SPB Hospitality is a multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company owns several casual diningrestaurant chain brands, including Logan's Roadhouse, Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom, J. Alexander's, Stoney River Steak House, Krystal Restaurants, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, and Rock Bottom Restaurants Breweries. As of November 2019, CraftWorks owned and operated over 390 restaurants in the United States,[3] but all of its owned-and-operated locations closed by March 2020, after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy followed immediately by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and CraftWorks terminated its 18,000 employees, leaving fewer than 25 employed.[4] On June 12, 2020, SPB Hospitality purchased Craftworks businesses out of bankruptcy for $93 million.[5]
Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc., made an initial public offering in 1994.[9] In 1995, the first ChopHouse opened in Denver, Colorado.[10] Big River Breweries opened the only brewpub at Walt Disney World in 1996. A private management buyout took Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc. private in 1999.[9] In the same year, Gordon Biersch was acquired by Big River Breweries.[11] In 2000, Rock Bottom Restaurants formed the Rock Bottom Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity.[12] Rock Bottom Restaurants laid off about 20% of its corporate staff in 2007[13] and slowed its growth plans along with ceasing its search for an equity partner. In 2010, Rock Bottom Restaurants and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group were acquired by Centerbridge Capital Partners and merged to form CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries, Inc.[6][14]
On November 1, 2018, CraftWorks announced that it had acquired Logan's Roadhouse and formed Craftworks Holdings. Logan's Roadhouse is a chain of restaurants founded in 1991 in Lexington, Kentucky. The chain's menu includes mesquite-grilled steaks, traditional American fare (sandwiches, soup, salads, and seafood), ice-cold longneck beer, and homemade yeast rolls.[15]
On June 12, 2020, Craftworks was purchased by SPB Hospitality for $93 million. SPB Hospitality is an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group.
In 2021, SPB Hospitality acquired J. Alexander's Holdings.
In 2023, SPB acquired Krystal Restaurants.
Bankruptcy and sale to SPB Hospitality
On March 3, 2020, CraftWorks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. At the same time, the company entered into an agreement with affiliates of Fortress Credit Co. LLC, its senior lenders, to sell the company for at least $138 million, plus the assumption of certain liabilities, CraftWorks said in a news release.[16][17]
However, Fortress Credit later withdrew a $23 million loan for continuing operations; it then agreed to fund $6 million to finance continuing operations,[4] and on April 1, 2020, CraftWorks terminated nearly all 18,000 of their employees and terminated health care benefits as of March 31, 2020.[4]
Logan's Roadhouse serves American food. The chain's menu includes mesquite-grilled steaks, traditional American fare (sandwiches, soup, salads, and seafood), ice-cold longneck beer, homemade yeast rolls, and unlimited buckets of in-shell peanuts. Logan's serves appetizers, steak, and hamburgers, and offers side dishes such as salad, french fries, homestyle potato chips, rice pilaf and sweet or baked potatoes.
CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries operates 60 restaurants under the name Old Chicago. Franchise partnerships under its Old Chicago brand account for 36 additional locations not owned or operated by CraftWorks. Old Chicago restaurants can be found in 22 states.
Gordon Biersch combines German-style beer and its made-from-scratch cuisine. Featuring German lagers brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516 (Reinheitsgebot), Gordon Biersch has won numerous gold medals at both the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. Gordon Biersch offers a made-from-scratch American menu with international flavors. The first Gordon Biersch opened in Palo Alto, California. The company was acquired by Big River Brewing Company in 1999 and later renamed Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Inc. The company reported six locations in Taiwan.[18]
Rock Bottom Restaurant Breweries
The company operates 16 breweries under the name Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery. These breweries are located in several states, with five restaurants in Colorado, five in Illinois and one restaurant each in California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Virginia. The store was renamed Rock Bottom after someone pointed out that they were "building at the bottom of the rock," which was Prudential's slogan at the time.[19] In 2000, the Boston-based Brew Moon Enterprises Inc. filed for bankruptcy and sold four of its five restaurant-microbreweries to Rock Bottom.[20] In 2009, the La Jolla location in San Diego won a medal at the Great American Beer Festival,[21] and in 2012 they medaled at the World Beer Cup.[22] Rock Bottom Restaurants won Brewpub Group Brewer of the Year award at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival (GABF).[23]
Related Research Articles
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The U.S. state of Oregon is home to more than 200 breweries and brew pubs that produce a large variety of beer.
Pyramid Breweries, Inc., is a defunct brewing company that produced beer under the Pyramid brand name at two breweries and several brewpubs in Washington, Oregon, and California. It was founded in 1984 as Hart Brewing. The brand name is currently owned by North American Breweries, a subsidiary of the Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm Co.
Logan's Roadhouse is a chain of casual dining restaurants based in Houston, Texas, United States, founded in 1991 in Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. There are 135 Logan's Roadhouse locations throughout twenty-two states.
Flying Dog Brewery was a craft brewery located in Frederick, Maryland, United States. It was founded in 1990 by George Stranahan and was the largest brewery in Maryland. In 2017, it was the 28th largest craft brewery in the United States.
Gordon Biersch Brewery is an American brewery founded by Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch. Gordon, a graduate from the five-year brewing engineering program at Weihenstephan, Germany, and Biersch opened their first brewery restaurant in Palo Alto, California, in July 1988. In 1999, the restaurants were sold to what ultimately became CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries.
21st Amendment Brewery is a brewery located in San Leandro, California. Their original location is a brewpub and restaurant in the South Park neighborhood of San Francisco, California, two blocks from Oracle Park. The brewery's name refers to the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which repealed Prohibition.
The Elysian Brewing Company is an American brewery, owned by AB InBev, that operates two pubs and a taproom in Seattle.
Drake's Brewing Company is a craft brewery in San Leandro, California. The company started in 1989 as a wholesale-only kegged beer seller under the name Lind Brewing, after company founder, Roger Lind. Drake's operates out of the old Caterpillar Inc. production facility located behind a Walmart. In 2008, Drake's was sold to the owners of Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse, a brewpub in Berkeley, California.
San Diego County, California, has been called "the Craft Beer Capital of America". As of 2018, the county was home to 155 licensed craft breweries – the most of any county in the United States. Based on 2016 sales volume, three San Diego County breweries – Stone, Green Flash, and Karl Strauss – rank among the 50 largest craft brewers in the United States. San Diego County brewers pioneered the specialty beer style known as Double India Pale Ale, sometimes called San Diego Pale Ale. Its beer culture is a draw for tourism, particularly during major festivals such as San Diego Beer Week and the San Diego International Beer Competition. San Diego County breweries including Stone Brewing Co., AleSmith Brewing Company and Ballast Point Brewing Company are consistently rated among the top breweries in the world.
↑ "Craftworks Holdings". Nashville, Tennessee: Craftworks Holdings. Archived from the original on 2019-11-09. We operate a combined total of over 390 restaurants, brewery restaurants and entertainment venues, in 40 states across the US.
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