commonly known as "Hoss's", is a restaurant chain based in Duncansville, Pennsylvania.

History

The restaurant chain began in 1983 and was founded by Willard E. Campbell. Today, Campbell still serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hoss's Steak and Sea House.

Today, Hoss's can be found in 40 locations; thirty-eight in Pennsylvania, and two in West Virginia.

The chain previously had a restaurant in Winchester, Virginia, but it closed in 2007.

Menu and ordering

Upon entering a Hoss's restaurant, one typically enters a hallway. The walls of the corridor display the menu items available, and the far end of the corridor has a seater. The seater takes the orders of the party at a computer console, prints the order on a ticket, and then proceeds to walk the dining party to either a table or a booth. The seater then places the ticket on the table to be picked up by a waiter or waitress, allowing the dining party to proceed directly to the salad bar and the meal to be prepared almost immediately.

The restaurants feature a variety of cuts of beef; seafood dishes; and chicken dishes. Vegetable side dishes are served, and a soup bar, salad bar, and dessert bars are also available and included with all dinner entrees.

Design

The interior of a typical building is mostly exposed wood and brick. Walls are decorated with antique American advertisements and objects, especially those local to the area the restaurant is located in. The restaurants also typically feature a stone fireplace, usually lit during the evenings. Lighting is provided to each table by a makeshift chandelier made from a wagonwheel and several electric candles.

The Keg

The 100th location of The Keg was built in Moncton, New Brunswick in 2007The Keg is a chain of steakhouses and bars in Canada and the United States. It was founded in 1971 in North Vancouver, British Columbia by George Tidball and today operates in all provinces (excluding P.E.I.) and five American states. Originally known as The Keg and Cleaver, the word "cleaver" was later dropped. The Keg is well known for buying up historic manors and turning them into restaurants. Examples of this are the Keg Mansion in downtown Toronto, and the Keg Manor in Ottawa. Also notable as a heritage restoration is the Keg in New Westminster, British Columbia, which was formerly the city's CPR station.

L'Entrecôte

Steak-frites as served by Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte in ParisAround the world, many restaurants featuring steak dishes use the word entrecôte as their name or part of their name. In particular, the name L'Entrecôte has come to identify three iconic groups of restaurants owned by two sisters and one brother of the Gineste de Saurs family, which specialise in the contre-filet cut of sirloin and serve it in the typical French bistrot style of steak-frites, or steak-and-chips:

L'Entrecôte is the popular nickname of the restaurant Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte, founded by Paul Gineste de Saurs in Paris's 17th arrondissement near Porte Maillot. Now run by one of his daughters, the restaurant is widely known as L'Entrecôte Porte-Maillot. It has two additional locations operating in Barcelona and London.

L'Entrecôte is the official name of a group of restaurants established by a son of Paul Gineste de Saurs, with locations in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes, Montpellier, and Lyon.

L'Entrecôte is used as an informal name for the Le Relais de l'Entrecôte restaurants operated by another daughter of Paul Gineste de Saurs, with three locations in Paris and one in Geneva. The oldest of these, in Paris's 6th arrondissement, is widely known as L'Entrecôte Saint-Germain. This group has four additional locations operating under licence, three in Beirut and one in Kuwait City.

History

In 1959 Paul Gineste de Saurs purchased an Italian restaurant called Le Relais de Venise (the Venice Inn) in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, near Porte Maillot. A descendant of the Gineste de Saurs family in southern France, he was seeking to establish an assured market for the wines produced by the family's Château de Saurs winery in Lisle-sur-Tarn, 50 kilometres northeast of Toulouse.

In place of the previous Italian menu, he decided that the restaurant would offer the traditional French bistrot meal of steak-frites as its only main dish, with no other option. Where most restaurants served steak-frites with herbed butter, Le Relais de Venise instead served the dish with a complex butter-based sauce. A simple salad of lettuce topped with walnuts and a mustard vinaigrette was offered as a starter, and not until the end of the meal did the menu offer some choice, from a dessert list of fruit pastries, profiteroles, and other confections consisting mainly of ice cream, chocolate sauce, meringue, and whipped cream.

To highlight the dish that the restaurant was now serving, he added the words "Son Entrecôte" beneath the name Le Relais de Venise on the neon sign outside. In keeping with the original plan, the restaurant had a very limited wine list and nearly all the wines offered came from the family's Château de Saurs winery.

In serving steak-frites as the sole main dish, he was modelling his restaurant after the Café de Paris in Geneva, which had been serving steak-frites in this way since the early 1940s. The butter sauce itself is often referred to as Café de Paris sauce.

Despite serving only one main dish and offering a very limited selection of wines, the restaurant flourished. It became a Paris institution, whose patrons ignored the sign and typically referred to it as "L'Entrecôte", or "L'Entrecôte Porte-Maillot". Eventually, the restaurant's name was formalized as Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte.

Successors

L'Entrecôte Porte-Maillot in Paris's 17th arrondissementThree separate groups of restaurants, each operated by one of Paul Gineste de Saurs's children, carry on the formula he established.

Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte

Following the death of Paul Gineste de Saurs in 1966, his daughter Hélène Godillot took control of the original restaurant at Porte Maillot. Her branch of the family opened additional locations in Barcelona in 1999 and in London in 2005, and has two further locations set to open in 2009, one in the City of London and the other in New York. The London and New York locations are operated under licence by Steven and Michael Elghanayan.

