Angus Steakhouse

Last updated

Angus Steakhouse
IndustryRestaurants
Founded London, England (1968)
Headquarters
London
,
England, UK
Number of locations
5
Area served
United Kingdom
ProductsSteak
Website angussteakhouse.co.uk
Angus Steakhouse Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses in 2008.jpg
Angus Steakhouse

Angus Steakhouse is a restaurant chain of steak houses in central London. In 2001, there were about 30 outlets; 5 remain open as of July 2020. The name reflects Aberdeen Angus, a Scottish breed of beef cattle. Some restaurants still retain the former trading name, "Aberdeen Steak Houses", on their signage, as of September 2016.

Contents

History

Aberdeen Steak Houses was started in the early 1960s by Reginald Eastwood (born c.1913 [1] ), who had started in business aged 15 as an apprentice butcher.[ citation needed ] Eastwood's vision was for a more modern version of the earlier chop-house grills, and was influenced by American steak houses. The décor was opulent, with plate glass windows and red velour banquettes. Menus included trendy dishes like prawn cocktail and Black Forest gateau. The Good Food Guide of the 1960s listed the restaurants. [2] Eastwood and partner Thomas Beale floated the company on 6 February 1964. [1] In 1965, the Kaye brothers' Golden Egg cafeterias bought a 76% stake in the 14 Angus restaurants. [3] In 1973 EMI Hotels won a bidding war against Ralston Purina to buy the Golden Egg group from the Kayes. [4]

By the 1970s, the group was focused more on tourist trade, with many branches in the West End to attract those attending theatre or musical shows. Angus Steakhouses was a subsidiary of Aberdeen Steak Houses with the same business model. [5] In the mid-1970s, the firm had an industrial dispute with the TGWU. [6] In 1980 EMI sold 13 restaurants to Thistle Hotels. [7]

In 1984, the group was sold to Ali Salih, a Turkish businessman with a low public profile. [8] The menu and décor showed little update since the 1960s, and the brand got a reputation as tourist traps for foreigners. [5] [9] [10] Business remained strong through the 1980s and at its peak it had an annual turnover of £20m with 700,000 steaks sold. [11] Its 1989 profit was £330,000. [9]

Its business, along with the wider UK beef industry, was hit in the 1990s by bovine spongiform encephalopathy, [9] then by foot and mouth disease in 2001. [9] It made a loss of £3m in 2000. [5] In April 2001, Salih sold the sites of several branches for £4m. [5] The decline in American tourists after the September 11 attacks was also cited by Salih after the group went into receivership in October 2002, with £7m in debt. [9] At the time, it had 16 "Angus Steak House" outlets, six "Aberdeen Steak House", three "Pizza Pasta", two "Maxine's Brasserie", and one each of "American Burger", "American Café Bistro", and "Highland Steak House". [11]

Administrators BDO and lawyers Berwin Leighton Paisner kept the firm trading as a going concern, though several of the sites were sold off to pay debts.[ citation needed ] In 2003, the remaining 21 outlets were bought by Noble Organisation, run by Michael and Philip Noble, whose core business was amusement arcades.[ citation needed ] In 2008, Noble told The Times they were "upgrading and refurbishing the restaurants". [8]

Reputation

In 2011, actor and comedian David Mitchell championed the cause of Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses in his opinion column in The Guardian , proposing that they be a nominee for a British World Heritage bid, citing them as being "unique to British culture" because of their "proud heritage of serving shoe leather with Béarnaise sauce to neon-addled out-of-towners." [12]

Location

Angus Steakhouse now lists five restaurants in London: two in the West End, at 21 Coventry Street the flagship in Piccadilly Circus, Cranbourn Street in Leicester Square; two just off Oxford Street, 243 Argyll Street in Oxford Circus, and at 10 Woodstock Street by Bond Street; and one located opposite Paddington Station, at 163 Praed Street. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburger</span> Food consisting of a beef patty between rounded buns

A hamburger or simply burger is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis; condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing; and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steakhouse</span> Restaurant specializing in steaks

A steakhouse, steak house, or chophouse refers to a restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops, found mainly in North America. Modern steakhouses may also carry other cuts of meat including poultry, roast prime rib, and veal, as well as fish and other seafood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berni Inn</span> Defunct British restaurant chain

Berni Inn was a chain of British steakhouses, established in 1955. It was established by brothers Frank and Aldo Berni, who modelled the chain on restaurants they had seen in America. The restaurants introduced the postwar British public to its own home-grown restaurant chain, which came with stylised restaurants with Tudor-looking false oak beams and white walls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth's Chris Steak House</span> American restaurant chain

Ruth's Chris Steak House is a chain of over 100 steakhouses across the United States, Canada and Mexico. On May 22, 2008, the company underwent rebranding and became part of Ruth's Hospitality Group after its acquisition of Mitchell's Fish Market. The group's headquarters are in Winter Park, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallagher's Steakhouse</span> Restaurant in New York, United States

Gallagher's Steakhouse is a steakhouse restaurant at 228 West 52nd Street in the Theater District in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in November 1927 by Helen Gallagher, a former Ziegfeld girl, and wife of Edward Gallagher (1873–1929), and Jack Solomon, a colorful gambler with a large loyal following from the sporting element. These were the days of Prohibition and Gallagher's was one of the first speakeasy gathering places for gamblers, sports figures, and stars of Broadway. There is now a location in the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spur Steak Ranches</span> Steakhouse franchise restaurant chain based in South Africa

