Bringing back Steak and Ale
The new Steak and Ale plans to once again set the standard for affordable steakhouse dining with a 21st century polished-casual concept. (Photo provided)
By Steve Coulter
Co-Publisher
On July 29, 2008, all remaining Steak and Ale locations closed as part of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. Now after nearly 12 years, Steak and Ale is poised for an epic comeback.
Created in 1966 by the late Norman Brinker. The iconic restaurant chain with its dimly lit ambiance, billed itself as offering an upscale steak experience at lower prices.
Steak and Ale was known for its signature herb-roasted prime rib, Kensington club, New York strip, filet mignon, Hawaiian chicken, and spicy grilled chicken pasta. It also featured warm honey wheat brown bread and a bountiful salad bar with chilled salad plates.
The new Steak and Ale plans to once again set the standard for affordable steakhouse dining with a 21st century polished-casual concept. (Photo provided)
The brand, recipes and intellectual property is now owned by Dallas based Legendary Restaurant Brands, LLC, the parent company for Bennigan’s and Bennigan’s on the fly. The company has 225 restaurants either open, under contract or under development. And now they are launching the return of Steak and Ale.
“Many people told me, nobody’s ever been able to come back from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. My answer is…watch us! Because when you have passionate people that care about the brands, that remember them fondly and a consumer that already knows and loves the brand…well…I mean there’s just no stopping us,” said Legendary Restaurant Brands Chairman and CEO Paul Mangiamele.
The new Steak and Ale is planning to once again set the standard for affordable steakhouses. Redefined as a 21st century polished-casual concept, while retaining all the signature elements that customers remember and loved.
The Steak and Ale comeback is set to begin in Mexico. “The first one is under construction right now in Cancun,” said Mangiamele. “So we’re literally right on the beach and it’s going to be magnificent!”
And now the search is on for great franchisees in the United States.
“Right now we are looking from North Carolina to Oklahoma believe it or not…Oklahoma City,” said Mangiamele. “I would love to find really solid franchisees or investors in Oklahoma, so we can continue to grow our brand north of Dallas.”
“The emotion, the culture, the passion is something that is so unique in our industry and obviously creates a lot of demand. Everybody knows the brands and it makes it such an interesting value proposition. Not only to the consumer but to investors as we franchise,” said Mangiamele.
Steak and Ale is pivoting and making some changes right now due to COVID-19.
“We are planning on taking the salad bar and bringing it to the table. When’s the last time you got table side service for anything? We can still deliver on the value, still deliver on the expectations and hopefully exceed that,” Mangiamele said. “So for the salad bar, post vaccine will probably have that back in our restaurants.”
They plan on introducing some new menu items, while still featuring the classics.
“Absolutely positively the signature and some cases trademark favorites, that people remember from Steak and Ale will be on the menu,” said Mangiamele.
The Cancun location is planning to open the first quarter of 2021. Qualified franchisees have the opportunity to generate immediate consumer loyalty by bringing back a beloved restaurant with decades of goodwill and brand equity.
For more information about becoming a franchisee or investor go to bennigans.com or legendaryrestaurantbrands.com
There are so many former employees in Oklahoma City that would support this wonderful restaurant. Also, several of us would love to work there again- especially me! Mish Mash, Stuffed Mushrooms and French Silk forever.
I’m s former S & A employee who would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be part of a Grand Opening.
I worked at S&A in 2 locations, and my fiancee also worked in Atlanta and the Cumberland locations. Love the S&A menu, and loved the English style. We looked pretty cute in the maiden outfits too, but I bet they will not come back. Please bring one back to Cobb County, GA!
Oh my gosh, I remember you, Ellen. It’s been at least 20 years since we worked at Steak and Ale. I hope you’re doing great!
We cherished our Steak and Ale, it was a treasured restaurant in Tucker, Georgia and was packed most all the time. The food was delicious and the service outstanding. We had been going there as a family from the moment it opened tll the evening before it closed. Such a tragic loss to us all in the community…..
I also remember the Tucker and Norcross, Georgia locations. Please, pretty please come back to this area. You have been greatly missed.