L'Entrecôte

In 1962, Henri Gineste de Saurs, a son of Paul Gineste de Saurs, opened a restaurant similar to his father's in Toulouse, 50 kilometres from the family vineyard at Lisle-sur-Tarn. He subsequently opened additional locations in Bordeaux, Nantes, Montpellier, and Lyon.

Le Relais de l'Entrecôte

Another daughter of Paul Gineste de Saurs Marie-Paule Burrus established her own group of restaurants under the name Le Relais de l'Entrecôte. Her branch of the family has four locations of its own, three in Paris and one in Geneva, as well as four others operating under licence, three in Beirut and one in Kuwait City.

The Geneva location occupies premises that once housed the Bavaria, a brasserie established in 1912 which became a favourite haunt of international officials during the early years of the League of Nations. The Bavaria was used by Ian Fleming as the venue for a brief episode in his 1959 James Bond novel Goldfinger.

Since 1981, Marie-Paule Burrus has also headed the family's Château de Saurs winery with her husband, Yves Burrus, a scion of Switzerland's Burrus family of industrialists.

The third generation

The founder's grandchildren are taking an increasingly active role in the business, in particular Patrick-Alain Godillot in the Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte group, Valérie Lagarde and Corinne de Roaldès in the L'Entrecôte group, and Paul-Christian Burrus and Géraldine Burrus in the Relais de l'Entrecôte group.

The formula

Although the descendants of Paul Gineste de Saurs operate their groups of restaurants under slightly different names, they all adhere precisely to his formula: the same lettuce-and-walnut salad as a starter; the same steak-frites with the same butter sauce as the main course, presented in two services; the same assortment of desserts; and a wine list featuring wines from the family's own vineyards.

The key to the main dish is the butter sauce. The Paris newspaper Le Monde reports that it is made from chicken livers, fresh thyme and thyme flowers, full cream (19 percent butterfat), white Dijon mustard, butter, water, salt, and pepper. According to Le Monde, the chicken livers are blanched in one pan with the thyme until they start to turn colour. In a second pan, the cream is reduced on low heat with the mustard and infused with the flavour of the thyme flowers. The chicken livers are then finely minced and pressed through a strainer into the reduced cream. As the sauce thickens, the butter is incorporated into it with a little water, it is beaten smooth, and fresh-ground salt and pepper are added. The London newspaper The Independent, however, reports that Hélène Godillot has dismissed the Le Monde report as inaccurate.

The restaurants' atmosphere is a key part of the formula, and is as important to their success as their cuisine. Each group has some decorative touch to distinguish it from its siblings: the Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte group has murals of Venice and sconces with lampshades depicting Venetian gondoliers; the Relais de l'Entrecôte group features early-twentieth-century posters advertising spirits such as Amer Picon, Wincarnis, and Cherry Chevalier; and the L'Entrecôte group has a colour scheme of yellow-and-black stripes and plaids. In all three groups, though, every restaurant has the typical look of a French brasserie with woodwork and mirrors, closely spaced tables, and upholstered bench seating along the walls. All the servers are women, dressed in black uniforms with white (or yellow) aprons, and no male staff are visible. And the restaurants do not take advance bookings, thereby ensuring that all tables can be fully in use at all times. Typically, this means that patrons must queue on the pavement outside for half an hour or more before they can be seated.

Lawry's The Prime Rib

Lawry's The Prime Rib (pronounced L-ow-rees or Lau-rees) is a high-end, gourmet restaurant on Restaurant Row on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. Founded by Lawrence L. Frank and Walter Van de Kamp, it opened in 1938 and for many years was unique among restaurants in having but a single entrée (Or 'main course') on its menu, standing rib roast it can be described as a carvery. It now serves a few additional entrées, but is still generally considered to be a roast beef restaurant. A 1953 menu from Lawry's claims that it was also "the first to feature a green salad as an integral part of every meal." The roast beef at the restaurant is served from a large silver cart pushed from table to table, where the meat is then carved to order.

History

In 1938 Lawry's began marketing its seasoned salt in retail stores. This was the beginning of a food products empire that now sells many kinds of seasonings and flavorings under the Lawry's name. These products are now owned by Unilever.

In 1947 Lawry's moved from its original location on La Cienega to the other side of the street and a few blocks further south, to a larger, windowless, strikingly modernistic building designed by Wayne McAllister. In 1993 it moved back to a new building on the original site.

In 1956, just prior to the playing of the 1957 Rose Bowl Game between the Oregon State Beavers and the Iowa Hawkeyes, Lawry's entertained the two competing teams. This started an annual tradition of hosting both Rose Bowl-bound teams for a prime rib dinner. By the early 1960s, the event had become known as the "Lawry's Beef Bowl." A book chronicling the last 50 years of the Rose Bowl Game and the first 50 years of the Beef Bowl, "Road to the Rose Bowl", was published in 2005. Featuring a foreword by ABC Sports broadcaster Keith Jackson, it has more than 450 photos and recollections from both Rose Bowl players and coaches of the past 50 years.

Competitors

A similar restaurant in San Francisco, The House of Prime Rib on Van Ness Avenue, is sometimes erroneously claimed to have predated Lawry's. The House of Prime Rib, however, did not open until 1949.

Logan's Roadhouse

Logan's Roadhouse is a chain of restaurants that was founded in 1991, and in 1999 became a wholly owned subsidiary of the publicly held CBRL Group, Inc (which also owns Cracker Barrel). On December 6, 2006, CBRL Group sold Logan's Roadhouse to affiliates of Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. Inc., Canyon Capital Advisors LLC, and Black Canyon Capital LLC for $486 million. Its main office is located in Nashville, Tennessee. There are over 165 Logan's locations throughout 20 states.

