Ruth’s Chris Steak House to Close Midtown Restaurant
By Mark Hallum January 30, 2023 3:09 pm
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The pandemic is continuing to drive a steak through the hearts of some Manhattan restaurants.
The Midtown location of Ruth’s Chris Steak House at 148 West 51st Street will close at the end of April after a 30-year run after the company decided not to renew its lease, Crain’s New York Business reported.
A filing with the New York State Department of Labor indicates that 63 employees, all nonunion, will lose their jobs when the chain serves its last cowboy ribeye April 30.
While Ruth’s Chris Steak House did not respond to a request for comment about the closure, the company as a whole seems to be seeing growth.
It had an $105.8 million increase in restaurant sales from 2019 to 2022 while its overhead started to decrease, Crain’s reported.
Overhead from food and beverages decreased 257 basis points, to 31.7 percent, in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter of 2021, while the cost of beef decreased 14 percent over the same period, according to an earnings report.
The company saw net income drop slightly from $6.9 million to $5.5 million from 2021 to 2022. However, total sales increased 8.5 percent in the third quarter of 2022, partly thanks to Ruth’s Chris opening six new restaurants, including a 7,840-square-foot location at 470 North Orlando Avenue in Winter Park, Fla., in October.
But things haven’t been so rosy at its Manhattan outposts. In its third company call, Kristy Chipman, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Ruth’s Hospitality Group, said that the Midtown spot “continues to be challenged over the long haul,” which Chipman blamed as being “tied to the return to work,” according to Crain’s.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
