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Sizzler USA Restaurants, Inc.,
doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...
Sizzler, is a United States–based
restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...
with headquarters in
Mission Viejo, California Mission Viejo ( ; language change, corruption of ; ) is a Commuter town, commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest Planned community, master-planned commu ...
, with locations mainly in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, plus some in the nearby states of
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
,
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
,
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
,
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
, and
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
, as well as
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
. It is known for
steak A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally Grilling, grilled or Pan frying, fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce. Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle (beefsteak), but can also ...
,
seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...
, and
salad bar A salad bar is a buffet-style table or bar where customers can create their own salad plates from individual salad ingredients or completed dishes. Salad bars are commonly found in restaurants, food markets, and cafeterias. Salad bars are a pop ...
items. Since 2023, Sizzler restaurants outside of the United States are owned by Thailand-based
Minor International Minor International is a Thai multi-national company based in Bangkok, Thailand. The three core businesses of Minor International are hospitality, restaurants, and lifestyle brands distribution, operated under subsidiary companies Minor Hotels ...
and are not related to the American firm. In September 2020, Sizzler USA filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
hurting sales. The bankruptcy filing does not affect the similarly named Minor International affiliated restaurants that are located outside of the United States. Sizzler USA emerged from bankruptcy in January 2023.


History

The chain was founded in 1958 as Sizzler Family Steak House by Del and Helen Johnson in
Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...
. At its peak, the chain was composed of more than 270 locations throughout the U.S. Most of Sizzler's U.S. locations are in the
West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sizzler promoted steak and combination steak dinners with an optional
salad bar A salad bar is a buffet-style table or bar where customers can create their own salad plates from individual salad ingredients or completed dishes. Salad bars are commonly found in restaurants, food markets, and cafeterias. Salad bars are a pop ...
. The restaurant wanted to give customers the feel of a full-service restaurant at a price slightly more than a
fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...
chain. To control costs, many restaurants had in-house meat cutters that would cut steaks and grind beef. Into the early to mid-1980s, competition appeared:
Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse are a chain of buffet/steakhouse restaurants that are a part of Homestyle Dining LLC based in Plano, Texas. Its menu includes steaks, hamburgers, seafood, and chicken and potato entrées, all of whic ...
. After promotions, such as
all-you-can-eat An all-you-can-eat restaurant (AYCE) is a type of restaurant in which a fixed price is charged for entry, after which diners may consume as much food as they wish. Self-service buffets are a common type of all-you-can-eat establishment, but som ...
fried shrimp, the chain expanded its salad bar into a full
buffet A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve themselves. A form of '' service à la française'', buffets are offered at various places including hotels, restaurants, and many social eve ...
promoted as the "Buffet Court". Patrons began to use the buffet as a meal instead of an add-on to an entree. In response, Sizzler lowered the quality in other menu areas. Customers took notice, and Sizzler's reputation suffered. Sizzler filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
in 1996 ("to escape costly leases on unprofitable restaurants"), and closed over 130 of its locations. The company reemerged from Chapter 11 in 1997. During the late 1990s, new management upgraded the quality of food and increased prices. Twenty one locations closed in 2001. Sizzler began an image makeover circa 2002. A new restaurant concept was created, featuring a lighter and more open dining room. The changes were accompanied by a new menu. In an effort to return to its roots, Sizzler emphasized steaks, seafood, and the salad bar. While the all-you-can-eat buffet was phased out in some locations, it remained in many others. In the 1990s, Sizzler ran upscale locations with the Buffalo Ranch Steakhouse brand. Sizzler was sold to
Pacific Equity Partners Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) is a private equity investment firm focusing on transactions in Australia and New Zealand. PEP invests across a range of industries and sectors, in turnaround and growth capital transactions. By 2023, ''The Austral ...
, an Australian-based investment firm, in 2005. In January 2008, Sizzler announced it was planning to take action against the
Multi-State Lottery Association The Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) is an American non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by agreement of its 34-member lotteries. MUSL was created to facilitate the operation of multi-jurisdictional lottery games, m ...
(MUSL) of
Urbandale, Iowa Urbandale is a city in Polk and Dallas counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 45,580. It is part of the Des Moines– West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Urbandale was incorporat ...
, over the use of the name ''The Sizzler (Hot Lotto)''. In June 2011, Sizzler USA announced that a US management group led by the Sizzler CEO would buy the American portion of the chain of 178 restaurants from Pacific Equity Partners with the remaining 100 restaurants located outside of the United States remaining with Pacific Equity Partners. The headquarters initially remained in Culver City, California, where the chain was founded, but moved to Mission Viejo, California, in 2012. Sizzler has launched its "ZZ" food truck to expand sales and test market new dishes. In September 2020, Sizzler USA announced that they had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, namely forcing it to temporarily close its restaurants' dining rooms. The company also cited problems paying rent. Most of the company-owned restaurants are located in highly COVID-19 infected areas of California that did not even permit restaurants to partially open dining rooms as recently as September 2020. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Sizzler had 107 locations in 10 states, with all but one location in Florida in states west of the Rocky Mountains in addition to several locations in Puerto Rico. This number is down from the 134 locations in 2018. Post-COVID, Sizzler is still in operation and is attempting to rebuild its business with renovations, a new menu, and an advertising campaign.


International locations

Following Sizzler USA's separation from Sizzler International in 2011, all locations outside the United States were operated or licensed by Australia-based
Collins Foods Collins Foods Limited is a publicly- listed Australian company focused on restaurant operations. It operates KFC and Taco Bell restaurants in Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands. It previously owned the US-based Sizzler restaurants (until ...
. In 2023, Collins sold its Sizzler business and intellectual property to Thailand-based
Minor International Minor International is a Thai multi-national company based in Bangkok, Thailand. The three core businesses of Minor International are hospitality, restaurants, and lifestyle brands distribution, operated under subsidiary companies Minor Hotels ...
.