As a customer in Steak and Ale my family and I love the ones we had in the Atlanta Ga location.was so disappointed when they closed wish we could get some back here the food and service was just wonderful
Please come back to Atlanta/Athens Grorgia areas. The absolute best steak, service was excellent, my favorite place.
I loved the Tucker location and the band that played there in the mid 1980s. Anybody else remember Cullowee?
Has a former S&A Kitchen Manager and trainer, I still make the Mish Mash for the past 40 years!
Ok
Worked at both locations between 1970-1981. So many great people. At least the new ones will not have to deal bring your bottle. I loved the marinated kabob.
Tulsa, please!
That was our favorite place to eat. We have to drive to Oklahoma just eat there😍😍😍
My husband ate at the one on NW.
Expressway and May every week. Please we need one in approximately the same area.
We are all so excited.
My favorite S&A . Spent many hours at NW Hwy & May location in front of the fireplace. So many wonderful memories. Please come back to OKC area!.
Mish Mash was my favorite lunch item. Worked in Corporate office as Controller and Treasurer 1969 to 1979.
Please please please, Midwest City would be the perfect comeback location for Steak & Ale.
Favorite filet and incredible salad bar ! Come back to Colorado
Please come back to Oklahoma City. OMG The best news I have heard. I really hope this happens.
This news made my day!!! SteaknAle was my favorite restaurant!!! Please consider the Midwest City, Oklahoma area for a location!!! With Tinker AFB there, you cant go wrong. All the restaurants along I-40 are full all the time, and SteaknAle would be Too! Blessings to your organization as you strive to bring SA back in difficult times!
I’m so excited to hear this. I’ve been talking about how much I miss y’all.
This is so exciting. Steak and Ale was always our favorite! Can’t wait till they are in OKC or surrounding area. Thank you!!!
Wonderful news the one at i40 and meridian okc was the best. When it closed it had the highest sales in the district!! Please bring it back to okc!! Still miss their prime rib best ever!! Loved it so much I even worked there !!!
I loved SteaknAle. The steaks were delicious and the French Silk pie was to die for. NW OKC. on Memorial would be great. Out by Mercy Hospital.
So excited to see this story and hoping to see its return to the Oklahoma City area soon. This was my favorite date night with my husband. He always loved the Kensington and I most often got the prime rib. The best prime rib anywhere.
Please come back to Houston. Was always one of our favorites and have missed it tremendously!
I hope you have “Georgia on Your Mind” as Steak and Ale was always out favorite place to dine.
Calhoun, GA. 30701
OMG, I may have to go to Cancun while I await the return to Oklahoma City!
We had three in OKC. I never had any complaints. It was the go to steak house. Best steaks and salad bar. Please keep the old floor plans – several smaller rooms rather than one large dining room. Kensington and prime were out of this world. Please return to OKC!
Midwest City, Choctaw……pleeeaasseeeeee 😎
CAN’T WAIT!!!
Steak & Ale was our favorite place to go eat and have a wonderful dining experience. So excited to hear it may come back.
Yes please come back to OKC! I have so many great memories eating here with my parents as a kid. The Kensington Club was all of our favorites!
Steak and Ake was a place for families, dates, meeting friends. French onion soup, Kensington Club, all the goodies-please c’mon back to Oklahoma. We would welcome you back with open arms and appetites!
I worked as a Server at the Norcross GA location!! We were like Family there!! I still to this dsy Miss the Great Food and Yes Best Salad Bar on Earth!!!! My Family have Awesome memories going there!! Does anyone remember the Chateau for One? It was Pieces of Filet served with the best Hollandaise sauce???!!! So Yummy! Please come back to Atlanta area!!! Favorite of so Many❤️
Steak & Ale was my favorite restaurant! Please come back to Tulsa!
I’m soooo excited to hear Steak N Ale is coming back!! It was always me and my husband’s favorite restaurant to celebrate our April anniversary and anything in between. The May and Memorial Rd location was our most visited. We’ve truly missed you and your prime rib, salad bar, bread, great service, etc. We actually talked about how we missed you last week. Welcome back to whatever locations you are lead to be planted! We look forward to dining with you ❤️😀!
