PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Steak 'n Shake
Includes Steak and Shake, Steak n Shake, SteaknShake
fast casual · Indianapolis, IN
- PE Firm
- Biglari Holdings
- Year Acquired
- 2008
An investment holding company killed table service after 86 years and replaced your waiter with a kiosk.
What They Did
- Sardar Biglari seized control of Steak 'n Shake in 2008, then renamed the whole parent company Biglari Holdings after himself in 2010
- Eliminated table service entirely in 2021 after 86 years, spending roughly $50 million to replace waiters with self-order kiosks
- Converted company-owned stores to a franchise model where operators pay just $10,000 to take over a location, then hand corporate up to 15% of sales plus half the profits
- Sales at existing locations fell for years, yet CEO Sardar Biglari declared they 'Michelangelo'ed' Steak 'n Shake. Apparently Michelangelo was known for chiseling away 200 restaurants
Since the Acquisition
- The sit-down diner experience that defined Steak 'n Shake is gone, replaced by kiosks and counter pickup
- Some 200 locations closed since 2018, leaving longtime customers in dozens of cities without their neighborhood Steak 'n Shake
- The menu was stripped down and simplified in the fast-food pivot. Breakfast items and chicken sandwiches were cut as 'superfluous,' along with the silverware
Sources
- Evolving Steak 'n Shake Has Closed 200 Locations Since 2018 — QSR Magazine(2025-03-03)
- Steak 'n Shake closed another 30 restaurants last year — Restaurant Business Online(2023-02-27)
- After a last-minute rescue from Sardar Biglari, Steak 'n Shake embraces kiosks — Restaurant Business Online(2021-02-28)
- Sardar Biglari: 'We Michelangelo'ed Steak 'n Shake' — QSR Magazine(2022-02-28)
- Inside Steak 'n Shake's Winding Road Back — QSR Magazine(2023-02-28)
- Steak 'n Shake is Turning Into a Fast-Food Chain — QSR Magazine(2020-02-24)
- Steak n Shake parent to change name — Nation's Restaurant News(2010-02-01)