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The chain was founded in 1958.
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It had 700 locations at its peak.
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The brand is known for its all-you-can-eat salad bar, which offers much more than just salad.
In college, my roommate and I looked for value when it came to our off-campus dining options. Chains like Oliver Garden, which offered unlimited soup and breadsticks, were on our radar, as well as several local bars with unlimited wing promotions.
Every now and then we would go to breakfast at Ponderosa, a chain that offered all-you-can-eat weekend breakfast and brunch for a reasonable price. The food wasn't that good, but there was bacon, sausage and a waffle bar, which were good enough for our needs in the early 1990s.
For dinner, however, one brand was a kind of holy grail of value and decadence. If we went to Sizzler we could get a decent steak, along with access to the all-you-can-eat salad bar, where the main attraction was the impossibly thick New England clam chowder.
Sizzler was founded in 1958 with a simple motto.
Why does a nice juicy steak have to cost a lot of money?
That remains a fair question, but the chain has been struggling for decades and has fallen from a peak of more than 700 locations to fewer than 80 today. However, the brand, or at least its management, believes a comeback is possible.
Sizzler has closed numerous locations over the years.
QSR Magazine's Danny Klein interviewed Sizzler Chief Growth Officer Robert Clark about the chain's latest rebirth efforts. Clark has been with Sizzler since 1984 and served in a variety of roles before joining the C-Suite.
In his 41 years with the company, Clark has seen many attempts to change or revitalize the chain. Most, he noted, were ill-informed and focused on changing the brand.
“Our current leadership is much more focused on: let's get the best out of Sizzler and make it even better,” he told QSR.
Sizzler survived despite filing for bankruptcy in both 1996 and 2000.
CEO Chris Perkins, who has held the position since 2019, acknowledged that the chain's problems cannot be attributed solely to Covid.
“Many of the company-owned restaurant locations were struggling before the pandemic,” Perkins said, according to Restaurant Business.
He blamed many factors, including higher labor costs and local taxes, for making it difficult to maintain profitability.
The chain has focused on renovating stores. That worked, according to QSR magazine:
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The brand saw an increase in sales of approximately 47% in renovated restaurants.
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One location that completed an update a few months ago increased sales by 100 percent.
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Sizzler has completed nine updates in the past two years and has a plan for franchisees to follow suit.
