Tilman Fertitta, founder and chairman of Landry’s Inc. of Houston, in October closed on a $1.4 billion deal that took the restaurant-hospitality company private. Landry’s owns and operates 200 outlets, including more than 25 restaurant brands, such as Chart House, Landry’s Seafood, Rainforest Cafe and Saltgrass Steak House, as well as aquariums, hotels, entertainment venues and the Golden Nugget hotels and casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nev.

Age: 53

Hometown: Galveston, Texas

Education: Texas Tech University and the University of Houston

Boards: regents of the University of Houston system; chairman of the Houston Police Foundation

Family: wife, Paige; and children, Michael, Patrick, Blayne and Blake


Now that Landry’s is private, any changes?


We’re a big company. Things will stay the same on a day-to-day basis. There’s no big change. There is no plan to sell any assets. If anything, we’re just looking for assets right now and trying to be very opportunistic. It’s just business as usual.


You acquired the 12-unit Oceanaire earlier this year. What are that concept’s strengths?


They had some great locations. It just needed to be modernized a little bit. It was more of a ’30s-style-tradition seafood house. They operated on “this is the way we do it and we don’t change.” Well, if you don’t change in this industry, you are going to get run over. One of the things Landry’s has always done is change. We usually change before it needs to be changed because of the fact that it’s a different industry today than it was 25 or 30 years ago.


What are some of those changes?


The presentation of the food. The big, huge helpings of food are out. Plate presentation has so much to do with it. Decor is very, very important today. People don’t just look at a restaurant as a place to just go get something to eat. It’s part of your entertainment. 



You have locations coast-to-coast. Are you noticing regional differences in how people are dealing with post-recession economic recovery?


Of course. California and Florida are struggling more so than other parts [of the nation], but when they come back they will come back strong. Texas has been better than most. It had its dip too, but it seems to be recovering. 



You at one time were considering spinning off Saltgrass Steak House. Any plans there?


It’s something we would look to in the future. We think it’s a great asset to grow. There are no immediate plans, but it’s something we continue to look at. It’s hung in there pretty well. It has positive comps now. 



What advice would you give to someone considering a private or public company now?


You need to grow, but you can’t grow at such a pace that you start having secondary locations. And that is what everybody seems to do. You can’t grow too fast. We grew too fast with Joe’s Crab Shack [which Landry’s sold four years ago]. We opened up 40 stores in one year. If you look at the performance of those 40 stores, it was the worst year of any openings. You can’t get caught up in the public market and be a slave to it. You have to grow at a pace that works.


What are the advantages of going private?


Growing the way we want and at our pace. One of the things that people didn’t like about Landry’s is that we would invest in real estate and buy properties. That made your short-term return on investment not as good. But at the same time, when times were tough, Landry’s could borrow money when other people couldn’t in the financial crisis, because the company had hard assets behind it. 



What part of the business do you still find the most interesting and challenging for yourself personally?


The art of the deal. Just doing the deal and building something new.


Contact Ron Ruggless at rruggles@nrn.com.