Restaurant Group history

The Peasant chain began in 1973, when Stephan Nygren and Richard Dailey turned a Mexican restaurant on Atlanta's Peachtree Street into the Pleasant Peasant, a continental New York bistro.

Smith & Wollensky and Others: 1977-89

The Post House, launched in 1980, was a steak and chop house with an American theme.

Michael Byrne, who began as a bartender, had been director of operations since 1980 and had been supervising Smith & Wollensky on a daily basis for more than ten years.

During twice-a-year Wine Week, beginning in 1986, his customers were offered a choice of free wines for sampling during lunch; at Cité unlimited free wine was offered beginning at 8 p.m. to fill a room typically vacated by diners moving on to nearby theaters.

Entrees at the Boston unit, which opened in 1987, included prime rib, veal and lamb chops, and swordfish steak, as well as chicken, lobster, and the usual two-inch-thick steaks.

Despite that problem the company, with 19 restaurants, had annual sales in 1987 of $30 million.

In 1989, Prentice took over management of the Plaza Deli in Southfield, Michigan, which he later bought.

Sales volume, including the adjoining grill, came to $17 million in 1989, with the average check for the main room at $38 for lunch and $50 for dinner.

La Cité, described by New York Restaurant Group as a Parisian cafe-style restaurant, opened in midtown Manhattan near the end of 1989.

In the early 1990’s, Houston’s made important moves to the west coast during a time when the culinary scene saw many influential figures transforming the way America ate.

At the end of 1990, the restaurant division had 21 units, with total annual sales of $50 million.

In 1990, he renovated a Florida location and reopened it as Rayz Riverside Cafe.

The year 1991 saw Sebastian's reworked into the more casual Sebastian's Grill, and the opening of Tavern on 13 in Birmingham, which took the place of a failed restaurant in the same space.

The company made its initial public offering of stock in 1992, its first profitable year.

Park Avenue Cafe, characterized by the company as offering 'cutting-edge new American cuisine in a cafe atmosphere,' opened on the Upper East Side, but only a few blocks north of midtown, in 1992.

1993: Sourdough Bread Factory opens in Pontiac.

But that growth and increased competition took their toll as profits fell 86 percent from 1993, even though sales were up 16 percent, to nearly $86 million.

There were 10 Peasant and 25 Mick's restaurants in 1994, when Quantum Restaurant Group--which now wholly owned both chains&mdash⁄ifted to lower prices for the former, with most entrees in the $7 to $16 range.

The company continued to expand, reaching a peak of 37 restaurants at the end of 1994, with a total customer count of 5.3 million people.

Park Avenue Cafe introduced a Chicago locale in 1994, closely duplicating the original, on the second floor of the Guest Quarters Suites hotel (later the Doubletree Guest Suites hotel). New York Restaurant Group already had opened a more casual Mrs.

David Loeb, a restaurant analyst with The Chicago Corp. in Chicago, put it succinctly to Robin Lee Allen of Nation's Restaurant News in a 1995 article, "As someone at Shoney's said to me, 'In casual dining, the seats are growing faster than the fannies to fill them."

Despite these efforts, same-store sales, particularly for the 17 Papa.Razzi units, continued to drop during 1995 and by mid-year the company was reporting a net loss.

New York Restaurant Group, L.L.C. was formed in 1995 as a holding company for a series of partnerships and limited liability companies anchored by Stillman but involving as many as 40 investors.

Morton's Restaurant Group, 1996-99

The new year did not begin well, as the Blizzard of 1996 dropped more than 100 inches of snow in Back Bay's major market.

In 1996 New York Restaurant Group launched Maloney & Porcelli.

1996: Stillman sells a 23 percent stake in NYRG to Thomas H. Lee.

The company announced in early 1997 that it was selling 19 Peasant and Mick's restaurants, for $6.8 million in cash and notes, to Gregory M. Buckley, former president of Quincy's Family Steakhouse.

Back Bay Restaurant Group, Inc. owns and operates full-service, upscale restaurants in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. Of the 34 locations operating as of mid-1997, 14 served Northern Italian cuisine under the Papa.Razzi name.

When it opened in late 1997, this branch had the largest seating capacity--670--of any NYRG restaurant at the time.

Also in 1998, URC converted Trattoria Bruschetta at the Hotel Baronette into the No.

At the end of 1998 Morton's Restaurant Group owned and operated 43 Morton's of Chicago and 12 Bertolini's units.

Sales of $24.7 million for the year ended June 28, 1999 made Smith & Wollensky's Manhattan site one of the highest grossing single restaurant locations in the country.

In August 1999, URC licensed the Deli Unique name to the MotorCity Casino, which would open a round-the-clock delicatessen that seated 150.

Stillman held 30 percent of the company's shares and Lee held 23 percent in mid-1999.

1999: NYRG postpones a plan to offer stock to the public.

In March 2000, URC took over management of four restaurants at the Star Southfield movie theater complex from Ark Restaurant Corp. of New York, which had spent $14 million on renovations before pulling out.

In October 2000, he had formed the Variety Produce Resource Program, which distributed surplus food to the hungry, and had also worked with Share our Strength, Forgotten Harvest, the Food Bank of Oakland County, and Gleaners.

The year 2001 also saw a lobbying effort spearheaded by Prentice to cause the state of Michigan to change an archaic law prohibiting staff from sampling wine on the job.

2001: The firm begins catering auto shows for the Ford Motor Company.

2002: Kosher restaurant Milk & Honey opens.

The Yee family purchased The Halfway House in 2002 and continues to operate the cozy local pub.

2018 also saw the Bean Restaurant Group enter into a partnership with the Rondeau Family to manage The Boathouse (formerly Dockside). Serving classic New England sea fare, The Boathouse is Western Massachusetts' premier destination for full service dining alongside the beautiful Connecticut River.

Early 2020 saw the acquisition of another iconic property when the Yee Family purchased White Hut in West Springfield.