Talk:Ruth's Chris Steak House

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I am wondering how the name "Ruth's Chris steakhouse" began...doesn't Ruth & Chris's steakhouse sound better? I will never eat at the restuarant until I find out what the hell is up with their name.

It's actually explained on the page. Ruth bought Chris Steak House and the stipulation was that they keep the "Chris" name. Eventually, when she could change the name, she just decided to keep it the way it was. Mike H 00:45, Apr 23, 2005 (UTC)

To clarify a bit: the name is not meant to imply the steakhouse is owned by Ruth and Chris, it's meant to imply it is the Chris Steakhouse, owned by Ruth. 69.118.247.101 04:20, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

That seems to have been an old style naming convention here in New Orleans when a well known name restaurant got a new owner. Another locally famous example is "Pascal's Manale". -- Infrogmation 16:29, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] More confusion

OK, I'm finding a few different stories. In some she is required to keep the name, in other's she is given the right to keep the name as long as it stays in the same location, some mention a fire and re-opening, some only mention a second branch.

The current page reads: In buying the restaurant, Fertel had to agree that the restaurant keep the "Chris" name. After the original establishment burned down, she renamed it Ruth's Chris...

http://www.ruthschris-austin.com/general_history.htm reads: Chris Matulich had already sold his 60 seat steak house six times, repeatedly buying it back on the cheap when the latest owner had failed or given up... Ruth didn't know she was being suckered. ... With business eventually booming, Ruth opened another branch close to the original. This prompted a legal spat with Chris Matulich that led her to append her first name to his, creating the famously tongue-twisting Ruth's Chris Steak House. (some references at http://www.ruthschris-austin.com/reviews.htm)

http://www.austin360.com/restaurants/content/restaurants/special/2001/deardale_070601.html reads: When Fertel entered the restaurant industry in 1965, she bought Chris Steak House in New Orleans from Chris Matulich. But there was a stipulation: If she ever moved it, she had to change the name. In 1976, a fire damaged the building and Fertel decided to move the restaurant four blocks away a week later. So she had to quickly rename the place. ... Thus, Chris Steak House became Ruth's Chris Steak House.

http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/rest-review-ruthschris.html reads: The owner (Chris Matulich) gave Ruth the right to keep the name as long as the restaurant stayed in the original location.

The above sources are all consistent with what the page currently reads.

[edit] Leaving New Orleans post Katrina

I'm not sure this merits any inclusion in the article, but there's been some resentment in New Orleans over the chain pulling out of the city (both the headquarters and the original restaurant), which some have compared unfavorably to Ruth Fertel's charitable actions after Hurricane Betsy. [1] [2]. -- Infrogmation 16:29, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Keeping the Chris name

None of the sources mention that Ruth was required to keep the Chris name at new locations -- they say that she was only required to keep the name at the original location. Once the original location burned down, she added her name Ruth into the steakhouse's name, because she wasn't allowed to use the same name in new locations. The article mentions that "By the time Fertel was legally allowed to take Chris out of the name, the chain (and its unique name) had become famous in many places across the country, and she therefore decided to keep the name." But this cannot be true, because Fertel was already legally allowed to take Chris out of the name when she built the new restaurant. As the article mentions, she kept Chris in the name only to retain customers, not because she was contractually obligated to keep it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.205.142.155 (talk • contribs).