Western Sizzlin’, stylized as WesterN SizzliN, is a chain of privately held and publicly held retail buffet restaurants and

steakhouse A steakhouse, steak house, or chophouse is a restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops. Modern steakhouses may also carry other cuts of meat including poultry, roast prime rib, and veal, as well as fish and other seafood. History Choph ...

s, with its headquarters in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

. The company has 46 franchise establishments located across 13

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

states generally in the southeast (aside from Florida). It is a subsidiary of

Biglari Holdings Biglari Holdings Inc. is an American holding company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, founded by entrepreneur Sardar Biglari. Its subsidiaries include Steak 'n Shake, ''Maxim (magazine), Maxim'' magazine, First Guard Insurance, Southern Pion ...

which is controlled by

Iranian American Iranian-Americans, also known as Persian-Americans, are Americans, United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian peoples, Iranian ancestry, or who hold Iranian Multiple citizenship, citizenship. Most Iranian-Americans arrived in the U ...

businessman

Sardar Biglari Sardar Biglari (; born August 30, 1977) is an American entrepreneur and is the founder, chairman and CEO of Biglari Holdings,

. The Western Sizzlin' business model was conceived in 1962, by Nick Pascarella, and founded the same year in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

as: WesterN SizzliN Steak & More Restaurant. In conceiving the business, Pasceralla reasoned that, "If searing the bottom of the steak made it juicy, adding flames to the top would make them twice as good."; leading to its renowned searing process trademarked as the FlameKist steak.

History

Western Sizzlin' was established in 1962, by Nicholas Pascarella. He was traveling around the United States in search of cheap land on which to build a steakhouse, and he stopped in Augusta because of a

flat tire A flat tire (British English: flat tyre) is a deflated Tire, pneumatic tire, which can cause the rim of the wheel to ride on the tire tread or the ground potentially resulting in loss of control of the vehicle or irreparable damage to the tire. T ...

. It was the employees at the tire store who convinced him to set up his restaurant in Augusta. Following Pascarella's death in 1988, his spouse and their son decided to sell the business. It was subsequently bought by Frank Carney, co-founder of

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut, LLC is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 19,866 restaurants worldw ...

. However, after the buyout, Carney experienced difficulties in growing the chain due to the high price his group paid for the business. Subsequently, Western Sizzlin' filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

, and operated under

Chapter 11 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 ...

bankruptcy protection for nearly eleven months.Carlino, Bill (January 24, 1994). "Western Sizzlin': Back to Basics under Wachtel," ''Nation's Restaurant News''. p. 7. In 1993, Dave Wachtel acquired the company for $10 million. In 2010,

purchased Western Sizzlin'.

References

External links

* {{Biglari Holdings Buffet restaurants Companies based in Roanoke, Virginia Restaurant chains in the United States Restaurant franchises Restaurants established in 1962 Steakhouses in the United States 1962 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1993

History

See also

References

External links