LEGENDARY RESTAURANT BRANDS
This October I found a glimmer of hope in the news that one of my all-time favorite steak franchises was getting a much-needed relaunch, even if it was in another state. However, my mood picked up even more when I read it that a Steak and Ale could be just around the corner from Fort Worth sometime next year.
In fact, Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen confirmed the casual-style restaurant would be coming to his city, in an article published by the Dallas Business Journal earlier this year. This news comes a few months after we wrote about business partners Paul Mangiamele, and Roy Arnold’s plan to officially resurrect this iconic steakhouse to appease the mass of requests they read on social media wanting its return. However, the first revamped Steak and Ale was reported to be built inside of a Wyndham Hotel on Nicollet Avenue in Burnsville, Minnesota. Nowhere near Cowtown.
However, on the flipside, Mayor Jensen verified that the new DFW Steak and Ale would be located off of Interstate 30, making this salivating scenario a much closer reality. What’s not clear is if Mangiamele or Arnold will be involved directly.
For those of you who don’t remember, Steak and Ale was one of the most iconic restaurant chains in American dining history until it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2008. Founded in 1966 by the late Norman Brinker, Steak and Ale is one of two brands he created, along with Bennigan’s. Seven years later, Mangiamele and his wife, Gwen, acquired the restaurant’s assets from Fortress Investment Group and formed Legendary Restaurant Brands. Under this brand, the couple have been successful in reopening 24 Bennigan’s worldwide, nine of which are domestic. However, the Steak and Ale brand was something Mangiamele says he wanted to get “just right” the second time around.
“We can’t get it wrong,” Mangiamele told FSR Magazine in October. “We can’t hit a single or a double, we’ve got to hit a grand slam. And that’s been the motivation.”
Steak and Ale’s menu was well known for its prime rib, filet mignon, New York strip, Kensington club, and limitless salad bar that featured chilled plates.
“We recreated something that I think is truly special," Mangiamele says. “And I’m not a cult of one, which is even better because there’s a real unfilled need and desire to experience something legendary.”