It is noted for its vintage decorations and for the complimentary buckets of peanuts that come at each table, the shells of which you are allowed to dispose of on the floor. Some of the Logan's establishments have local decor. For example, Detroit area Logan's have murals of people wearing Detroit Pistons shirts.

Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon

Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon is a casual dining restaurant chain, serving steak, seafood, salad, and similar food items. Lone Star opened its first restaurant in October 1989 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In March 1992, Lone Star became a public company with 8 restaurants opened. On February 18, 2008 Lone Star closed 27 restaurants to leave the company with 152 locations. Curiously, none of the Texas-themed restaurants can be found in the state of Texas, from which the restaurant's name is derived.

As of 2007, Lone Star also operates the restaurant concepts Sullivan's (1940's styled with jazz music), DelFrisco's Double Eagle Steak House (upscale traditional), and Texas Land and Cattle (ranch house styled).

Private buyout

On August 18, 2006, Lone Star Steakhouse signed an agreement to be acquired by Lone Star Funds, an unaffiliated, Dallas-based private equity firm, for $27.10 per share in cash. This initial agreement was opposed to by some major shareholders. On November 11, 2006, Lone Star Funds raised its offer to $27.35 per share. On December 12, 2006, shareholders voted to accept the offer.

Because it is now private, Lone Star Steakhouse has been de-listed from NASDAQ. This is also the reason Lonestar stopped sponsoring the #40 Dodge of David Stremme.

At the time of private buyout, Lone Star Spokesperson Joshua Stechowski decried, "anyone who orders chicken at a steakhouse is a pussy!"

Awards

Winner of the 2005-2006 Golden Icon Award (presented by Travolta Family Entertainment) for "Best Steak House Chain".

Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon Australia

Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon first opened its door in Australia, at Parramatta in January 1993.

In August 2000 Lone Star, following a business review of its operations in Australia, shut down 10 stores across Australia (Launceston and Hobart in Tasmania; Newcastle in New South Wales; Townsville in Queensland; Geelong, Sunshine, Frankston and Brighton in Victoria; and Woodford and Morley in Western Australia).

On December 22, 2003, the Australian operations were bought out by Robert LaPointe and Tim Smith, and it is no longer owned by the American company.

As of October, 2008 there are 11 Lone Star Restaurants operating in New South Wales and Queensland employing more than 1,000 people.

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants is a restaurant company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. It owns restaurants under various names, mostly in Central Ohio. It formerly included the Mitchell's Steakhouse and Mitchell's Fish Market brands, but sold both of these concepts along with one Cameron's Steakhouse location to Ruth's Chris in February 2008. The new Ocean Prime concept will be opening in Troy, Michigan in June 2008 with another set to open in Scottsdale, Arizona in the fall and also in Orlando, Florida in November 2008.

Morton's Sraekhouse

Morton's LogoMorton's The Steakhouse (formerly Morton's of Chicago) was founded in 1978 by Arnie Morton and Klaus Fritsch. Today, there are over 79 locations in the chain. Morton's locations are decorated with a similar style, concept and decor. Approximately 80% of the business for Morton's is based on business expense accounts, with an average guest bill being $88. 80% of the entrees ordered are beef, while that total makes up 38% of the restaurant's overall sales. Prices are in keeping with the type of establishment and the location, and it is possible to dine at Morton's very well for around $100. For those who wish to spend more, however, the wine list includes entries at over $5000 a bottle.

Menu Presentation

Besides the paper menu, Morton's offers a visually presented menu. The server rolls a presentation cart to the table with raw samples of the items on the menu. This presentation includes a detailed description of the preparation of each item. It is at this time that the server will also ask the guest if they would like to order one of their signature desserts which have a lengthy preparation time, thus needing to be ordered early in the meal.

Beef

Rib eye steakMorton's The Steakhouse serves prime beef, the highest grade given by the USDA, sourced from a meat packer in Chicago, IL. The meat is aged on location for 3-4 weeks using a wet-aging process which means the meat is aged inside of a cryo-vacuumed bag. The meat is cooked to order on an 800 degree broiler for service. Meat cuts offered include Filet Mignon, Porterhouse, New York Strip Steak, Bone-In Ribeye and Bone-In Prime Rib.

Bertolini's Authentic Trattoria

Bertolini's serves freshly made pastas, light sauces, and pizzas cooked in brick ovens. There are two locations, one each in Philadelphia, PA and Las Vegas, NV. The restaurants are designed as white tablecloth, traditional Italian trattorias.

Trevi

On 15 September 2006 the Bertolini's location at The Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas, which had opened in 1992, was closed and remodeled. On 2 February 2007 it reopened as TREVI, billed as an Italian brasserie. The restaurant was designed by the Rockwell Group whom have also designed Nobu and Vong. The restaurant features cafe-style dining and a walk-up gelato/espresso bar.

Mr. Steak

Mr. Steak was an American steakhouse restaurant chain started in 1962 by James A. Mather in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The chain operated 278 restaurants throughout the United States at its peak. The chain saw a decline in the 1980s when it attempted to diversify its menu options, drawing focus away from the steak in favor of fish, salads, and chicken.

The Kansas City area locations were purchased by Paul Consiglio in the 1980s, and the corporation went bankrupt in 1987. Locations in Michigan were converted in 1991 to a new chain called Finley's, which retained most of the Mr. Steak menu; other Mr. Steak restaurants were gradually closed off by the mid-1990s.

Outback Steakhouse

Outback Steakhouse is an American casual dining restaurant chain based in Tampa, Florida, with over 900 locations in 21 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It specializes in USDA Choice and Prime steaks and other offerings in an Australian-inspired environment.

