The Return of Steak and Ale to Texas Seems Dead, For Now

It's a tough time in the restaurant business. Prices continue to increase, it's getting harder to hold onto employees, and customers aren't happy about the menu prices that are going up. It's probably even harder to be in the restaurant business when you are attempting to bring back a brand that has been dead for a while.

Restaurant chain Steak and Ale announced in 2023 that it was going to make a comeback. Steak and Ale was going to open its first new location in Grand Prairie, but apparently plans have changed according to new reports. According to the Dallas Morning News, the CEO of Steak and Ale, Paul Mangiamele still plans to bring Steak and Ale back, and still plans to bring a location to DFW, but a return in 2024 is "unlikely" and it doesn't appear as though there is a timeline at all.

In a statement to WFAA, Steak and Ale officials blamed "strong headwinds" and "regulatory assaults on small business" as reasons why they are not planning to open in DFW in 2024.

"Regardless of the strong headwinds, naysayers, and regulatory assaults on small business everywhere, we continue to persevere and plan to, once again, open our iconic brands in the greater DFW area when those winds begin to shift in our favor," restaurant officials said in a statement.

Steak and Ale is however, focused on opening a location now under construction in Burnsville, Minnesota.

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The Dallas Morning News reports that as of today, Steak and Ale has no timeline for opening in Grand Prairie or anywhere else in Dallas-Fort Worth. They still "hope" to break ground this year, but there are no plans. The DMN did report that when asked if the delay meant the expansion to DFW may not happen, Mangiamele responded with this:

“Not while I’m still alive and kicking,” Mangiamele said. “It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”

So that might be something that longtime Steak and Ale fans might take as good news.