Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. (LEYE) is a restaurant group currently comprising 120 or more restaurants mainly located in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

. It was founded by

Rich Melman Rich Melman (born 1942) is an American businessman, and the founder and chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a privately held restaurant company with more than 100 venues."Let Us Now Praise R.J. Grunts: How Rich Melman and his Lettuce ...

and Jerry A. Orzoff in 1971.

History

The first restaurant, R.J. Grunts in

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

, opened on June 10, 1971. It is still in operation, as of 2024. The company lists nine original partners: Bill Higgins, Melman, Bill Frost, Bob Wattel, Charles Haskell, Orzoff, Marvin Magid, Danny Koval and Fred Joast. By 1976 the company had 5 restaurants and a band called Fresh Lettuce. The partners continued expanding the company's network of restaurants. By the mid-1980s, the company employed over 2,000 people and had annual revenues of $40 million. Since its founding the company has opened 130 restaurants, with 70 concepts. The restaurants are unique and vary in price, theme, and cuisine. However, they generally combine theatrical flair and good value. LEYE currently owns, licenses or manages more than 100 establishments in Illinois, California, Arizona, Maryland, Virginia, Minnesota and Nevada, including Wildfire, Petterino's, RPM Italian, RPM Steak, Beatrix, Oyster Bah, Shaw's Crab House, and Everest. Also among its creations are two restaurants in the Paris Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, the Eiffel Tower and Mon Ami Gabi (an expansion of the flagship location in Chicago), Big Bowl, and L2O. IN 2000, LEYE had 38 partners, 45 concepts, and 4,000 employees. It owns, operates and licenses 90 restaurant venues in the United States. It has separate restaurant consulting and restaurant development companies. The food court at

Water Tower Place Water Tower Place is a large urban, mixed-use development comprising a shopping mall in a 74-story skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The mall is located at 835 North Michigan Avenue, along the Magnificent Mile. It is named aft ...

is among its operations. 1999 annual revenue estimates ranged from $145 to over $200 million. 2005 revenue estimates were $300 million, with 5000 employees and approximately $50 million in

net earnings In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, and ...

. The Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants annual revenue was $541.2 million in 2025.

Restaurants

Lettuce Entertain You restaurants include: *Aba *Antico Posto *Beatrix *Beatrix Market *Big Bowl *Big Bowl Chinese Express *Bub City *Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! *Di Pescara *Eiffel Tower *El Segundo Sol *Ēma *Hub 51 *Il Porcellino *Joe's Seafood Prime Steak & Stone Crab - an offshoot of Joe's Stone Crab in Miami *

Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme, Inc. (previously Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.) is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph (1915–1973), who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans ch ...

(franchise) *L. Woods *M Burger *Miru, St. Regis Chicago * Mon Ami Gabi *Osteria Via Stato *Pizzeria Portofino *Pizzeria Via Stato *R.J. Grunt's *Ramen-San *RPM Italian *RPM Seafood *RPM Steak *Shaw's Crab House *Stella Barra Pizzeria Santa Monica * Summer House (

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

) *Sushi-San *Tallboy Taco *The Dalcy *The Oakville Grill & Cellar *Three Dots and a Dash *Tokio Pub *Tre Dita, St. Regis Chicago *Twin City Grill *Wildfire *Wow Bao

Sold/divested restaurants

Corner Bakery Cafe Best Cafe Enterprises, LLC, doing business as Corner Bakery Cafe is an American chain of cafes that specialize in pastries, breads, breakfast dishes, gourmet sandwiches, homemade soups, salads, and pasta. Corner Bakery Cafe is considered to be ...

Maggiano's Little Italy Maggiano's Little Italy () is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. The company was founded in Chicago's River North neighborhood, at Clark Street and Grand Avenue, in 1991 by Rich Melman's Lettuce ...

*Petterino's

Closed restaurants

*A 1 Beanery *Reel Club *Nacional 27 * Magic Pan Crepe Stand *Frankie's Scaloppine & Fifth Floor Pizzeria *Mity Nice Grill *Foodlife *Don & Charlie's *Papagus Greek Taverna *

Tru (restaurant) Tru was a French restaurant located in the Streeterville neighborhood in Chicago. Tru was opened in 1999 by Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand with the backing of Rich Melman's Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. It was a Michelin one-star restaurant ...

, closed 2017 *

L2O L2O was a Chicago seafood restaurant opened in 2008 by chef Laurent Gras and owned and operated by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. The name of the restaurant stands for Lake to Ocean. The restaurant was located at 2300 N. Lincoln Park West, C ...

, closed 2014 *Fritz That's It *Lawrence of Oregano *Jonathan Livingston Seafood *Oyster Bah *Naoki Sushi *Ben Pao *Scoozi! *Stella Barra Pizzeria Chicago *Stella Barra Pizzeria Hollywood *Tucci Benucch *Intro *The Eccentric *Hat Dance *Great Gritzbe's Flying Food Show *Un Grand Cafe *RJ Grunts (Glenview location) *

Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its ...

*Community Canteen *Stripburger *Vongs Thai Kitchen

References

{{Restaurants in Chicago Companies based in Chicago Restaurants in Chicago Restaurants established in 1971 Restaurant chains in the United States 1971 establishments in Illinois

History

Restaurants

Sold/divested restaurants

Closed restaurants

See also

References