Red Lion Beef Corporation, doing business as Lion's Choice, is an American

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...

chain based in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, serving

roast beef sandwich The roast beef sandwich is a sandwich that is made out of sliced roast beef or sometimes meatloaf, beef loaf. It is sold at many diners in the United States, as well as fast food chains, such as Arby's, Rax Roast Beef, and Roy Rogers Restaurants. ...

es and other menu items. The company was founded in 1952 and opened its first restaurant in

Ballwin, Missouri Ballwin is a western suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 31,103 as of the 2020 census. History Ballwin was established in 1837. The community was named for John Ball, who settled at t ...

, on October 26, 1967, which remains open today. As of May 2021, there are 62 Lion's Choice restaurants in St. Louis and Kansas City. In addition to

es, Lion's Choice offers

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

sandwiches,

ham sandwich A ham sandwich is a common type of sandwich. Ham sandwich may also refer to: * Ham Sandwich (band), an Irish indie rock band * Ham Sandwich (song), "Ham Sandwich" (song), by Getter, 2019 * "Ham Sandwich", a 1963 short story by James H. Schmitz * ...

es,

Italian beef An Italian beef is a sandwich of American origin, originating in Chicago, made from thin slices of roast beef simmered and served with a thin gravy on French bread. Common toppings are a choice between spicy giardiniera (called "hot") or mild ...

sandwiches,

French dip A French dip sandwich, also known as a beef dip, is a hot sandwich consisting of thinly sliced roast beef (or, sometimes, other meats) on a "French roll" or baguette. It is usually served plain but a popular variation is to top with Swiss chee ...

sandwiches,

hot dog A hot dog is a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term ''hot dog'' can also refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a frankfurter ( Frankfurter Würs ...

s, soups, salads, side dishes, and desserts.

History

Lion's Choice was founded in 1967 by Marv Gibbs, a graduate of

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

who worked as a chemical engineer for

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed ...

, and Arthur Morey. The first restaurant opened on October 26, 1967, in

. The location served roast beef sandwiches, ham sandwiches, and turkey sandwiches for 69 cents each. The restaurant was originally named Brittany Beef but quickly changed to Red Lion Beef House. Two years later, Lion's Choice opened its second store in

Creve Coeur, Missouri Creve Coeur is a city located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, a part of Greater St. Louis. Its population was 18,834 at the 2020 census. Creve Coeur borders and shares a ZIP code (63141) with the neighboring city of Town and Co ...

, and changed its name to Lion's Choice, after they could not trademark the name because the Red Lion name was already being used by

Red Lion Hotels Corporation Red Lion Hotels Corporation, doing business as RLH Corporation, is an American hospitality corporation that primarily engages in the franchising, management and ownership of upscale, mid-scale and economy hotels. Red Lion, headquartered in Denver ...

. In 2013, the founders sold the company to Millstone Capital Advisors and BlackRock Holdings, equity groups led by St. Louis real estate developers Bob Millstone and Mark Disper, for an undisclosed amount. Under the new ownership, in 2015, Lion's Choice opened a restaurant in

Ellisville, Missouri Ellisville is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, within Greater St. Louis. It is a western outer-ring suburb of St. Louis. The population was 9,985 at the 2020 census. In 2009, ''Money'' magazine ranked Ellisville #25 on the ...

, its first in ten years. In May 2017, Lion's Choice named Mike Kupstas, a longtime veteran of the foodservice industry, as its new CEO. Prior to this appointment, Kupstas held senior executive and marketing positions at

Panera Bread Panera Bread is an American multinational chain of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Fenton, Missouri. The chain operates as Saint Louis ...

Long John Silver's Long John Silver's, formerly known as Long John Silver's Seafood Shoppes and sometimes abbreviated as LJS, is an American chain of fast-food restaurants that specializes in seafood. The brand's name is derived from the character of the same n ...

and

Red Lobster Red Lobster Hospitality, LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States (including Puerto Rico), and Canada, as well as in Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, ...