Spur Corporation is a steakhouse franchise restaurant chain originating from South Africa with a focus on family dining. The head office of Spur Corporation is situated in Century City, Cape Town. Although the founding and flagship brand is the Spur steakhouse restaurants, the company owns a number of other, mostly South African, restaurant brands. Spur Steak Ranches is a themed South African family favourite and is fondly known as "the official restaurant of the South African family"; as such, most Spur restaurants include a children's play area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorat's</span> Restaurant in Nebraska, USA

Gorat's Steak House is a restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska, at 4917 Center Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburg steak</span> German patty of ground beef

Hamburg steak is a patty of ground beef. Made popular worldwide by migrating Germans, it became a mainstream dish around the start of the 19th century. It is related to Salisbury steaks, which also use ground beef. It is considered the origin of the ubiquitous hamburger, when, in the early 20th century, vendors began selling the Hamburg steak as a sandwich between bread.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LongHorn Steakhouse</span> American restaurant chain

LongHorn Steakhouse is an American casual dining restaurant chain owned and operated by Darden Restaurants, headquartered in Orlando, Florida. As of 2023, LongHorn Steakhouse generated more than $2.5 billion in sales in its 563 locations.

As far back as the 1970s, international fast food restaurant chain Burger King has attempted to introduce a premium line of burgers. These sandwiches are part of a system which eventually became known as the barbell strategy; a plan designed to expand Burger King's menu with both more sophisticated, adult-oriented fare along with products that are more value-oriented. This program is intended to bring in a larger, more affluent adult audience who will be willing to spend more on the better quality products on one side while maintaining a lower cost value menu dedicated to a more cost-conscious audience on the other. The hope is that the customers would be drawn in initially for the lower prices of the value-menu and upgrade to the more expensive products, upping overall sales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of Omaha</span>

The cuisine of Omaha reflects the heritage and culture of Omaha, Nebraska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keens Steakhouse</span> Restaurant in New York, United States

Keens Steakhouse is a steakhouse restaurant located at 72 West 36th Street in the Garment District in Manhattan, New York City. The restaurant houses more than 50,000 clay smoking pipes, making it one of the largest collections in the world. The establishment is also famous for their renowned mutton chops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrah's North Kansas City</span>

Harrah's North Kansas City is a hotel and casino in North Kansas City, Missouri. Located just north of Kansas City on the Missouri River, it has more than 1,800 slot machines, table games, and video games, and six restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray's Hell Burger</span> Former American restaurant in Virginia, United States

Ray's Hell Burger was a hamburger restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, part of a group of restaurants in the Washington metropolitan area under the "Ray's" name owned by restaurateur Michael Landrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steak</span> Flat cut of meat

A steak is a thick cut of meat generally sliced across the muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried. Steak can be diced, cooked in sauce, such as in steak and kidney pie, or minced and formed into patties, such as hamburgers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prawn cocktail, steak and Black Forest gateau</span> British dinner menu

Prawn cocktail, steak garni with chips, and Black Forest gâteau was the most popular dinner menu in British restaurants in the 1980s, according to contemporary surveys by trade magazine Caterer and Hotelkeeper. It was associated with the Berni Inn chain, which popularised mass-market dining out after the end of food rationing in Britain following the Second World War. The Prawn Cocktail Years, by Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham, called this meal the Great British Meal Out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawksmoor (restaurant)</span> British steakhouse and cocktail bar chain

Hawksmoor is a British steakhouse and cocktail bar chain started in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilltop Steak House</span> American restaurant chain, 1961–2013

The Hilltop Steak House was an American restaurant located on Route 1 in Saugus, Massachusetts. Founded in 1961 by Frank Giuffrida, it was one of the busiest restaurants in the United States during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The Hilltop closed in 2013.

Stuart Anderson was an American restaurateur and founder of the Black Angus Steakhouse restaurant chain, first established in Seattle in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angus Barn</span> Restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina

Angus Barn is a steakhouse restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina, located off U.S. Route 70. Located between the cities of Raleigh and Durham, the establishment has grown popular from its central location and menu. The steakhouse has won over 200 awards since opening in 1960, and continues to operate under the management of the Eure family which helped cofound it.

References

  1. 1 2 Time & tide business world, vol.45, p.xcv
  2. Jonathan Margolis We'll meat again The Evening Standard, 16 January 2002
  3. "Buy 'em out". The Economist. 127: 1248. 11 December 1965.
  4. Economist Intelligence Unit (February 1973). "Catering". Retail Business (180): 19.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Lauren Mills, Aberdeen Steak Houses faces chop The Daily Telegraph, 29 September 2002
  6. Macfarlane, A (1982). "Trade unionism and the employer in hotels and restaurants". International Journal of Hospitality Management. 1 (1): 33–45.
  7. "Hannah takes Thistle Hotels to the country". Caterer & Hotelkeeper. 177 (3405): 81. 30 January 1986.
  8. 1 2 Sathnam Sanghera Musings on a steakhouse that is not well done "Business Life", The Times 24 May 2008
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Husnara Begum, BLP to rescue steak house from collapse The Lawyer, 7 October 2002
  10. Adam Edwards, Who goes there? Daily Telegraph, 19 May 2001
  11. 1 2 "Stuart Jeffries: Flogging a dead cow". the Guardian. 3 October 2002. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  12. David Mitchell, World heritage status? Mine's a Carling Black Label... The Guardian, 27 March 2011
  13. "Home page". Official website. Angus Steakhouse. Retrieved 2 April 2020.