Steak and Ale

1966–2008 Plano, TX South Defunct
Steak and Ale
Steak and Ale, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

All locations closed in 2008 when parent company Metromedia Restaurant Group went bankrupt.

Restaurateur Norman Brinker opened the first Steak and Ale in Dallas in 1966, popularizing affordable sit-down steak dinners, a Tudor-tavern atmosphere, and one of America's first all-you-can-eat salad bars. The chain helped define the casual-dining category and trained a generation of restaurant executives. After decades of ownership changes it landed in the troubled Metromedia Restaurant Group, which went bankrupt and closed every Steak and Ale in 2008.

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