Robert Michael Payton (25 May 1944 13 July 1994) was an American

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

man,

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

and hotelier. He is known for starting a chain of American-style restaurants in London in the 1970s, starting with The Chicago Pizza Pie Factory. Payton was born in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, in

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to: Places Antarctica * Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia *Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area Canada * Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

,Copetas, A. Craig (1 October 1984)
"Payton's Place The Most Brilliant Restaurateur in London Slathers a Bit of American on Every Dish The English Eat It Up"
'' Inc.''. Retrieved 27 August 2014. "In the early 1960s, he was just another kid from Miami Beach trying to be Troy Donohue, when he went off to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill." and later received a master's degree in business administration from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in Evanston,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

.Staff (16 July 1994).
"Bob Payton, 50, Restaurateur, Dies"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Retrieved 27 August 2014. When sent to England by J. Walter Thompson to promote Kraft products, he decided to stay. He opened several successful fast food outlets such as Chicago Pizza Pie Factories and a series of themed restaurants such as Rib Shacks, Chicago Meatpackers and Henry J. Bean's. In 1988 he bought Stapleford Park, a large Leicestershire country house, and converted it into a hotel.

Death

He died at age 50, in an automobile accident near

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England.Staff (16 July 1994).
"Bob Payton, 50, Restaurateur, Dies"
''

''. Retrieved 27 August 2014. "Stephen Gee, a former colleague, said Mr. Payton was killed on Wednesday night when his car went off the road near Stevenage, 28 miles north of London."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payton, Bob 1944 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American expatriates in England American food company founders American restaurateurs American hoteliers 20th-century American Jews Businesspeople from Miami Kellogg School of Management alumni Restaurant founders Road incident deaths in England University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni

Death

See also

References