The Steakhouse Empire That Once Fed Presidents And Then Lost It All

Few things are more American than a classic steakhouse. Since the Old Homestead Steakhouse – the oldest steakhouse in America – opened in 1868, customers have been fascinated with the restaurant concept, whether it's an upscale spot in Las Vegas or a successful casual dining chain like Texas Roadhouse. Still, steakhouses are certainly not bulletproof when it comes to financial struggles. In the last decade, with a strong push from the COVID pandemic, quite a few steakhouses have fought to stay open to the point of bankruptcy — or worse. One such chain is the BLT Restaurant group – the hospitality operation behind BLT Steak and BLT Prime – that first opened as a standalone concept in 2004 and thrived for years until 2020.

This steakhouse chain was popular enough to attract two U.S. presidents as regulars. President Trump frequented BLT Prime in Washington D.C. — famously ordering a well-done 28-day dry-aged New York Strip with ketchup — until it closed in 2022. The slightly less expensive BLT Steak in D.C. was frequented by President Obama and his family during his tenure, with his go-to order being the "Obama Burger" — a $28 Kobe American burger with cheddar cheese, bacon, burnt tomato ketchup, and spicy scallion mustard. The restaurant chain also gained fame from its association with Gordon Ramsay, as the winners of Hell's Kitchen seasons 9 and 15 were awarded chef positions at BLT Steak in New York City and Las Vegas. So, with all that early success, what happened to the BLT group of restaurants?

Like almost all restaurant chains after the 2020 pandemic, BLT Restaurant Group struggled. The chain filed for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) relief in April 2020. The brand received $3.3 million to reopen and help pay staff shortly thereafter. With New York restaurants nearly shut down completely for indoor dining most of 2020, BLT was in dire straits. The chain applied for another PPP loan in 2021 and received $2 million. By 2022, BLT Restaurant Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it was unable to pay back the PPP loans.

After all that, the inevitable restaurant closures soon followed. Today, BLT Steak only operates outside of the United States, in locations such as South Korea, Turks and Caicos, Aruba, and Japan. As for the higher-end BLT Prime, its only two remaining U.S. locations are in New York City and Miami. If you'd like to see what BLT Prime is all about, both restaurants receive mostly positive reviews, offering steakhouse classics such as tuna tartare, an iceberg wedge salad, Scottish salmon, and of course, steaks like a 36-ounce aged porterhouse and a 22-ounce aged bone-in ribeye.

We never want to see restaurants struggle, but the last decade has been a rough go for many restaurant chains, and that goes well beyond steakhouses. Here's hoping these restaurants can continue to adjust to changing times and match what today's customers want in terms of food quality and budget limitations.