The new Steak and Ale still has the salad bar and bread and nods to its past on its menu by highlighting classic items such as the stuffed mushrooms, Kensington Club steak and chocolate cake using a small yellow shield icon.
Mangiamele, the founder, chairman and CEO of Steak and Ale parent company of Legendary Restaurant Brands, points to the restaurant’s Hawaiian chicken menu item—two chicken breasts, rice pilaf, broccoli, a loaf of bread with honey butter and access to the salad bar—for $17.
“Sure you could go to Chipotle and get a burrito with chips and guacamole and a soft drink for around $20, but you have to stand in line or pick it up and hope they did it right,” said Mangiamele. “But we give you atmosphere, tableside coffee, a desert menu.”
Mangiamele said that the brand’s franchise partner has committed to opening 14 additional restaurants in the Midwest, but did not give a timeline.
Clowns and fried ice cream
Ground Round—which is attempting to grow again after declaring bankruptcy 21 years ago—is also trying to provide an affordable sit-down dining option, according to its new owners, husband-and-wife team Joe and Nachi Shea. “There has been a separation in the restaurant space between where you get more affordable meals faster versus where you get quality meals with a good atmosphere,” Nachi Shea said. “But that is usually very expensive and makes it hard for families to go out to eat each week. We want you to have both—quality food and atmosphere for an affordable value.”
Pricing has been a major issue in the restaurant industry as casual dining chains seek to recover from the stubborn inflation of recent years that forced many operators to focus on value. In 2024, fast casual and limited service restaurants (i.e. fast food) saw upticks in consumer spending (5.2%) and traffic (1%), according to Technomic. Full-service restaurants (those with a waitstaff) saw spending increase 2.6%, but traffic was down 1.5%. There have been restaurant brands whose value messaging has paid off. Chili’s, for instance, has pushed its “3 For Me” value meal—a bottomless non-alcoholic beverage, bottomless chips and salsa and a burger and fries for $10.99—which helped the Brinker International chain’s comparable restaurant sales rise 14.1% in the fiscal first quarter ended on Sept. 25, 2024.
Also read: McDonald’s new value campaign stars John Cena
The Sheas bought the intellectual property rights to Ground Round in 2023. Joe Shea had previously tried to become a franchisee in Ground Round’s heyday, but could never get in touch with the franchisee group, he said.
Ground Round began in 1969 as a restaurant offshoot of the Howard Johnson’s hotel chain and became known for hosting kids’ birthday parties where mascot Bingo the Clown would make an appearance.
The brand had over 200 locations in the late 1980s. It abruptly shut down its corporate-owned locations on Valentine’s Day weekend in 2004 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A co-op of franchisees acquired the chain out of bankruptcy but were not able to turn the brand around. The chief financial officer reached out to Shea to let him know they were shutting down the restaurants and looking to sell the trademarks. The Sheas plan to open a new Ground Round in Shrewsberry, Massachusetts early this year. (There are four legacy Ground Rounds—three in North Dakota and one in Ohio—still operating today under a licensing agreement with the Sheas.)
While Chi-Chi’s has not operated a restaurant in nearly 20 years, the brand has stayed relevant with a line of packaged chips, salsa, tortillas and other items controlled by Hormel Foods. The brand—which once marketed itself as “America’s incredible Mexican restaurant”—will soon return to the dining scene under the leadership of Michael McDermott, who in early December finalized a deal with Hormel to use the trademark on restaurants opening this year.