The Steakhouse Chain Matures

Within a few years of the initial $1.09 T-bone chain crash, a new steakhouse chain concept matured. Unlike the T-bone house concept whose geographic center remained in California and the Midwest, these newer chains emerged in the East. There they ironically adopted western themes to market steak. Western Sizzlin’ was started in Roanoke, Virginia; Bonanza Steakhouse in Eastchester, New York; Ponderosa in Westport, Connecticut. By 1980 Bonanza, Western Sizzlin’, and Ponderosa had become the first three national steakhouse chains. Combined, the big three grossed over a billion dollars in sales that year. Western Sizzlin’ had nearly five hundred restaurants while Bonanza and Ponderosa each had seven hundred.