Paul Mangiamele has always understood the gravity of the task ahead. Often, when a restaurant enters a new market, it circles a 15–20-mile radius and asks whether this is a site people will drive to, or if it needs to rely on foot traffic. This opening, though, at least at first, will be more like a 15–20 state pull. And that might be underselling it, as north of 50,000 people have continually suggested to Mangiamele for some time in a Facebook group dedicated to its comeback.

In April 2024, Mangiamele and partner Roy Arnold will officially resurrect one of the most iconic restaurant chains in American dining history. Steak & Ale, founded in 1966 by the late Norman Brinker—one of only two brands he created, along with Bennigan’s—left the map with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2008. The brand some credit for inventing the salad bar had grown as large as 280 units in the 1980s. The remaining 58 shuttered with the filing, as did 150 corporate Bennigan’s. Seven years later, Mangiamele and his wife, Gwen, acquired the assets from Fortress Investment Group and formed Legendary Restaurant Brands..."