Ruth's Chris Steak House

Darden Concepts, Inc. doing business as Ruth's Chris Steak House, is a chain of over 100 steakhouses across the United States, Canada and Mexico. On May 22, 2008, the company underwent rebranding and became part of Ruth's Hospitality Group after its acquisition of Mitchell's Fish Market.[3] The group's headquarters are in Winter Park, Florida. Darden Restaurants later acquired the chain.

History

The original Chris' Steak House (1927–1965)

Chris' Steak House was founded on February 27, 1927, by New Orleans entrepreneur Chris Matulich.[4] It was located at 1100 North Broad Street near the

Ownership by Ruth Fertel, 1965–1999

key people	Rik Jenkins (President)

area served	United States (including Puerto Rico) Canada Aruba Panama Mexico Singapore China Indonesia Japan Taiwan Hong Kong Philippines

industry	Restaurants

products	Food service

revenue	US$468 million (FY 2019)‡R1R‡

num employees	5,000+ (2020)‡R2R‡

parent	Darden Restaurants

homepage	www.ruthschris.com

Acquisition, 1965

Ruth Fertel was a divorced single mother who needed money to send her teenage sons to college. Ignoring the advice of her banker, lawyer, and friends, Ruth purchased the restaurant in 1965.[9] She used her brother's restaurant, Sig's Antique Restaurant in Port Sulphur, Louisiana, along with family recipes to lay the foundation for her restaurant.[10] She initially planned to raise just $18,000 to cover the purchase price, until it was pointed out to her that she would need an additional $4,000 (equivalent to $) to cover the cost of renovations and food.[11] On her first day, May 24, 1965, she sold 35 steaks at $5 each (equivalent to $).[12]

Fertel personally took a hand in every part of the business. For many years, Chris Steak House was the only upscale restaurant in New Orleans with an all-female wait staff.[12]

Name change to Ruth's Chris Steak House, 1976

In early 1976, shortly after Fertel signed a new ten-year lease on the restaurant, a fire destroyed the building. Fertel had recently acquired a second property nearby to rent out as a party space. Within seven days, she had relocated the restaurant to its new location a few blocks away at 711 North Broad Street and re-opened it, expanding to 160 seats in the process.[12] The sales agreement with Matulich prevented her from using the original name at any other address, so she named the new restaurant Ruth's Chris Steak House in order to keep some continuity with the previous location.[13] She admitted later to Fortune Magazine that "I've always hated the name, but we've always managed to work around it."[14]

Expansion and franchising, 1976–1999

The first franchised restaurant was opened in 1977 by a loyal customer, Thomas J. "T. J." Moran (c. 1931–2015), in Baton Rouge, who went on to open several more franchised Ruth's Chris locations, TJ Ribs, and Ruffino's restaurants[15] through his company T.J. Moran Associates. Fertel noted, "All our franchisees were people who had eaten at one time or another in one of our restaurants. We never looked for franchisees. They came to us".[12] The chain expanded rapidly over the next two decades, with 66 locations in the U.S. and overseas by mid-1998,[16][17] and achieving over $200 million in annual revenues.[18]

Public company, 2005 onward

On August 9, 2005, under President and CEO Craig Miller, Ruth's Chris Steak House became a public company following a successful IPO valuing the company at $235 million and an increase of 15 percent in first-day trading.[20]

Relocation to Florida, 2005

In late August 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 New Orleans area were forced to close because of the storm.[21] The Metairie location has since reopened.[22] Members of the Fertel family, particularly Ruth's son Randy, were bitterly opposed to the move. Amid much criticism by local officials and media, and on the heels of the announcement by Morton's that it would reopen its own New Orleans branch,[23] the corporate offices announced that, due to extensive damage, the old flagship location on Broad Street would be permanently closed and donated to charity.[24] Tulane University was the recipient of the gift, remodeling and reopening the site in 2012 as the Ruth U. Fertel/Tulane Community Health Center.[25] In May 2008, Ruth's Chris reopened in New Orleans and is centrally located downtown in Harrah's Hotel.

In 2011, the corporate headquarters was relocated to its current location in Winter Park, Florida.[26]

Expansion

In February 2008, the company purchased the Mitchell's Fish Restaurant and Columbus Fish Market brands from Cameron Mitchell Restaurants for $92 million.[27] As the recession began to bite, the acquisition was not initially successful. The stock price fell from $22 in 2006 to under $5 and company debts rose to $185 million. CFO Tom Pennison resigned, and CEO Craig Miller was ousted by the board to be replaced by Mike O'Donnell.[28][29] O'Donnell restructured and rebranded the company, creating Ruth's Hospitality Group (RHGI) as the parent entity in May 2008, allowing each of the individual restaurant brands to have their own identity within the group. The current President and COO is Kevin Toomy, formerly owner and president of the Goldcoast Seafood Grill in South Florida.

In February 2013, RHGI reported that fourth quarter sales at Ruth's Chris restaurants were up by 7.0 percent on the previous year, representing the 11th consecutive quarterly increase in sales.[30]

COVID-19 pandemic

During the coronavirus pandemic, Ruth's Hospitality Group received $20 million in forgivable loans intended for small businesses from the Paycheck Protection Program, leading to widespread backlash.[35] The funds were distributed as part of the government's $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which set limits of $10 million per entity. On April 17, 2020, two of the company's subsidiaries each received $10 million.[36][35] These loans were meant for companies with 500 or fewer employees while Ruth's Chris employs more than 5,700.[35] On April 24, 2020, it was reported that the loans would be repaid to the Treasury Department following the public controversy.[37]

founder
trade name	Ruth's Chris Steak House
type	Division
foundation	1927 in Broad Street, New Orleans, Louisiana
former name	Chris' Steak House (1927–1976)
genre	Fine dining
location	Winter Park, Florida
locations	100+ steakhouses

Ruth's Chris Steak House

History

The original Chris' Steak House (1927–1965)

Ownership by Ruth Fertel, 1965–1999

Acquisition, 1965

Name change to Ruth's Chris Steak House, 1976

Expansion and franchising, 1976–1999

Acquisition, 1965

Name change to Ruth's Chris Steak House, 1976

Expansion and franchising, 1976–1999

Acquisition by Madison Dearborn 1999–2005

Public company, 2005 onward

Relocation to Florida, 2005

Expansion

COVID-19 pandemic

Relocation to Florida, 2005

Expansion

COVID-19 pandemic

Acquisition by Darden Restaurants (2023 – )

Lawsuits and discrimination

External links

References