Beef O'Brady's

Beef O'Brady's (styled as Beef 'O' Brady's Family Sports Restaurant)[3] is a restaurant franchise in the United States, established in 1985 by Jim Mellody in Brandon, Florida,[4] and headquartered in Tampa.[5]

Beef O'Brady's
IndustryRestaurants
Founded1985 (1985) in Brandon, Florida
FounderJim Mellody
Headquarters
Tampa, Florida
,
United States
Number of locations
151 (2019)[1]
Area served
United States
Key people
Chris Elliott (CEO)
OwnerFamily Sports Concepts Inc.[2]
Websitewww.beefobradys.com

History

Jim Mellody moved from his native Pennsylvania to Florida in 1971, and tried numerous restaurant ideas before hitting on the concept of a family friendly Irish pub (no hard liquor). He founded Beef O'Brady's in 1985.[1] In 1998, Mellody sold most of his interest to Family Sports Concepts Inc., headed by Chuck Winship, but retained an interest in 13 locations.[6][7][8] Franchising started in 1998,[1] and by August 2000, it had grown to 40 locations.[6]

When Mellody died in November 2002, the chain had grown to 88 locations within seven southeastern states.[4][7][9] After Mellody's death, what had been his remaining interest in the company was bought out,[10] and by December 2005 there were 183 locations in 19 states.[8] As of 2009, Mellody's daughter still ran the original Brandon location.[10]

In early 2010, CEO Chuck Winship retired and was replaced by Chris Elliott, a former executive of Cinnabon and Church's Chicken; at that time, the company had approximately 245 locations, down from a high of approximately 270.[11] As of September 2019, the number of locations had dropped to 150, with 26 of those company-owned and operated.[12]

Bowl game

In 2009, the company became the title sponsor of the St. Petersburg Bowl, an annual college football bowl game held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.[13] That year's game was officially named the "St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef 'O' Brady's".[14] The game was then renamed as the "Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl" for four years (2010–2013).[15] In 2014, the game reverted to its original name, and in 2017 became the Gasparilla Bowl.

References
  1. "Beef O'Brady's Family Sports Pub". entrepreneur.com. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  2. "Family Sports Concepts Inc". bloomberg.com. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  3. "Beef 'O' Brady's Family Sports Restaurant". beefobradys.com. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  4. "Restaurant Owner Founded Beef 'O' Brady's". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 26, 2002. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  5. "In its 30 years, Beef 'O' Brady's evolves into a defining Tampa Bay franchise". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  6. Meadows, Andrew (August 12, 2000). "Beef 'O' Brady's 'Bama bound". The Tampa Tribune. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  7. "Jim Mellody, founder of the Beef 'O' Brady's family sports pub chain". Nation's Restaurant News. November 26, 2002. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  8. Park, Carolyne (December 16, 2005). "Beef 'O' Brady's market push". Memphis Business Journal. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  9. Michael Sandler (November 25, 2002). "Jim Mellody, who founded Beef 'O' Brady's". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  10. Margaret Cashill (January 29, 2009). "Owner operators advance 'family' philosophy". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  11. Sasso, Michael (July 3, 2010). "Beef O'Brady's leader steps down to pursue MBA". The Tampa Tribune. p. 29. Retrieved December 23, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  12. Romeo, Peter (September 12, 2019). "For Beef 'O' Brady's, Rejuvenation is a Process". restaurantbusinessonline.com. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  13. "St. Pete Bowl gets new title sponsor". St. Petersburg Times. December 9, 2009. p. 18. Retrieved December 23, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  14. "Beef 'O' Brady's Signs on as Title Sponsor of St. Petersburg Bowl". St. Petersburg Bowl. Archived from the original on 14 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  15. "'O' No! Beef 'O' Brady's to drop sponsorship of local bowl game". Retrieved June 18, 2014.
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