Founded in February 1988 in Tampa, Florida, by Bob Basham, Chris T. Sullivan, and Tim Gannon, it is owned and operated in the United States by OSI Restaurant Partners, and by franchise and venture agreements internationally. In 1997, it entered the South Korean market through the franchise agreement with Aussie Chung Inc. Currently, there are 101 Outback Steakhouse locations throughout South Korea. On June 14, 2007, OSI Restaurant Partners completed a stock repurchase plan, and the company is now privately held.

Theme

Restaurant at Del Amo Fashion Center, in Torrance, California.The Outback Steakhouse has a strong "Australian" outback theme, exemplified by Boomerangs, stuffed crocodiles, maps of Australia, a reproduction of Ned Kelly's helmet, whips, didgeridoos, and paintings by Aboriginal artists. New locations are featuring a more subdued, streamlined decor, which is also being implemented in remodels of existing stores. Menu items are largely named after places in Australia, including the Ayers Rock Strip, Alice Springs Chicken, and Rockhampton Ribeye. Others are named after animals, like Kookaburra Wings, or Wallaby Darned. Some items are named after agricultural professions, such as the Jackaroo Chops or Drover's Platter. Others still take their names from pop-cultural references, such as the Mad Max Burger (which has since lost the "Aussie" nickname, and is now known as the bacon cheese burger) and Grilled Shrimp On The Barbie. In early 2007 Outback removed some of its Australian flair from the menu. The New York Strip Steak, Ribeye, and Pork Chops are some of the more popular menu items to lose their "Aussie" nicknames.

Despite its theme, Outback Steakhouse serves American cuisine, with Creole influences. All meat is lighty seasoned, including a 17 spice blend for the steaks themselves. Most seafood items are served with a Creole remoulade sauce. Outback bills its food as "full flavor". It fries its food in vegetable shortening, and uses real butter and heavy cream in many dishes. Burgers are ground from beef tenderloin. Menus are highly regionalized. Crawfish appear in some dishes in Southern American locations, as do sweet potatoes. Eastern locations often feature Maine Lobster tails, while western locations frequently serve Alaskan King Crab legs and cakes.

Although a number of menu items are grilled, steaks are prepared on a griddle using butter as a heat transfer medium. Because they are cooked solely by conduction, their surfaces are cooked much more rapidly than their centers, and so Outback has a non-standard meat temperature (rarity) scale.

The use of fats in such liberal quantities has brought the chain under fire from health advocates: Men's Health magazine recently condemned Outback's Aussie Cheese Fries as "The Worst Food in America," with 182 grams of fat and nearly 3,000 calories per order.

The Bloomin' Onion is a signature Outback item. It is a one pound onion cut to 'bloom' open, breaded, deep-fried and served with mayo-horseradish sauce. Other restaurants offer items similar to the Bloomin' Onion, as in Chili's Awesome Blossom (discontinued) and Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon's Texas Rose.

Outback's bar selections are also highly regionalized. Most Outbacks serve Foster's Lager, an Australian brand of beer largely sold outside of Australia. Other Australian beers include Coopers Premium Lager, Coopers Sparkling Ale, Coopers Pale Ale, Toohey's New Draught, and Boag's. Wine selections also vary, but often include those from Australian wineries like Yellow Tail, and Foster's Group holdings Lindemans and Rosemount Estates.

One menu item that appears on American menus 'Chocolate Thunder from Down Under' will never be listed in Australia as it has a very different meaning. It is offered simply as 'Chocolate Thunder'

Dietary Restrictions

The lamb served at Outback is sourced from New Zealand and is certified halal by the Islamic Council of New Zealand.

Outback also offers a gluten free menu including most of its normal menu items with slight variations.

Community involvement

Outback has sponsored numerous sports organizations and competitions, including the NCAA Football Outback Bowl, NASCAR, the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am on the Champions Tour, the Outback Champion Series of Tennis, and the NFL (supported by the Outback Steakhouse John Madden NFL Cruiser).

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Outback was one of the first groups to deliver food services on-site to rescue workers and emergency personnel.

The company has also strongly supported coalition troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has organized multiple missions to feed soldiers overseas. Following Operation Enduring Freedom, Outback sent fifteen volunteers to Kandahar in June 2002 to feed 6,000 servicemen. It repeated the trip in January 2003, feeding an additional 13,000 in Kandahar and Bagram. Following Operation Iraqi Freedom, twenty-one volunteers were sent in January 2004 to cater for troops in Baqubah, Mosul, and at Al Asad Airbase. In September 2005, volunteers prepared food for 16,000 on the USS Nimitz at Camp Le Monier.

Political involvement

The company and its founders are major contributors, via the Outback Steakhouse PAC, to the Republican Party, contributing $303,015 and $334,197 for the 2000 and 2004 election cycles, respectively.. The Outback Steakhouse PAC itself is one of the largest donors in the food and beverage sector, second only to the National Restaurant Association, which itself represents 300,000 restaurants.

OSI Restaurant Partners is a boycott target by Life Decisions International for funding associated with Planned Parenthood.

Quaker Steak and Lube

Quaker Steak and Lube is a casual dining restaurant chain based in Sharon, Pennsylvania. The original restaurant was built in 1972 by George "Jig" Warren and Gary "Mo" Meszaros in an abandoned gas station in downtown Sharon, and decorated with license plates and old automobiles. Originally a "cook-your-own-steak" establishment hence the steak in the restaurant's name Quaker Steak's signature dish is now its chicken wings and the variety of sauces used to season them.

