Steakhouse chain Sizzler (Culver City, Calif.) plans to return to the Chicago market with 18 new restaurants over the next five years.
The chain operates only 179 of its original 700 locations. [do we know where? nationwide? regionally?]Ceo Kerry Kramp says the goal is to recycle as many vacant restaurants as possible to open the new locations, including sites in Naperville, Crystal Lake and Gurnee, Ill.
“We feel like we can go back into the markets in a much more strategic and disciplined fashion,” Kramp told Crain’s Chicago Business.
Sizzler once operated 15 restaurants in the metro Chicago area, all of which closed after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1996.
The company says it’s considering expansion in Denver, Minneapolis and St. Louis.