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Beef O'Brady's

Beef O'Brady's (styled as Beef 'O' Brady's Family Sports Restaurant)[3] is an American restaurant franchise, established in 1985 by Jim Mellody in Brandon, Florida,[4] and headquartered in Tampa.[5]

History

Jim Mellody moved from his native Pennsylvania to Florida in 1971, and tried numerous restaurant ideas before hitting on the concept of a family-friendly Irish pub (serving no hard liquor). He founded Beef O'Brady's in 1985.[1] In 1998, Mellody sold most of his interest to Family Sports Concepts Inc., headed by Chuck Winship, but retained an interest in 13 locations.[6] Franchising started in 1998,[1] and by August 2000, it had grown to 40 locations.[6]

When Mellody died in November 2002, the chain had grown to 88 locations within seven southeastern states.[4][7][8] After Mellody's death, what had been his remaining interest in the company was bought out,[9] and by December 2005 there were 183 locations in 19 states.[10] As of 2009, Mellody's daughter still ran the original Brandon location.[9]

In early 2010, CEO Chuck Winship retired and was replaced by Chris Elliott, a former executive of Cinnabon and Church's Chicken; at that time, the company had approximately 245 locations, down from a high of approximately 270.[11] As of September 2019, the number of locations had dropped to 150, with 26 of those company-owned and operated.[12]

Bowl game sponsorship 2009–2013

In 2009, the company became the title sponsor of the St. Petersburg Bowl, an annual college football bowl game held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.[13] That year's game was officially named the "St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef 'O' Brady's".[14] The game was then renamed as the "Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl" for four years (2010–2013).[15] In 2014, the game reverted to one of its former names, and in 2017 became the Gasparilla Bowl once again. (It was originally called the MagicJack Bowl prior to that.)

See also

  • List of Irish restaurants

External links

References

  1. Beef O'Brady's Family Sports Pub entrepreneur.com, retrieved December 23, 2019^
  2. Family Sports Concepts Inc bloomberg.com, retrieved December 23, 2019^
  3. Beef 'O' Brady's Family Sports Restaurant beefobradys.com, retrieved December 23, 2019^
  4. Restaurant Owner Founded Beef 'O' Brady's Sarasota Herald-Tribune, November 26, 2002, retrieved February 19, 2010^
  5. In its 30 years, Beef 'O' Brady's evolves into a defining Tampa Bay franchise Tampa Bay Times, retrieved 2020-05-06^
  6. Andrew Meadows. Beef 'O' Brady's 'Bama bound The Tampa Tribune, August 12, 2000, retrieved February 19, 2010^
  7. Jim Mellody, founder of the Beef 'O' Brady's family sports pub chain Nation's Restaurant News, November 26, 2002, retrieved February 19, 2010^
  8. Michael Sandler. Jim Mellody, who founded Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg Times, November 25, 2002, retrieved February 19, 2010^
  9. Margaret Cashill. Owner operators advance 'family' philosophy Tampa Bay Business Journal, January 29, 2009, retrieved February 19, 2010^
  10. Carolyne Park. Beef 'O' Brady's market push Memphis Business Journal, December 16, 2005, retrieved February 19, 2010^
  11. Michael Sasso. Beef O'Brady's leader steps down to pursue MBA The Tampa Tribune, July 3, 2010, retrieved December 23, 2019^
  12. Peter Romeo. For Beef 'O' Brady's, Rejuvenation is a Process restaurantbusinessonline.com, September 12, 2019, retrieved December 23, 2019^
  13. St. Pete Bowl gets new title sponsor St. Petersburg Times, December 9, 2009, retrieved December 23, 2019^
  14. Beef 'O' Brady's Signs on as Title Sponsor of St. Petersburg Bowl St. Petersburg Bowl, retrieved 2009-12-09^
  15. 'O' No! Beef 'O' Brady's to drop sponsorship of local bowl game retrieved June 18, 2014^