Start your business today with a free trial of Shopify - go to https://www.shopify.com/modernmba to learn more.

As restaurants go, there’s Italian, Mexican, Chinese, American, Japanese and so on. But there is only one type of restaurant that is considered to be the most lucrative and makes up over half of the Top 100 highest grossing restaurants in the United States every year. That is the steakhouse.

In America, the steakhouse is as much a cultural rite of passage as it is a fine dining establishment. When people go to a steakhouse, it’s for the experience as much as the food - they dress up, they expect quality service, and the meal serves as a platform for business or celebration. All steakhouses offer standard fare like New York Strip, Porterhouse, Filet Mignon alongside mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, Caesar salad, and chocolate cake. While most restaurants aim to specialize in certain foods or offer unique items for differentiation, steakhouses thrive in conformity. Their goal is to serve tried-and-true classics with good ingredients, good execution, good service, and good ambience.

The focus on ingredients, service, execution along with a high-end target market make steakhouses difficult to scale as there are few ways to automate a business that requires so much human capital. People don’t dine at steakhouses every week which means demand can be met with a handful of establishments in any given area. In this episode, we’ll cover the business of steakhouses and cover the strategies of the 3 biggest chains in the world who each have their own strategy and go after diners at very different price points - Outback Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, and Ruth Chris.

💬 Join the Modern MBA community -   / modernmba  

☕️ Support Modern MBA on Patreon and unlock bonuses like additional content, exclusive essays, and regular Q&A:   / modernmba  

🎧 Audio Editing & Mixing: Sonalf

0:00 Edible Opulence
3:32 High-End Sizzle
15:14 Legendary Price
19:36 Going Outback