Current locations


Japan

The current Sizzler franchise-holder in Japan is Royal Holdings Co., Ltd., a
Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...
-based food service company. Royal Holdings opened the first Japanese Sizzler steakhouse in 1991. By August 2021, Royal Holdings had 10 Sizzler restaurants in Japan.


Thailand

The current Sizzler franchise-holder in Thailand is Minor Food Group via a subsidiary called SLRT Limited. Minor opened its first Thai Sizzler steakhouse in 1996. By 2001, Minor had 19 Sizzler restaurants throughout Thailand. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company experimented with the use of robotic waiters in the dining room in December 2020 to minimize physical contact between customers and restaurant staff. After the Thai government loosen COVID-19 dine-in restrictions in September 2021, Sizzler Thailand was able to reopen 54 out of a total of 60 restaurants for dine-in. Two months after reopening, the Thai franchise announced expansion plans of trying to open new 3-5 restaurants per year over the next three years. The franchise also announced plans of installing more robot food delivery systems within each restaurant which would minimize human contact between dine-in customers and the restaurant staff which would in turn lessen the transmission of COVID and other diseases.


Former locations


Australia

The first Australian Sizzler steakhouse was opened in Brisbane in 1985. The steakhouses in Australia were reasonably popular during the 1990s. In the 2013 financial year, Collins Foods reported stalling revenue for their Sizzler operations in Australia, blaming the downturn of the
casual dining Restaurants fall into several industry classifications, based upon menu style, preparation methods and pricing, as well as the means by which the food is served to the customer. This article mainly describes the situation in the US, while categor ...
sector in the country. By 2015, Collins Foods wrote down the value of Sizzler by AU$37.5 million. In an investors meeting by Collins Foods, CEO Graham Maxwell states: "We no longer consider Sizzler to be a strategic growth prospect in Australia and therefore we will not be investing further capital". Collins Foods began to close a number of Sizzler restaurants in Australia. Meanwhile, Collins Foods' Sizzler operations in Asia continued to thrive, with further expansion planned in China. Collins Foods closed all of its remaining Sizzler restaurants in Australia in November 2020. Collins Foods said of the three restaurant brands that it operates, Sizzler had been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.


Taiwan

Sizzler was in operation in Taipei for twenty years at Tianmu and Da'an from 1990 to 2010, and eventually closed due to negotiation with international franchisee Collins Foods resulting in not continuing the contract.


China

According to archived snapshots of the official Sizzler China website, the Thailand-based Minor Food Group had seven Sizzler restaurants in China from May 2009 and November 2012.


Indonesia

Sizzler opened a restaurant in Indonesia during the mid-1990s with the first location located at
Jalan M.H. Thamrin Jalan M.H. Thamrin or Jalan Thamrin (M.H. Thamrin Avenue or Thamrin Avenue) is a major thoroughfare in Jakarta, Indonesia. The road is located at the center of Jakarta, running from the north end of Jalan Jenderal Sudirman at West Flood Canal at ...
with other locations notably in Jalan Sabang,
Mal Kelapa Gading Summarecon Mall Kelapa Gading (formerly Kelapa Gading Plaza and Mal Kelapa Gading) is a shopping and entertainment center located in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the largest shopping malls in Indonesia. History Mall Kelapa G ...
, and
Mall Taman Anggrek Taman Anggrek Mall (; literally "Orchid Garden Mall"), commonly known as Mall Taman Anggrek, abbreviated as MTA, is a shopping mall in Grogol Petamburan, West Jakarta, Indonesia. The mall is named after a real orchid garden within the now-demolish ...
but was renamed into American Grill in mid-2000s due to expiring licensing rights.


Singapore

According to archived snapshots of the official Sizzler Singapore website, Collins had three Sizzler restaurants in Singapore in December 2001. In March 2013, the company had two Sizzler restaurants in Singapore.


Food safety issues

In 2000, more than 60 people became ill and one person died in an
outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...
of E. coli O157:H7 that originated at a Sizzler restaurant in
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
. Health officials said that the most likely source of contamination was meat supplied by the Excel Corporation
meat packer The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally n ...
. The health officials believed that cross contamination to other food items occurred when Sizzler employees handled the meat near areas where salad bar items were prepared. This was similar to an outbreak in
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
and
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
in 1993. In the 1993 case, as in 2000, the tainted meat apparently came from Excel and contaminated salad bar items. This ultimately led to Sizzler closing the chain's remaining Midwest locations, including those in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. In 2006, all 28 Sizzler restaurants across Australia suspended salad bar service after
rat poison Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, groundhog, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles. Some rod ...
was found in two of their
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
restaurants. Sizzler Australia referred to the incidents as
sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...
. The culprit turned out to be a woman described as being mentally unstable.


Notes


See also

*
List of buffet restaurants This is a list of notable buffet restaurants. A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events ...
*
List of casual dining restaurant chains This is a list of casual dining restaurant chains around the world, arranged in alphabetical order. A casual dining restaurant is a restaurant that serves moderately priced food in a casual atmosphere. Except for buffet-style restaurants and, more ...


References


External links

* {{Official website, www.sizzler.com Mission Viejo, California Companies based in Orange County, California Restaurants in Greater Los Angeles Restaurant franchises Economy of the Western United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States 1958 establishments in California Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 Restaurants established in 1958 Steakhouses in the United States Buffet restaurants 2005 mergers and acquisitions