This would be great. Just think because of the many rooms the restaurant today would be perfect for social distancing. The salad bar would have to be changed, which was one of my favorites in the reataurant; with some thought we could come up with something.
Would love to see it come back to Oklahoma City. It was the favorite place for my husband to take me on our anniversary.
Northwest Oklahoma City would be the best place to come back to. I work for steak and l on the Northwest expressway in May avenue back in the early seventies. I always ate there and when that one closed I went to the next one that was open and. on North May by quail springs. The only other really good stuff steakhouses Outback, but your salad bar and appetizers we’re Dynamite and we’ll never be be.
Please come back!
Come sup with us at Steak and Ale where hearty dining abounds. There’s loads of cheer and atmosphere, delicious food to be found!🎼
Please bring to Atlanta, as well. We loved going there every week!! Great news!
Yes Greta! We need one in Atlanta, AGAIN! I think ay one time we have twelve in the Atlanta area. U#MMMMM!!! I can taste that grass fed beef,…….the ribeye! And great desserts!! Yeah Baby Yeah!!
Yess! I want to be first in line! Shawnee is sorely lacking in warm atmosphere and awesome food! Aww, the fresh overflowing salad bar, the bread, the steaks, the pineapple chicken…. Oh! Don’t forget the incredibly delicious of French Onion Soup overflowing with melted cheese and a great big crouton soaking in the deliciously rich beefy lusciousness. MMmmmmmm.
Love for them to put one in Edmond or NW Oklahoma City by Quail Springs Mall I just lived the salad bar and had the best bleu cheese in the world!! Can’t wait till I hear that they are back! Please keep us metro people in the know!!
Wonderful news. Absolutely was my favorite place to eat. Worked there for 4 years (Brookline location ‘82 & 83’ 39th Expressway in ‘85-‘86) ‘82-‘86. Had wedding rehearsal dinner in 2004 (Okc May & memorial). So excited for this to become a reality.
Would love to experience your return in OKC
Love S&A, please come to Oklahoma, we love the restaurant, we miss it!
S&A as we new it was a regular for us near Six Flags in Arlington Texas. Always busy and the best menu. A return will be welcomed by all in the DFW metroplex . Best of luck… I look forward to trying the Cancun site.
LOVE ! Steak and Ale! Please come back to OKC! I’ve missed you so much.! Steak and ale was a weekly date night for me and my husband from 1984 until they were gone!😢
I love Steak and Ale! Please come back to Oklahoma City!! It was my favorite!!
My husband and I had our first date at Steak and Ale. We were so sad when it closed. Hope you bring one back to OKC, preferably Northside OKC off Memorial!!! Wonderful news!
We had one in TULSA that was honestly the best steak in town! Miss Steak and Ale!! Come back to Tulsa!
Shoot we had 2 in TTown one in woodland hills parking lot and one at 51st and yale
Loved that fancy restaurant!!!!! Come to north side OKC. What does it cost to be part of the franchise?
Oh please come to the NW OKC/Edmond area! Love S&A and was so sad when it closed. Worked there for a while in college. My favorite was the SW Chicken and the salad bar.
Paul, 3-years ago you told me in a phone call that you’d bring Steak & Ake back. Now you are bringing that statement to fruition. My congratulations.
As an alumni of Bennigan’s and Steak & Ake I am very happy to see a legendary concept return.
Best wishes,
Dennis
My husband and I had our 1st date at Steak and Ale on NW Expressway, Oklahoma City! <3
Please come back to Tulsa! There are so many people here that greatly miss Steak & Ale!
Please bring Steak and Ale back. We went to the one on the south side every Sunday. We loved it!! Always busy…. freshest salad bar. Affordable!!
Please put a steak and ale in Broken Arrow off of Lynn lane and hillside drive where the old Sante Fe restaurant used to be. I love steak and take. When my husband and I lived in OKC we would eat at the steak and take. It would be a great asset to broken Arrow. Ok
Steak and Ale was our all-time favorite!!!
