An Iconic Texas Based Steak Chain That Has Been Sorely Missed By Those That Remember Them Was Planning A Comeback.

The last time I remember visiting a "Steak And Ale" restaurant was in the early 2000s just before they shut down.

While I don't remember what city it was in, I remember going to a location and enjoying the food but I also began to understand WHY they went out of business too. Their restaurants were sort of "outdated" looking and there was tons of competition.

The once-popular restaurant chain, based in North Texas, closed its doors after going into bankruptcy in 2008.

The chain was founded by Norman Brinker, the same restauranteur who founded Chili's. The chain, with its dimly lit Tudor-style decorated dining rooms, billed itself as offering an upscale steak experience at lower prices.

Steak and Ale grew as one of the first chain dinner houses to its height in the late 1980s with 280 locations, before competition that the brand helped inspire eroded its market presence.

At One Point, They Had Whitney Houston Singing In Their Commercials.

In 2014, Bennigan's CEO Paul Mangiamele announced their intended comeback for 2016 but nothing happened.  A year later, Mangiamele and his wife Gwen, closed on a management buyout of the company from its parent private equity firm, for an undisclosed price.

After trying out different things to reintroduce the brand to the public they seemed ready to come back but now that's on hold.

Last Year, The restaurant chain announced that they would be opening its first location at Grand Prairie.

But now those plans have been temporarily nixed, officials told WFAA. In a statement, officials said:

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, We deeply appreciate the groundswell of support as well as the genuine and heartfelt affection most folks have for Bennigan’s, Bennigan’s On The Fly and Steak and Ale. The developers and franchise groups that we are working with continue to present building plans and layouts that we hope will be approved without further delay".

So for now, we wait for the return of a beloved Texas classic, but we'll keep you posted.