usa restaurants inc. type private industry restaurants founded 1958 headquarters mission viejo california u.s. key people del and helen johnson founders products steak seafood salads owner sizzler usa united states pacific equity partners outside usa website www.sizzler.com sizzler is a united states based 1 restaurant chain with headquarters in mission viejo california . it is known for steak seafood and salad bar items . contents 1 history 2 international locations 3 controversy 3.1 food safety 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit sizzler in musashino japan the chain was founded in 1958 as del s sizzler family steak house by del and helen johnson in culver city california . 2 the chain is composed of more than 270 locations throughout the u.s. 3 most of sizzler s u.s. locations are in the west . steak and lobster with fries from sizzler in the late 1970s and early 1980s sizzler promoted mainly steak and combination steak dinners with an optional salad bar . the restaurant wanted to give the customer the feel of a full service restaurant but at a price just slightly more than that of a fast food chain . to keep costs down many of the restaurants had their own in house meat cutters where they would cut their own steaks and grind their own hamburgers . heading into the mid 1980s competition began to appear from other casual dining restaurants such as ponderosa steakhouse and bonanza steakhouse . after promotions such as all you can eat fried shrimp the chain decided to expand its popular salad bar into a full buffet promoted as the buffet court . patrons began to use the buffet as their meal instead of an add on to an entree . in response sizzler began to lower the quality of food in other areas of the menu . 4 customers took notice and sizzler s reputation suffered . sizzler filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 primarily to void leases closed 140 of 215 stores and changed its logo . 5 the company reemerged from chapter 11 in 1997 . during the late 1990s new management upgraded the quality of food but also increased prices . twenty one locations were closed in 2001 . sizzler began an image makeover around 2002 . a new restaurant concept was created featuring a lighter and more open dining room . the changes were accompanied with a new menu . in an effort to return to its roots steaks seafood and the salad bar are now being reemphasized while the all you can eat buffet is being phased out . 4 in the 1990s sizzler ran upscale locations with the buffalo ranch steakhouse brand . 6 7 8 sizzler was sold to pacific equity partners an australian based investment firm in 2005 . 1 in january 2008 sizzler announced it was planning to take action against the multi state lottery association musl of urbandale iowa over the use of the name the sizzler hot lotto . 9 in june 2011 it was announced that sizzler usa a usa management group led by the sizzler ceo would buy the chain from pacific equity partners . the headquarters initially remained in culver city california where the chain was founded 10 but moved to mission viejo california in 2012 . 11 sizzler has launched its zz food truck as a way to expand sales and market test new dishes . 12 international locations edit sizzler also has restaurants throughout the world including australia china indonesia japan puerto rico and thailand . these locations outside the united states are operated by pacific equity partners . controversy edit food safety edit in 2000 over 60 people became ill and a young girl died in an outbreak of e. coli o157 h7 that originated at a sizzler restaurant in milwaukee wisconsin . health officials said that the likely source of contamination was meat supplied by the excel corporation meat packer . they believe that cross contamination to other food items occurred when sizzler employees handled the meat near areas where salad bar items were prepared . 13 this was similar to an outbreak in washington and oregon in 1993 . in the 1993 case as in 2000 the tainted meat apparently came from excel and contaminated salad bar items . 14 this ultimately lead to sizzler closing the remaining few of its midwest locations including those in wisconsin illinois and indiana . in 2006 all 28 sizzler restaurants across australia suspended salad bar service after rat poison was found in two brisbane sizzler restaurants . sizzler australia referred to the incidents as sabotage . 15 16 the culprit turned out to be a woman described as being mentally unstable . 17 see also edit food portal list of buffet restaurants list of casual dining restaurant chains references edit a b the sizzler story . sizzler.com . 1958 01 27 . retrieved 2012 06 22 . sizzler usa franchise inc. http . chainleader.com . retrieved 2012 06 22 . external link in publisher help sizzler.com our history a b norris maya 2006 09 01 . cast in a new light . chain leader . retrieved 2007 01 01 . external link in publisher help sizzler closes outlets . thefreelibrary.com . 1996 06 04 . retrieved 2012 06 22 . jacobsen max 1993 04 15 . upscale buffalo ranch sizzzzzles . los angeles times . retrieved 2015 12 03 . sizzler declares bankruptcy . las vegas sun . 1996 06 03 . retrieved 2015 12 03 . young david 1994 07 06 . beef on the comeback trail . chicago tribune . sizzler said to be considering trademark suit against lottery group retrieved june 9 2011 sizzler sold to team led by ceo retrieved june 9 2011 luna nancy april 10 2012 . sizzler moves headquarters to orange county . the orange county register . retrieved april 11 2012 . marte jonnelle july 20 2012 . 10 things food trucks won t say . smartmoney . the wall street journal . retrieved july 23 2012 . beef grinder close to salad prep area official says archived january 31 2006 at the wayback machine . cross contamination caused outbreak . about ecoli.com . retrieved 2012 06 22 . sizzler shuts salad bars over poison scare . australian broadcasting corporation . 2006 03 01 . stevens craig 2006 02 28 . media statement pdf press release . archived from the original pdf on 2011 07 06 . sizzler woman too sick for court . sydney morning herald . australian associated press . 2006 03 02 . issn 0312 6315 . retrieved 2012 04 30 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to sizzler . official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title sizzler & oldid 738069635 categories mission viejo californiacompanies based in los angeles county californiarestaurants in californiaeconomy of the western united statesregional restaurant chains in the united states1958 establishments in californiacompanies that have filed for chapter 11 bankruptcyrestaurants established in 1958steakhouses in the united statesbuffet restaurantshidden categories cs1 errors external linksarticles with wayback machine linkscommons category with page title same as on wikidataofficial website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate 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