Their Kensington Club, marinated and seasoned perfectly, melted in your mouth!!!
We held many birthday, anniversary, etc. parties here. Anxious to have Steak and Ale return to OKC!!!
Steak n Ale was our families traditional dinner out on Christmas Day. We would love to have one again in South Bend, IN. Notre Dane is a big draw for a restaurant that brings back great memories!
Steak n Ale was our families traditional dinner out on Christmas Day. We would love to have one again in South Bend, IN. Notre Dane is a big draw for a restaurant that brings back great memories! Please come to South Bend.
Our favorite restaurant!! My little sister worked there for years!! This would be the greatest!! When we talk about going to eat we always say “Steak and Ale is where we would go if we still had one !!” Please come back to OKC, heck anywhere in Oklahoma!! 😊❤️
Steak and Ale has the best steaks ever!!! I was so disappointed when the one off of May and Memorial closed. Please please please bring it back to OKCB
We celebrated the fifteen years of anniversaries there. We would start back in a heartbeat.
Are y’all coming back to Louisiana preferably New Orleans
Please come back to Dallas Tx. We had our wedding dinner at your restaurant and it was fabulous!
worked there from 1976 to 1980 in Houston, Tx. learned a lot from mangers Rick Davis and Bob Ridley. Maybe the walnut layer cake will make a come back too
This would be SO welcome in the North Dallas area again!! But please keep the cozy rooms and romantic ambiance. So many great memories there!!
❤️❤️❤️ Steak and Ale! Please make this a reality. Not enough choices in this category!!!
Please bring one to Plano, Allen, McKinney area It has grown so much and bring your French Onion Soup with u . Miss it so much.
Come back to Dallas!
We loved Steak and Ale in Waco, Texas…. was soooooo sad to see it leave…. Please include Waco, Texas as a new spot for Steak and Ale….
Please!! I always got the lobster tail and the filet Mignon!! And a glass of wine 🍷!!! Please come to Abilene, Texas!!
Please seriously consider Allen, TX.
As long as you have the French Onion Soup & the Bourbon Steak I’m in.
Please come back to Marietta Ga
THIS IS THE GREATEST NEWS OF 2020!!!!! I am thrilled and I can’t wait to tell EVERYBODY!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️👏🏻❤️❤️👏🏻❤️❤️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻❤️👏🏻👏🏻❤️❤️❤️
Please return to the Atlanta area….WE NEED YOU BACK!!!!
Please put one in Fayetteville, GA!
My husband and I had many great dinners at Steak and Ale. Our “go to” place for a great meal. Especially loved the salad bar! Would love to see you return to OKC!
Please come back to North Dallas – Steak and Ale was a favorite of my family! Especially in Plano, TX. Have missed S and A through the years.
What about Dallas?? Love Steak and Ale
Please come back to Texas!!
Come to Dacula , Ga please
Come to Dacula , Ga please. I will eat there often!
There are a lot of Steak and Ale fans here in the south also! Would love for it to come back to Atlanta. We hung onto one of the last ones closed. Drove miles to have a wonderful steak or anything else on the menu!!
Please come to the Friendswood Clear Lake , Texas area.
Please bring back one to Tulsa Oklahoma or Owasso Oklahoma would even be better. This was always my favorite restaurant. It’s where my husband asked me to marry him on February 14th 2001.
Can’t wait!
I hope you have “Georgia on Your Mind” as Steak and Ale was always out favorite place to dine.
Forget Oklahoma get one in Fort Worth to now today please we miss steak and ale really bad loved the salad bar and the Kensington club and that great bread
If not the Northeast..how about some of my favorite vacation spots such as New Orleans, Las Vegas or the U.S. hotbed for steaks and prime rib….Lincoln Nebraska !!
Please Please come back to Plano Tx. We were customers for many years since the
1970’s. Have eaten in your restaurnt in Lubbock Tx and your restaurant in Nashville, THE JOLLY OX. We lived in both those places and frequentef your restaurants often. Come back to Plano soon.