. In September 2017, Lion's Choice launched its first food truck. The truck makes roast beef sandwiches, fries, and custard on board. In addition to other popular food-truck locations, the truck makes stops at

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

home soccer games and

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Originally Scott Field, it was one of 32 Air Service training camps established af ...

. In July 2018, Lion's Choice broke ground on two new locations in the

Kansas City metropolitan area The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, which are scheduled to open in November 2018. Furthermore, three more new locations in the Kansas City area are expected to open in 2019.

Products

Sandwiches A sandwich is a dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''container'' or ...

Lion's Choice is known for selling

es. The company describes the meat as "roasted beef" because of the amount of time the meat is prepared. The roast beef sandwich comes in three sizes: Original, Large and King (double the beef of Original). In addition to roast beef sandwiches, the menu includes hickory-smoked

es, smokehouse

pulled pork Pulled may refer to: * Pulled rickshaw, a mode of human-powered transport * Pulled wool, wool taken from a dead sheep * Pulled pork, an American dish * Pulled hamstring, a straining of the hamstring * Pulled elbow, an elbow injury * "Pulled", ...

sandwiches, roasted turkey breast sandwiches,

sandwiches, and

. Lion's Choice also serves

Sides

As sides, Lion's Choice offers

french fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

coleslaw Coleslaw or cole slaw (from the Dutch term , meaning 'cabbage salad'), also widely known within North America simply as slaw, is a side dish consisting primarily of finely shredded raw cabbage with a salad dressing or condiment, commonly eithe ...

baked potato A baked potato, known in the United Kingdom as a jacket potato, is a preparation of potato. After baking, it may be served with fillings, toppings or condiments, such as butter, cheese, sour cream, gravy, baked beans and tuna. Some varieties of ...

es, and veggie sticks (

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'' Dulce Group or ''Apium graveolens'' var. ''dulce'') is a cultivated plant belonging to the species ''Apium graveolens'' in the family Apiaceae that has been used as a vegetable since ancient times. The original wild ...

sticks,

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

florets, and

grape tomato A grape tomato is a kind of tomato believed to be of southeast Asian origin, shaped similarly to the oval plum tomatoes but having the small size and some of the sweetness of tomatoes. Grape tomatoes produce small and typically oblong fruits. ...

es). The french fries are skin-on, gluten free, and without any added salt, and the baked potato can be loaded with any combination of the following: butter, chives, cheddar, bacon bits, broccoli, or chili.

Soups and salads

Lion's Choice offers a variety of soups and salads. Its salads include a side salad; "LC Seasonal", which has carrots, walnuts, dried cranberries, tomatoes and blue cheese topped with bistro dressing; "Butcher Block Cobb", which has roast beef, turkey and ham, paired with blue cheese, shredded cheddar, greens, tomatoes, and carrots topped with bistro dressing. In addition to seasonal/daily featured soups, Lion's Choice's soups include chicken noodle soup, cream of broccoli soup, and hearty chili (with roast beef).

Desserts

Lion's Choice serves

frozen custard Frozen custard is a frozen dessert that is a type of ice cream that is made with egg yolks in addition to cream and sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and an additional flavoring such as cocoa, vanilla, or fruit such as strawberries ...

cones, which come in mini and regular sizes and can optionally be dipped in chocolate. The restaurant also serves

milkshakes A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may a ...

, cookies (chocolate chip, macadamia nut, or sugar), sundaes, root beer floats, and concretes.

Awards

It was the Missouri state winner for the

National Restaurant Association The National Restaurant Association is a restaurant industry business association in the United States, representing more than 380,000 restaurant locations. It also operates the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The associa ...

's Restaurant Neighbor Award in 2006. The restaurant chain was named Best Fast Food by the ''

Riverfront Times The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') was a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, that consisted of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its websit ...

'' in 2008. In 2014, the ''Riverfront Times'' named it the Best Chain Restaurant, and the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...

'' named it their Best Local Restaurant Chain.

References

External links

Official website
{{Fast-food chains of the United States Companies based in Missouri Restaurants in Missouri Restaurants established in 1967 Fast-food chains of the United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States 1967 establishments in Missouri Roast beef restaurants in the United States