A Quaker Steak and Lube restaurant located in Robinson Square, a shopping center just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.The name is a play on that of the motor oil company Quaker State.

In addition to wings, the Lube (as it is often abbreviated) is known for the Lube Burger and Lube-N-Ade (a lemonade cocktail).

There are currently 28 restaurants in the chain, mostly operating in eastern Ohio and western and central Pennsylvania. There are also locations in Knoxville, Tennessee; Douglasville, Georgia; Concord, North Carolina; Madison, Wisconsin; Pinellas Park, Florida; Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Charleston, West Virginia. The chain is slowly expanding to different locations across the United States, with three recent openings in the spring of 2006 in Milford, Ohio; Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania; and Austintown, Ohio. In 2007, restaurants were opened in Portage, Indiana and Canton, Ohio. In 2008, restaurants were opened in Syracuse, New York; Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Greenville, South Carolina.

Wing sauce

One of Quaker Steak's gimmicks is its wing sauce flavors. The wing sauces are often depicted on the Scoville scale. The hottest flavor is the "Atomic Sauce", which is made from the habanero chile. The Atomic flavor is sold individually in a dropper bottle which is in turn sealed inside an oversized childproof prescription container. The flavor is so hot that customers must sign a waiver form before ordering it, freeing Quaker Steak from any "liability".

The Palm (restaurant)

Since opening, management has opened additional restaurants throughout the United States, in Puerto Rico and in Mexico. The Palm is notable for steak, lobster, traditional Italian dishes and the caricatures of individuals sketched on its walls.

History

Italian immigrants Pio Bozzi and John Ganzi opened the first Palm restaurant in 1926. It was originally intended to be named La Parma but a city licensing clerk misunderstood the thick Italian accent of the founders. The owners found it was easier to change the name than to get the license reissued.

Cuisine

After the Palm was opened it operated as a conventional Italian restaurant offering fare similar to that found in New York's Little Italy neighborhood. Early in its history, however, Bozzi and Ganzi fielded a request for steak and the owners broiled it after retrieving meat from a Second Avenue butcher. As related in the Palm cook book, the first request led to others and the items were put on the menu.

Later, the Palm added Nova Scotia lobsters and aged USDA Prime beef, often served bone-in, as well as a selection of salads.

Caricatures

A defining feature of the restaurant's brand has been the tradition of caricatures covering the walls. Those depicted in the murals are celebrities, famous politicians, as well as prominent sports and media figures.

The Palm's historical materials contend that the caricature tradition began as a twist on the phrase "sing for your meal" where an artist who enjoyed the fare would pay for his meal by drawing a portrait on the wall. Additionally, featured celebrities have often provided an autograph next to their portrait.

Later, as the brand expanded, this tradition continued at other locations.

Expansion

The Palm opened its second location in Washington, D.C. in 1972. According to the company's web site, the prodding of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, then US Ambassador to the United Nations, encouraged the families to open the second location. Bush often quipped that there was a "lack of good American fare" in the capital city.

In 1973, the restaurant's third location, the "Palm Too," opened across the street from the original New York location. During the 1970's the restaurants also expanded to three other cities, Los Angeles, Houston and East Hampton, NY.

Diversification

In 1980, the company took over management of two historic hotels, the Huntting Inn and the Hedges Inn, both located in East Hampton, New York. The company also operates its own wholesale meat company.

The Palm today

The Palm Restaurant logoWally Ganzi, the grandson of John Ganzi, and Bruce Bozzi, grandson of Pio Bozzi, are third generation members of the family to operate The Palm, which has expanded into an international restaurant chain.

Today The Palm has over 25 locations in cities throughout the United States as well as locations in Puerto Rico and Mexico. The company is the largest family-owned, U.S.-based chain of "fine dining" restaurants.

For frequent guests, the Palm has established a loyalty program called the "837 Club," which gets its name from the street number of the original Palm. Member benefits include discounts on meals, "points" accumulation that can be used to purchase meals, a free lobster on the member's birthday and other offers.

The restaurant's motto is "the place to see and to be seen."

In the popular media

The Palm was occasionally referenced in the television drama The West Wing. The name is usually mentioned as an example of an exclusive dining venue. Toby Ziegler, a native of Brooklyn, refers to The Palm as a source of "well-prepared steak" in the episode "Isaac and Ishmael". In that same episode he expresses his desire to kill off all of humanity but makes exceptions for, among others such as the Yankees, those who work at the Palm. In another episode, CJ Cregg jokes about having trouble "getting a table at the Palm".

In episode 5x11 of Nip/Tuck Colleen Rose insists that agents at the Creative Artists Agency treat their clients like "nothing but a piece of meat ... last night's dinner at The Palm."

Charlie Sheen's character and his girlfriend appear the dine at The Palm in the 1987 movie Wall Street.

In People I Know, Al Pacino's character sets up a charity event at The Palm.

Peter Luger Steak House

The interior bar section of the Brooklyn establishment Steak for 4, served medium rare in BrooklynPeter Luger Steak House is a steakhouse located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York City, with a second location in Great Neck, New York, on Long Island.

History

The Brooklyn location was established in 1887 as "Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley" in the predominantly German neighborhood under the current Williamsburg Bridge. In 1950, the original owners put the restaurant up for auction and Sol Forman bought it for "a whimsically low bid." His granddaughter, Jody Storch, now has the job of buying the meat for the restaurant. Among the current owners of the restaurant is Amy Rubenstein, wife of Howard Rubenstein, the legendary PR man whose clients have included George Steinbrenner, Rupert Murdoch, and Donald Trump. Famous guests have included James Cagney, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert De Niro, Henry Kissinger, and Edward Couch.

