Mr. Spivak: The company is 20 years old this year. We opened up our first restaurant in Beverly Hills, January 31, 1984, called The Grill. It became known as The Grill on the Alley. It's a fine dining prime steaks, chops, and fresh seafood restaurant that caters to the entertainment industry. In the April 2003 Vanity Fair, we were named one of the five most powerful restaurants in the country. In 1989, about five years later, we opened up what we call a down-scale version of The Grill called The Daily Grill. The Daily Grill fits into the upper end of the casual dining market. The first one opened in September 1989. The difference between the two restaurants is The Grill in Beverly Hills has an average check for lunch of about $23 per person and $60 dinner for dinner while The Daily Grill has an average check for lunch of $14 and dinner $22. There are currently 19 Daily Grill restaurants. Ten are in southern California, two in northern California, four in Washington, DC, one in Chicago, Houston and Portland. There are also a total of four The Grill restaurants. In addition to the flagship in Beverly Hills, they are in San Jose, Chicago and Hollywood, California. About seven years ago we embarked on a growth pattern, which started to put Daily Grill restaurants into hotels. The first one opened up in the Burbank Hilton Hotel in 1997. This has become a growth strategy for the company. Currently, five of the 19 Daily Grills are located within hotels. In 2001, we formed a strategic partnership with Starwood Hotels. Starwood became an investor in the company. Since then we have opened up two restaurants in Starwood Hotels, the one in Houston and in Portland. Currently our growth strategy is to continue opening hotel restaurants as well as opening free standing both Daily Grills and The Grill.
Tickers included in this excerpt: GRIL
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