Posted on 11/19/2025 10:56:14 AM PST by Red Badger
The Sizzler restaurant chain once had 700 locations. Now it has only 74, but it’s launching a resurgence.
Key Points
* Sizzler peaked in the 1990s with 700 locations; now only 74 remain in the U.S.
* The chain struggled after changing its identity, filed bankruptcy during the 2020 pandemic.
* Leadership is refocusing on classic features and remodeling to boost sales and relevance.
Sizzler was a popular restaurant chain in the 1980s and 1990s, although it officially launched in 1958.
When it started, Sizzler’s goal was to make a steakhouse that was affordable, as a fast-food craze swept the U.S. QSR Magazine argues it helped invent the fast-casual category of dining. Many people who grew up with Sizzler remember the chain’s all-you-can-eat salad bar.
However, like other restaurants, Sizzler started to experience a downturn that almost put it out of business.
As of June 2025, there were 74 Sizzler restaurants located in the U.S., mostly in California. According to MLive, the chain once had 700 restaurants throughout the U.S. The brand’s highest number of restaurants was in the 1990s. The chain had 109 restaurants in 2020, when the pandemic prompted it to file for bankruptcy, according to Restaurant Business. Now, according to QSR Magazine, Sizzler is aiming for a “rebirth.”
Sizzler’s Chief Growth Officer Says the Chain Made a Mistake by Trying to Change Too Much Robert Clark, the chief growth officer for Sizzler, told QSR Magazine that the brand made a mistake trying to change what it was known for (fast-casual dining), and is now going to double down on the staples.
Of the strategy of trying to change with the times, “it just never worked,” Clark told the magazine. “Our current leadership is much more focused on hey, let’s take the best of Sizzler and let’s make it even better.”
Clark told QSR that the brand has been updating restaurants and is seeing an uptick in sales in those restaurants. The chain launched into a major brand “excavation,” revisiting everything from the logo to how it interacts with customers, the magazine reported.
“We feel like we have a really great brand here,” Clark told QSR Magazine. “And our results have been very solid. We constantly pop up in pop culture. I think what we’re trying to do with the remodel is really stay relevant and have facilities and assets that meet our reputation. We understand that remodeling is probably the single biggest driver of guests in the restaurant. It’s the most important thing I think we could do aside from a lot of other operational things we’re doing as well.”
Sizzler USA Filed for Bankruptcy During the Pandemic
Sizzler struck bottom during the pandemic when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2020, according to Restaurant Business.
The chain “had been in decline before it sought debt protection,” but the pandemic “pushed the company over the edge,” that site reported. The company faced pressures, including “higher labor costs and local taxes,” according to Restaurant Business.
According to Restaurant Business, the Sizzler chain, which took off in the 1980s, was popular enough that it ended up in movies, notably 1992’s White Men Can’t Jump.
The chain first filed for debt protection in 1996, Restaurant Business reported, adding that Sizzler is not the only chain struggling in its space. Competitor chains like Ponderosa and Luby’s have had struggles as well, according to Restaurant Business.
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Golden Corral. Yuk. It’s the Mecca for the obese
Private equity must be running out of existing chains to asset strip.
That’s why the have two doors..................
The first two went under. Speaking of down under, if you think Longhorn is expensive, don’t go to Outback. Texas Road house is also quite pricey.
Yeah, they were pretty good. I think I might have eaten there once. I hope they are successful.
We go to Outback in Destin a couple times a year. Ruth’s Chris, also in Destin, one time a year, if then, for our anniversary.
The nearest Texas Roadhouse is 50 miles away in Milton, FL. We ate there one time..................
I used to join my family to one back in the 1970s and didn’t know they were still around.
A couple of decades ago I used to go to a Black Angus which i thought was one of the better low/mid range chains. I don’t live in their area anymore so don’t know if they are still decent.
My parents and I loved Bonanza.
People went to the Sizzler for their salad/taco/desert bar.
I cannot complain about Longhorn’s. We ate there one time and I ordered a small steak. The manger came out and said they were out of that size and instead they gave me a much larger steak for the same price!................
Black Angus! There’s one I’d forgotten all about! We had one of those too waaay back, but it closed years ago. We never ate there, so I guess that’s why I forgot about it!...........
Phoenix is filled with steakhouses, but I cannot afford most of them. A vendor took us to Stockyards, which is one of the oldest steakhouses around here. $50 got me a grizzly steak with a couple of uninspired sides. I expected better here.
“Aged’ means it spent time in a walk-in refrigerator.
Parts is pieces parts..............Where’s the beef?...........
Cors eat grass. Chickens eat any horrible thing that scampers by. But it’s more “healthy”, lol
“Aged’ means it spent time in a walking in a pasture for YEARS................
try $33.39 for that Sizzler ribeye
plus tax and tip
and if you’re using it, any delivery fees
the place is just too dam(ed expensive for most Americans nowadays
we had a sizzler with a gnat, fly problem... so you had to swat while eating... and nobody wanted to do the salad bar
last time we went there, they’d cleaned it up but there softee ice milk machine was broken... a real bummer (!)
Woo hoo! The Sizzler comin’ back! I liked their salad bar, and truthfully I went to the Sizzler many a time during my lean years. A good steak? No ability to really know those days.
I wonder about the prices they will have nowadays though. Steak prices have gone through the roof.
I wish them success.
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