Description

Peter Luger has been named the best steakhouse in New York City by Zagat Survey for 24 years in a row. The only payment options at the restaurant are cash or the Peter Luger credit card. The Brooklyn location is known for its long wooden bar, and the "dining rooms have a teutonic air, with exposed wooden beams, burnished oak wainscoting, brass chandeliers and weathered beer-hall tables." The Brooklyn location now boasts a coveted Michelin star rating. In 2002, it was named to the James Beard Foundation's list of "America's Classics".

The menu is surprisingly sparse, with the only entrees being porterhouse steak for 1 to 4, Lamb, and Salmon. Their supplementary dishes are shrimp cocktail, beefsteak tomato and onion salad (served with steak sauce), German fries, creamed spinach, and pecan pie. Steaks are served pre-sliced on an inclined plate so that the juices run down. Further, the edges of the plates are heated to approximately 400 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing diners to cook their steak further if they so choose. Peter Luger also serves hamburgers, which are only available for lunch.

Several waiters have since left Peter Luger's and have opened their own steakhouses in Manhattan--Wolfgang's Steakhouse, Blair Perrone Steakhouse, and Ben & Jack's Steakhouse while Robert Dickert, great-grandson to Carl Luger, left New York City to establish Great Uncle Peter's steakhouse near Scranton.

Ponderosa/Bonanza Steakhouse

The entrance to a Ponderosa Steakhouse in Orlando, Florida.Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse are a chain of buffet/steakhouse restaurants. They are two of the most franchised subsidiaries of Metromedia Restaurant Group.

Unlike other chains with two names like Checkers/Rally's, which uses only one of the names in a given region, restaurants in a given region could be named either Bonanza or Ponderosa. This is because Bonanza and Ponderosa were separate companies, which were later merged under Metromedia - so the names overlap depending on who had restaurants where prior to merger.

The names of the restaurants are derived from the classic TV series Bonanza, which was set at a place called Ponderosa Ranch. The Bonanza chain was started in 1963 by Dan Blocker, who played Eric "Hoss" Cartwright on Bonanza.

History

In 1968, Ponderosa was founded in Kokomo, Indiana by Dan Lasater, Norm Wiese and Charles Kleptz. Norm Wiese was a local auto dealer for Oldsmobile and GMC Trucks.

In 1967, Sam Wyly and his brother Charles Wyly bought the small Bonanza Steakhouse restaurant chain. The company grew to approximately 600 restaurants by 1989, when the two brothers sold it.

In late July 2008, the S&A Restaurant Group, a subsidiary of the Metromedia Restaurant Group, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, and closed over 300 company-owned Bennigan's and Steak and Ale restaurants. The company said that company-owned locations would not reopen, that franchise locations would not be affected, and that the company would continue operations of the Bonanza and Ponderosa Steakhouse chains, which are owned by a different subsidiary, Metromedia Steakhouses Co. LP. Metromedia Restaurant Group also shut down the www.PONDEROSASTEAKHOUSES.com website along with www.BONANZASTEAKHOUSES.com. This could be a result of the sites having to be configured to remove much of the content that relates to the prior parent company etc. A franchise in Rutland VT(USA) was contacted on Thursday, August 7, 2008 and explained that they are still in business as usual and only the other two restaurant concepts are affected and even those will be bought out by franchisees. They are unsure when the Pondarosa and Bonanza websites will return online at this time as it was under the control of Metromedia Restaurant Group.

As of September 2008, Fred Boukzam, 49, of Brooklyn, and his restaurant company, PON Management, owned and operated 15 Ponderosa restaurants in Northeastern Ohio which 9 of them have closed following a federal lawsuit involving what authorities said is one of the largest "check-kiting schemes ever prosecuted in Northeastern Ohio. Boukzam and PON Management were charged with one count of felony bank fraud stemming from the scheme. On Oct 22, 2008 Metromedia Steakhouses Company, L.P. and certain of its affiliates, which operate a chain of restaurants under the Ponderosa(R) Steakhouse and Bonanza(R) Steakhouse brands, today announced that they filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The Company will reorganize around its franchise operations and a profitable core of company-operated restaurants. The company stressed that it will continue operating and that it will be business as usual. Bob Hoffman, President of the Company, emphasized that the filing will have a positive long-term impact on the Company's domestic and international operations. SOURCE: Metromedia Steakhouses Company, L.P.

Filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on October 2008.

Patrons have several options to choose from, including steaks, seafood, and chicken entrees. Occasionally, the company will run special promotions, such as "All you can eat shrimp". All entrees come with the buffet, as well as choice of potato, or you can choose to have an entree without the buffet at a cheaper price.

A lunch menu is also served. While patrons can choose a dinner entree at any time, the lunch menu also includes sandwiches, as well as specially-priced lunch portions of the dinner entrees. The sandwiches typically only come with choice of potato; entrees are served with the buffet.

The chain features Pepsi products and also have a proprietary recipe of steak sauce.

Buffet

Buffets at the restaurants are typically divided into four different sections:

Salad bar: Contains fruits, several premade salads, as well as an array of ingredients with which patrons can build their own salad.

Hot food bar: Has a variety of side dishes such as green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and rice pilaf, as well as several entree items not included on the menu, such as fried chicken and meatloaf.

Soup bar: Each restaurant offers several different soups to choose from, along with an assortment of crackers. Dessert bar: The dessert bar features all you can eat soft-serve ice cream with appropriate toppings, as well as desserts such as apple crisp and bread pudding.

