Sizzler

Sizzler USA Restaurants, Inc., doing business as Sizzler, is a United States–based[2] restaurant chain with headquarters in Mission Viejo, California, with locations mainly in California, plus some in the nearby states of Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah, as well as Puerto Rico. It is known for steak, seafood, and salad bar items.

Since 2023, Sizzler restaurants outside of the United States are owned by Thailand-based Minor International and are not related to the American firm.

In September 2020, Sizzler USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic hurting sales. The bankruptcy filing does not affect the similarly named Minor International affiliated restaurants that are located outside of the United States. Sizzler USA emerged from bankruptcy in January 2023.[3]

History

The chain was founded in 1958 as Sizzler Family Steak House by Del and Helen Johnson in Culver City, California.[4] At its peak, the chain was composed of more than 270 locations throughout the U.S.[5] Another source claimed as many as 700 locations in the U.S. during the 1990s.[6] Most of Sizzler's U.S. locations are in the West. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sizzler promoted steak and combination steak dinners with an optional salad bar. The restaurant wanted to give customers the feel of a full-service restaurant at a price slightly more than a fast food chain. To control costs, many restaurants had in-house meat cutters who would cut steaks and grind beef.

Into the early to mid-1980s, competition appeared: Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse. After promotions, such as all-you-can-eat fried shrimp, the chain expanded its salad bar into a full buffet promoted as the "Buffet Court". Patrons began to use the buffet as a meal instead of an add-on to an entree. In response, Sizzler lowered the quality in other menu areas.[7] Customers took notice, and Sizzler's reputation suffered.

Sizzler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 ("to escape costly leases on unprofitable restaurants"), and closed over 130 of its locations.[8][9][10] The company reemerged from Chapter 11 in 1997. During the late 1990s, new management upgraded the quality of food and increased prices. Twenty-one locations 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 by a new menu. In an effort to return to its roots, Sizzler emphasized steaks, seafood, and the salad bar. While the all-you-can-eat buffet was phased out in some locations, it remained in many others, such as Pittsburgh.[7]

In the 1990s, Sizzler ran upscale locations with the Buffalo Ranch Steakhouse brand.[11][12][13]

Sizzler was sold to Pacific Equity Partners, an Australian-based investment firm, in 2005.[2] In January 2008, Sizzler announced it was planning to take action against the Multi-State Lottery Association of Urbandale, Iowa, over the use of the name The Sizzler (Hot Lotto).[14]

In June 2011, Sizzler USA announced that a US management group led by the Sizzler CEO would buy the American portion of the chain of 178 restaurants from Pacific Equity Partners, with the remaining 100 restaurants located outside of the United States remaining with Pacific Equity Partners.[15] The headquarters initially remained in Culver City, California, where the chain was founded,[16] but moved to Mission Viejo, California, in 2012.[17]

Sizzler has launched its "ZZ" food truck to expand sales and test market new dishes.[18]

In September 2020, Sizzler USA announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, namely forcing it to temporarily close its restaurants' dining rooms. The company also cited problems paying rent.[19] Most of the company-owned restaurants were located in areas of California with high COVID-19 infection rates, that did not permit restaurants to partially reopen dining rooms as recently as September 2020.[20] At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Sizzler had 107 locations in 10 states, with all but one location in Florida in states west of the Rocky Mountains in addition to several locations in Puerto Rico. This number is down from the 134 locations in 2018.[21]

Post-COVID, Sizzler is still in operation and is attempting to rebuild its business with renovations, a new menu, and an advertising campaign.[22] By November 2025, Sizzler USA was reduced to 74 restaurants operating in six western states plus the territory of Puerto Rico.[23]

International locations

Following Sizzler USA's separation from Sizzler International in 2011, all locations outside the United States were operated or licensed by Australia-based Collins Foods.[24][25] In 2023, Collins sold its Sizzler business and intellectual property to Thailand-based Minor International.[26]

Food safety issues

In 2000, more than 60 people became ill and one person died in an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that originated at a Sizzler restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Health officials said that the most likely source of contamination was meat supplied by the Excel Corporation meat packer. The health officials believed that cross-contamination to other food items occurred when Sizzler employees handled the meat near areas where salad bar items were prepared.[54] This was similar to an outbreak in Washington and Oregon in 1993. In the 1993 case, as in 2000, the tainted meat apparently came from Excel and contaminated salad bar items.[55] This ultimately led to Sizzler closing the chain's remaining Midwest locations, including those in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.

In 2006, all 28 Sizzler restaurants across Australia suspended salad bar service after rat poison was found in two of their Brisbane restaurants. Sizzler Australia referred to the incidents as sabotage.[56][58] The culprit turned out to be a woman described as being mentally unstable.[59]

See also

• List of buffet restaurants
• List of casual dining restaurant chains

External links