Know
Chris Sullivan: Becoming the face of Outback Steakhouse
Tampa businessman Chris Sullivan, a co-founder and former CEO of Outback Steakhouse, has no plans of slowing down on growing the culinary scene through his global brands.
“I’ve never seen a more competitive time in the local economy,” Sullivan said during a moderated fireside chat at the Florida Israel-Business Accelerator’s Tuesday hospitality conference, inside the Bryan Glazer JCC in Tampa.
Chris Sullivan. Photo provided.
“I’ve always looked at the restaurant business as a game and I love sports. In the hospitality industry, there are coaches and players making adjustments all the time in business. I decided it would be an exciting game to play,” Sullivan recalled to Tampa Bay Business Journal Publisher Ian Anderson.
Sullivan, alongside Bob Basham, Tim Gannon and Trudy Cooper, is best known for opening the first Australian-themed casual dining Outback Steakhouse restaurant in 1988, which went public in 2012.
It was owned and operated by OSI Restaurant Partners until Tampa-based Bloomin’ Brands Inc., the current parent company, acquired it in 2013.
Today, Sullivan is an active partner at Metro Diner, a quick service chain, the Tampa-based Besito Mexican restaurant and ConSul Hospitality Partners, a Tampa-based firm involved in joint ventures. He was formerly a board member at Bloomin’ Brands.
Sullivan, describing himself as an average C-level student while growing up in eastern Kentucky, had his first break in the industry in 1972 when legendary Texas restaurateur Norman Brinker hired him as a manager trainee in Chicago for Steak and Ale, an independent restaurant chain.
“Norman gave a bunch of us young people too much responsibility way too early. We made a lot of mistakes, but we really learned about the business,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said after experiencing three “horrible winters in Chicago,” he moved to Tampa in 1977, initially running Bennigan’s, an Irish pub-themed American casual-dining restaurant chain also founded by Brinker.
Sullivan started operating the existing 24 Bennigan’s locations, which rapidly grew to 120 locations over the next three years.
“I learned a lot about fast growth and building management teams,” Sullivan said, explaining how he formed a tighter bond with team members after a business trip to Colorado.
However, nearly a decade later, London-based Grand Met acquired the restaurant chain, and Brinker and Sullivan’s focus shifted to growing their other venture – the Tex-Mex Chili’s chain.
Fast forward to 1987; Sullivan connected with restaurateur Basham to create a new steakhouse brand as Steak and Ale fell into bankruptcy.
At the time, Gannon, a former colleague, introduced the business partners to what is now Outback Steakhouse’s signature item – The Bloomin’ Onion, a New Orleans-inspired, deep-fried onion appetizer.
Impressed by the dish, the pair offered Gannon 20% of the company, saying he would “make this company millions.”
Since then, the Outback Steakhouse empire has expanded to over 1,400 restaurants worldwide with other concepts, including Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, and Bonefish Grill.
In responding to a question about the biggest mistake he’s made throughout his entrepreneurship journey, Sullivan’s answer was simple: Rolling out the Carrabba’s Italian Grill concept too fast.
Sullivan explained that with Outback Steakhouse, the company developed one new restaurant in the first year and two or three more in the following year in a new market.
With Carrabba’s, they developed four to six restaurants in the first year with a team lacking the same type of talent and experiences as Outback Steakhouse execs, eventually leading to the decision to shut down several Carrabba’s locations.
“You have to take risks; just don’t make the same one twice,” Sullivan said, stating he doesn’t like to dwell on the past.
As the fireside chat was concluding, Sullivan offered one last piece of advice – “Find the greatest people and build those relationships. Do what you can to nourish those relations and give people an opportunity, and have fun while doing it.”
Related: Crabby Bill’s, Teak owners share playbook on retaining talent
David Agliano
March 5, 2023at10:43 am
These guys CHANGED the way America eats. Curbside pick up. Dining rooms designed for impact ( walk in see bars people drinking TVs. Fun. ) NOW however the food has changed. Service has changed and they’ve become a last choice instead of first choice. The fact that they BOUGHT concepts instead of developing them is the reason. Their R&D set upon INSTITUTIONALIZING the food. Remember “Chef Partners” and manager partners as a hiring tool? A main reason independents stalled during their reign. They’ve deserted running good restaurants for profits. They aren’t hungry anymore. And neither are we for MEDIOCRE FOOD. If not for those initial big knives and the BLOOMING ONION they’d have been just another steak house. But it got people talking. Well, people are still talking but about how lousy they’ve become. Sorry. It’s a fact.