Am I dreaming!?? Ft Lauderdale AND Atlanta WOULD BE THE ICING ON THE CHEESECAKE!!!
OMG can’t wait for this to be back in OKC!!!! All time favorite restaurant 😍
My favorite restaurant of all times-no other has come close…Denton (or at least Dallas, PLEASE!!!)
I for one would love it!
I would love it!
Texas????? Please…
Use to go to one in Plano, Texas
Kensington. Oh so good. Bread! And Ice cold Salad bar
Best news I have heard in a LONG time…PLEASE bring it to Atlanta! So many years of memories eating there…best salad bar ever…the bread…the Hawaiian Chicken and Kensington Club! My mouth is watering just remembering it all!!!!
please come back to OKC…my favorite I 40 & Meridian
FANTASTIC French Onion Soup, fabulous steaks & wonderful salad bar.
Cozy Atmosphere with great employees.
We are always talking about how much we miss Steak & Ale.
I worked at Jolly Ox in Virginia Beach (that was Steak and Ale in Virginia – you couldn’t have Ale in the name). Great place many great memories and salad bar was very popular
It was the very first restaurant we ate at in Richardson,Tx when we moved to Dallas in Nov. 1971. Loved it, bringem’ back.
I worked all through high school at Houston Astrodome area steak and ale and remember it fondly. I mixed Kensington club marination for years after school and would do so again if given the chance in Austin,tx where I have retired.
I would love to be a part of the opening. Worked at Midway Rd, location in Dallas. ,79, 80, 81, I can still get in my skirt and body suite if supplied! I’m in!! I live in Florida now. Headed down to Playa del Carmen in September.. may see if I can check out the new build.
There’s already a perfect building in the Athens, GA area that would work for a Steak and Ale where a Bone Island Grille just closed up!!!!!!!!
I would love to see a location in Oklahoma City. The peppercorn filet was my flavorite. Hal Smith Restaurant Group would be the perfect franchisee.
Please do not forget Kansas City, Missouri.
My whole family ate at the I35 location and 40 Hwy in Independence, MO as well and S&A is very much missed by just about everybody I know.
PLEASE COME BACK!
I worked at Steak and Ale for 15 years. Me and some friends are definitely planning to be in Cancun for the return..
My family, my dad and mom and all of us too nanny to mention, have always been faithful members to Steak and Ale! Since it opened in the 1960’s… generations of our families had been going to Steak and Ale and were deeply saddened when they all closed!! My mother died with the longing to have one more salad bar and her steak once more… but I wasn’t able to do that for her. However, my dad is 88 and would dearly love to have a Steak and Ale cone to DFW!!!!!
WE LOVE our Steak and Ale!!! Please come back to Ft. Worth Alliance… it’s growing and it’s success we’ll be great there!!!!
I would love to see that restaurant come back. I remember the Steak and Ale in South Bend Indiana. My husband and I used to go there quite often. I live in Terre Haute Indiana now. I would like to see the restaurant in business again. I remember the salad bar. It was delicious.
I hope Steak and Ales do come back. I always loved the New York strips and ambience of them was awesome!
I worked as a manager at the one in Springfield , MO. They still owe me and my employees money. I also worked in Tulsa, OK to help when they were short a manager. I deciated my life to them and they left me and my employees without funds to live on. Due to these circumstances I will never eat there. I will also pass the word around how they treat their employees.
I am so excited that S&A is making a comeback. It was, by far, THE best value, ambiance & quality restaurant. Our kids have fond memories of it being the “special place” for a celebration dinner too. We frequently visited the location by Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. Bring one back to the DFW suburb area, PLEASE!!
We need a Steak and Ale near Buford Mall of Ga! Or dare I dream; up I-85 at Chateau Elan! Please head our way!
Please come to OKC next! My husband and I discuss how much we miss it no less than 6-10 times a year, and have every year since it closed. We always went to the one on the south side of OKC. We would definitely dine there frequently should it return to OKC. Best news we’ve heard this year!