Prior to the mid-1990s, restaurants did not have the hot food bar; instead using a long salad bar referred to as "Freshtastiks".

Some "Bonanza" restaurants' salad bars were also notable in having a large wedge of cheedar cheese customers would slice pieces off. Unfortunately, flies landed on the cheese and made it inedible.

L'Entrecôte

L'Entrecôte is the official name of a group of restaurants established by a son of Paul Gineste de Saurs, with locations in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes, Montpellier, and Lyon.

History

Successors

L'Entrecôte Porte-Maillot in Paris's 17th arrondissementThree separate groups of restaurants, each operated by one of Paul Gineste de Saurs's children, carry on the formula he established.

Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte

L'Entrecôte

Le Relais de l'Entrecôte

Since 1981, Marie-Paule Burrus has also headed the family's Château de Saurs winery with her husband, Yves Burrus, a scion of Switzerland's Burrus family of industrialists.

The third generation

The formula

Ruth's Chris Steak House

Ruth's Chris Steak House (NASDAQ: RUTH) is a chain of over 114 steakhouses across the United States and in several international locations. The restaurant is regarded as an upscale fine dining establishment, marking a gradual elevation in its status since its founding in the 1960s. Ruth's Chris is currently the largest luxury steak company, larger than other restaurants such as The Palm and Morton's chains in number of locations, operating income, and overall profit. On March 22, 2008 the company announced it would be seeking stockholder approval to change its name to Ruth's Hospitality Group to better represent the business after the acquisition of Mitchell's Fish Market.

History

The chain was founded by the late Ruth Fertel, a single mother of two, in 1965, after she bought the existing Chris Steak House in New Orleans. In buying the restaurant, Fertel had to agree that the restaurant keep the "Chris" name for a specified period of time. After the original location sustained a kitchen fire, she relocated the restaurant about one-half mile (0.9 km) to the west on Broad Street and renamed the rebuilt establishment "Ruth's Chris." Under the purchase agreement, the name "Chris Steak House" could not be used at any other location, and she did not want to lose customers already familiar with the Chris name. Fertel started to franchise the restaurant in the 1970s to locations throughout the United States and throughout the world.

Advertising efforts are primarily focused in the talk radio market and its male demographic. The chain has cultivated paid endorsements from several radio celebrities, including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, with the latter proclaiming Ruth's to be his favorite restaurant. Ruth's won the 2006 2007 Golden Icon Award for "Best Steak House Chain"; the Golden Icon Awards are presented annually by Travolta Family Entertainment.

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated Greater New Orleans (see: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans), and the chain moved its corporate headquarters to Heathrow, Florida. Like most businesses in the city, two of the chain's locations in the Greater New Orleans area were forced to close because of the storm. The Metairie, Louisiana location has since reopened. Amid much criticism of local officials and media, and on the heels of Morton's steakhouse announcement it would reopen its own New Orleans branch, the corporate offices announced that, due to extensive damage, the old flagship Ruth's Chris on Broad Street would be permanently closed and donated to charity. In May 2008, Ruth's Chris re-opened in New Orleans and is centrally located downtown in the Harrah's hotel at 525 Fulton Street.

Fare

The restaurant's signature is serving USDA prime steaks that are seared at 1800°Fahrenheit (982.2°C) and served on plates heated to 500°Fahrenheit (260°C). Half an ounce (1 Tbsp) of butter is added just before the plates leave the kitchen in order to cause the meat to sizzle. In addition to steaks, the restaurant also serves entrees of chicken, lamb, fish and shellfish.
Main entree prices, ranging typically from $8.95 to $110.95, are for the dish itself and do not include any Hors duvres, salads or side dishes. The side dishes are served a la carte, priced at an average of $8.00. Portions are generally large enough to serve two or more diners. Of particular repute are the au gratin potatoes, topped with a bechamel sauce and cheddar cheese. Also available are dessert selections, also priced at an average of $8.00, with the restaurant's signature pecan pie being a staple item throughout the chain.
All locations offer smaller, separate rooms for private dining as well as a gift card program. Reservations (available online at http://www.ruthschris.com) are recommended and the dress code is usually a range from business/dressy to business casual.

Saltgrass Steakhouse

Saltgrass Steakhouse is a chain of steakhouse restaurants owned by Landry's Restaurants.

The first Saltgrass Steakhouse was located in Houston, Texas. The property has expanded to other states, including a location in the Golden Nugget hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The restaurant serves only U.S.D.A. Certified Angus Beef, which claims is the top 8% of all beef produced in the United States.

Stoney River Legendary Steaks

Stoney River Legendary Steaks is a chain of steakhouses in the United States. There are 10 Stoney River Legendary Steaks restaurants in Georgia, Maryland, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, and Tennessee, with a second location planned for Maryland in early 2009. Its parent company is O'Charley's, Inc. Enterprise, a restaurant company that operates or franchises a total of 363 restaurants under this and two other brands: OCharleys and Ninety Nine Restaurant.

History

Stoney River was founded in 2000 by Atlanta-based restaurateurs Pierre Panos (Fresh to Order, Brookwood Grill) and David Rowe. They grew Stoney River to 3 restaurants, with plans of expanding to Chicago, before they sold the restaurants to O'Charley's. O'Charley's has since grown the restaurants to 10 restaurants in multiple states.

Sizzler

Sizzler (founded in 1958) is a United States-based restaurant chain with headquarters in Culver City, California, serving steak, seafood, and salad (from a large salad bar), as well as similar items.

