Why Did Beefsteak Charlie's Restaurant Chain Go Out Of Business?

Beefsteak Charlie's belongs to a bygone era when buffets were plentiful and the booze was all-you-can-drink, too. Try getting that somewhere that isn't a high-priced beer-tasting event these days. This style of restaurant isn't entirely extinct — you can still head to establishments like the largest buffet in America, Pennsylvania's Shady Maple Smorgasbord – but for the most part, they just don't make them like Beefsteak Charlie's anymore. Yet, for everything the restaurant chain had going for it, including the unlimited salad bar with its enormous bowls of all-you-can-eat pre-peeled shrimp and, in some cases, live entertainment that ran the gamut from comedy sets to crowd-led talent shows, the downfall of Beefsteak Charlie's was swift, thanks to a bad acquisition. 

In 1984, Beefsteak Charlie's had reached the pinnacle of its success, with almost 70 locations along the eastern side of the country. But the restaurant's heyday was short-lived. By 1987, it had shuttered 20 locations and lost $20 million in the process after multiple business decisions that went sour. That same year, the ailing company was acquired by Bombay Palace Restaurants with the promise of a revival. In 1989, though, the fortunes of Beefsteak Charlie's, which were tied to its parent company, took an even more serious downturn.

That wasn't the end for Beefsteak Charlie's, though; there were still some restaurants open, with two locations surviving the 1990s in the city where it all began, New York. But by 2001, both of those restaurants were closed, with one being swapped out for a different restaurant, while the other lost business as a result of the September 11 attacks. Elsewhere in New York, a Wellesley Inn & Suites opened in March 2003 with a Beefsteak Charlie's restaurant attached to the hotel, though it was likely not affiliated with the original chain (a different hotel now occupies that address and the restaurant is no more).

Most recently, in 2009, a Beefsteak Charlie's restaurant revival occurred in the Westfield Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, NY (on Long Island), though that location apparently did not see many sunrises and it closed soon after. The Yelp page for this restaurant features reviews that are overwhelmingly tepid, if not downright critical, with one person saying, "Oh, I think this was the worst steakhouse experience EVER." In the grand tradition of food sellers with now-outdated services or business models (like Schwan's food delivery, which ended operations in November 2024 or A&P grocery stores, which closed up all of its locations in 2015), you'll have to cling to your golden memories of Beefsteak Charlie's, and keep it alive in your heart.