My husband has dementia now and refers to all steak places “Steak and Ale”. He thinks they are still in business. It was one of our favorite places to eat. My son worked there in the Humble, Texas location during high school. He’s now 49 yoa. Yes please come back the Humble/ Kingwood area. ❤️❤️
My parents used to take me to the one in Fayetteville Georgia In the early 90s I loved it
PLEASE keep the intimate atmosphere of the smaller rooms and the old English architecture! I can still taste the bread and the French Silk Pie.
My wife and I love Steak & Ale. Our favorite place for date night. Awesome steaks and lobster tails. Please bring one back to Raleigh, NC.
Please bring Steak & Ale back to Florida. I used to have dinner there with my mother (but she is passed on now) and we loved the atmosphere and the food. My friends and siblings and co-workers would have lunch or dinner at Steak & Ale as well. We just miss it.
Please come to Lubbock………..transplanted Atlantan – the S and A near Northlake and the one on Memorial…..great wine list for a moderate priced restaurant ( bring back the Chateauneuf de pape)…..and BRING BACK THE YUMMY BREAD, BRING BACK THE YUMMY BREAD, BRING BACK THE YUMMY BREAD
Worked at 2 different stores in High School and College. It was disappointing when the Columbia SC stores closed. So many great people I worked with that I miss today. I still remember how to make a lot of stuff. Bourbon Street, hawaiian chicken/ Kensington Club marinade, cajun cream, burgundy mushrooms, etc. It was my first job and I worked there for almost 10 years!
The salad was so bomb diggity … so cold and so crisp havent found one like it. Charleston had burgundy mushrooms that were almost the same of coarse no one has that sweet Kensington Club. My parents and I ate there a lot in Houston I started with hawaiian chicken. We moved to Tulsa OK and there was 2 here then only one on 51st and Yale I took my daughter there right before it closed around 2006-7ish which was really great. She had the hawaiian chicken LoL then I went back and I couldn’t believe it was gone I ate there a lot. They all had that steak and ale feel I guess people quit going I seem to remember it not being very busy at the end
Please have the original Mud Pie!! I’ve been reverse engineering it since SA closed but it’s just not the “prow of a ship” delicious cold desert with a thick Oreo crust I remember. 😊
Would be more than thrilled to see S&A come back!! What fabulous food with a simple meat cleaver menu.
Need to bring back the original interior design! You could have a quiet romantic dinner and not have to hear everyone’s conversation in the restaurant. This was one of the things that made S&A so unique!
Hello. And Bye.
Hello. And Bye.
My wife and I frequently dined at Steak & Ale locations in Wichita, Overland Park (Kansas City area), Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Our long-time most favorite restaurant chain. Loved the Kensington Club Steak and Burgundy Mushrooms, friendly staff and English Tudor decor. We would love to see Steak & Ale return.
Please bring steak and Alel back…Love their Hawaiian chicken, salad bar and mud pie.
When are you all going to open back up I’m in Texas. Love the restaurant.
We are waiting with high excitement in Dallas (parents & siblings) and Houston (husband and in-laws) for S and A to return!!! Please, please open a corporate-owned store in one or both cities ASAP!! THANK YOU!!
Please, please bring Steak and Ale back to the Atlanta, GA area. It was the best!!!!!!!!! The food, service, and ambience were perfect. So many memories…………….. A Biloxi, MS area location would be nice also!
I work here at 16 years old great restaurant the prime rib was amazing I wish they would bring one back to Michigan
I worked at the Steak and Ale in Dallas TX on Northwest Highway & Shadybrook Lane. This is where I got my beautiful engagement ring from Gary in 1971! Best place ever! LM
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE come back to Little Rock Arkansas. The most romantic restaurants we’ve ever been to was Steak And Ale. It’s was very cold that night and we sat in a small room with a fireplace. The food was fantastic and a beautiful atmosphere. We’ve been married a while now and I will never forget that night, it was so special. ❤️
I worked in the Hampton Va Jolly Ox (they couldn’t use the word “Ale” in the name due to Va ABC regulations) twice and have so many amazing memories of the people, the bands and the food. I wish I could reconnect with some of those friends I made back then and would love to see it make a return.