History

The chain was founded in 1958 as Del's Sizzler Family Steak House by Del and Helen Johnson in Culver City, California. The chain is composed of more than 270 locations throughout the U.S.. Most of Sizzler's U.S. locations are in the West.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sizzler promoted mainly steak and combination steak dinners with the optional salad bar. The restaurant wanted to give the customer the feel of a full-service restaurant, but at a price just slightly more than that of a fast food chain. To keep costs down, many of the restaurants had their own in-house meat cutters where they would cut their own steaks and grind their own hamburgers. Heading into the mid 1980s competition began to appear from other casual-dining restaurants. After promotions such as "All-you-can-eat" fried shrimp, the chain decided to expand its popular salad bar into a full buffet promoted as the "Buffet Court". Patrons began to use the buffet as their meal instead of an add-on to an entree. In response Sizzler began to lower the quality of food in other areas of the menu. Customers took notice and Sizzler's reputation suffered. Sizzler filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 and closed 140 of 215 stores. They reemerged from chapter 11 in 1997. During the late 1990s new management upgraded the quality of food but also increased prices. Sizzler's revenue flat-lined, and 21 locations were closed in 2001. Sizzler began an image makeover around 2002. A new restaurant concept was created featuring a lighter and more open dining room. The changes were accompanied with a new menu. In an effort to return to their roots, steaks, seafood, and the salad bar are now being reemphasized while the all-you-can-eat buffet is being phased out.

Sizzler also has restaurants throughout the world including Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand.

U.S. states with Sizzler Restaurants, in blueIn January 2008, Sizzler announced it was planning to take action against the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) of Urbandale, Iowa over the use of the name "Sizzler" for its tripler, which began that month (when the option is selected by the player, any prize(s) won, except the jackpot, is/are tripled) in the US Hot Lotto game.

Sizzler owns the Pat and Oscar's restaurant chain in southern California.

Food safety

In 2006, all 28 Sizzler restaurants across Australia suspended salad bar service after rat poison was found in two restaurants. Sizzler Australia referred to the incidents as "sabotage". The culprit turned out to be a mentally unstable woman from Brisbane.

In 2000, over 60 people became ill and a young girl died in an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that originated at a Sizzler restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Health officials said that the likely source of contamination was meat supplied by the Excel Corporation meat packer. They believe that cross contamination to other food items occurred when Sizzler employees handled the meat very near areas where salad bar items were prepared. This was similar to an outbreak in Washington state and Oregon in 1993. In the 1993 case, as in 2000, the tainted meat apparently came from Excel, and contaminated salad bar items.

All Smith and Wollensky locations are owned by the Smith and Wollensky Restaurant Group, which began with the opening of their first steakhouse in New York in 1977. They have since opened ten other Smith and Wollensky steakhouses, and also operate five restaurants in New York City: Maloney & Porcelli, The Post House, The Manhattan Ocean Club, Cité, and Park Avenue Cafe.

On the Smith and Wollensky website, each location has their own individual page, because although they are united under the Smith and Wollensky banner, they operate using slightly varied menus, different hours, and the franchise doesn't employ a design of what all their restaurants should look like. However, the franchises are united under one feature: their green and white awning. Another characteristic shared by all steakhouses is that they all feature several banquet rooms.

Texas Roadhouse

Texas Roadhouse is a publicly traded chain restaurant on the NASDAQ that specializes in steaks and promotes a western theme. Texas Roadhouse Corporation is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. The first restaurant was opened in Clarksville, Indiana in 1993 at the Green Tree Mall across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. The chain operates about 280 locations in 44 states. It is known for its free buckets of peanuts.

About

First Texas RoadhouseThe company was founded on February 17, 1993 at the Green Tree Mall in Clarksville, Indiana by Kent Taylor. Their mascot is an armadillo named Andy. The restaurant provides free in-shell peanuts in the waiting room and at all tables, and unlimited dinner rolls to seated guests.

Founder Kent Taylor is from Colorado and worked at nightclubs and restaurants there. In 1990, Taylor divorced his wife and returned to his hometown of Louisville. He began work as a KFC manager, and had dreams to open a Colorado-themed restaurant. Former Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. helped fulfill his dream by backing him with $80,000. Taylor opened Buckhead Hickory Grill in 1991 and began doing well. The chain would eventually become Buckhead Mountain Grill. Brown invested more money and wanted to open a second store in Clarksville. Complications in the partnership caused it to fall apart as they were preparing to open the Clarksville location. Taylor found new partners and was forced to use a new name, Texas Roadhouse. A year later he sold his shares in the Buckhead restaurant. The second Texas Roadhouse opened in Gainesville, Florida.

The restaurant chain struggled with its competition with Outback Steakhouse, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Lone Star Steakhouse early on. However, Texas Roadhouse would expand rapidly in the late 1990s, and by the end of 1999 there were 67 restaurants. In 2004, the chain began public offerings.

The Roadhouse Corporation supports the home-building program Habitat for Humanity International. The company also sponsors a road cycling team of about 20 cyclists, along with Willie Nelson tours.

Cuisine

Texas Roadhouse serves American Cuisine, including steak, ribs, chicken, and seafood. Their main suppliers are Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods. The chain boasts several cooking championships across the country with their ribs and steaks. The menu follows a theme of mushrooms, cheese, and barbecue. Everything on the menu is made from scratch, with the exception of children's menu items Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and hot dogs. This includes the salads and dressings, sauces and side dishes. Their steaks are never frozen, and hand-cut in the restaurant.