What Happened to Steak and Ale? It Trained Its Own Killers

What happened to Steak and Ale? On July 29, 2008, every company-owned Steak and Ale in America closed in a single day, along with about 150 Bennigan's. The recession and a debt-laden parent company finished it. But the real story started decades earlier. Norman Brinker's Dallas steakhouse was the best restaurant school in America, and SEC filings show its alumni went on to found or run Outback, Chili's, Houston's, TGI Friday's, Applebee's, Burger King and P.F. Chang's. Steak and Ale did not lose to its competitors. It trained them. From the first Tudor dining room in Dallas in 1966 and the salad bar it popularized, to Pillsbury, the birth of Bennigan's, Brinker's move to Chili's, the founding of Outback by Steak and Ale veterans, the Metromedia years, the Chapter 7 filing of July 2008, and the attempts to bring it back. CHAPTERS 0:00 The night the doors locked 1:53 Norman Brinker and the first Steak and Ale 3:53 The salad bar: popularized, not invented 5:04 The restaurant school 6:33 Pillsbury and the birth of Bennigan's 8:29 Brinker leaves for Chili's 9:45 Outback: built by Steak and Ale alumni 12:17 Friday's, Applebee's, Houston's, P.F. Chang's 14:11 The Metromedia years 16:29 58 restaurants, no franchisees 17:11 July 29, 2008 20:08 The revival attempts 21:47 What really happened #SteakAndAle #Bennigans #WhatHappenedTo #RestaurantHistory #DefunctRestaurants #NormanBrinker #CasualDining #Dallas #BusinessHistory #80sNostalgia #Nostalgia #TheEmptyBooth