Editor's Note: A previous version of this story was updated to correctly attribute a quote to Mark Paul.
Restaurant chains come and go, but Steak and Ale holds a special place in the careers of many in the foodservice industry.
The first Steak and Ale restaurant opened in Dallas in 1966. Its founder, Norman Brinker, who died in 2009, is credited with popularizing the casual-dining segment with the brand, as well as with Bennigan’s. The last Steak and Ale unit closed in 2008, when parent company Metromedia Restaurant Group filed for bankruptcy liquidation.
But Steak and Ale was resurrected for two days when more than 400 former S&A Restaurant Corp. employees gathered in Dallas last Saturday and Sunday to share memories and dine on classic menu items, such as prime rib, Kensington Clubs and Monte Cristo sandwiches.
“The setting provided such a fantastic backdrop for everyone to put themselves back in that time to recreate and enjoy all of the great personal memories that they had,” said event chairman Mark Paul, a former Steak and Ale employee and current financial advisor who has worked with restaurant executives for the past 25 years.
Attendees included current and former industry leaders who worked in the Steak and Ale system: Louis P. Neeb, former chairman of Mexican Restaurants Inc.; Rick Tasman, former chief operating officer of P.F. Chang’s; Hal W. Smith of the Hal Smith Restaurant Group; Rick Berman of Berman & Co.; and Lane Cardwell, president of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.
