Steak & Ale - #1
Founded in 1966 in Dallas, Texas by the one and only Norman Brinker, a legend in the restaurant industry.
"The chain, with its dimly lit Tudor-style decorated dining rooms, billed itself as offering an upscale steak experience at lower prices. It was seen as a model for the casual-dining steakhouse chain, and many executives there went on to run other large chains." [Wikipedia]
Purchased by Pillsbury in 1976 (113 locations), the chain became part of a restaurant group with Burger King, Bennigan's and others. Pillsbury then spun off Steak & Ale in 1982 (along with Bennigan's) into S&A Restaurant Corp.
Rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s led Steak & Ale to be one the the preeminent casual dining chains of its time, peaking at 280 locations.
Competition ensued and differentiation became harder to achieve. In 1988, Metromedia purchased Steak & Ale (keeping the S&A company name) and merged it with Bonanza and Ponderosa in 1993. With no improvements in site, S&A Restaurant Corp. filed for bankruptcy in 2008, closing all Steak & Ale and non-franchised Bennigan's locations.
In 2015, Paul Mangiamele (CEO of Bennigan's during its "comeback" attempt) and his wife closed on a management buyout becoming owners of the Steak & Ale and Bennigan's brands. The new company created was Legendary Restaurant Brands, LLC. Despite 2016 and 2020 announcements that Steak & Ale would return with locations in Mexico, these never materialized.
In 2023, a U.S. comeback was announced with a new location opened in Burnsville, Minnesota. The Steak & Ale website shows no other locations coming soon but there is one is Texas that has been planned. The website also shows franchising opportunities and really focuses on the history of the concept.
