Lawry's is an upscale gourmet

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

specializing in

prime rib A standing rib roast, also known as prime rib, is a cut of beef from the primal rib, one of the primal cuts of beef. While the entire rib section comprises ribs six through 12, a standing rib roast may contain anywhere from two to seven ribs. ...

and the brand name of a

seasoned salt Seasoned salt is a blend of table salt, herbs, spices, other flavourings, and sometimes monosodium glutamate (MSG). It is sold in supermarkets and is commonly used in fish and chip shops and other take-away food shops. Seasoned salt is often th ...

blend spun off by the restaurant founders that evolved into a food products company today owned by

McCormick & Company McCormick & Company, Incorporated is an American food company that manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavoring products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. Thei ...

. The original location on Restaurant Row on

La Cienega Boulevard La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road that runs between El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne, California on the south and the Sunset Strip/ Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood to the north. It was named for Rancho Las Cienega ...

in Beverly Hills, California, was opened in 1938 by Lawrence L. "Lawry" Frank and Walter Van de Kamp. There are now several additional locations in the United States and worldwide. The company is still operated by the families of the founders, with Richard R. Frank, grandson of Lawrence Frank, serving as president and CEO. For many years Lawry's carvery was unique in having only a single entrée on its menu, standing rib roast. It now offers alternatives such as vegetarian specials and lobster tails, but retains its focus on carved-to-order roast beef served tableside from a large metal cart.

History

In 1922 Frank and Van de Kamp founded the Lawry's company and created the Tam O'Shanter Inn restaurant in the Atwater Village district of Los Angeles, California, which claims to be the oldest restaurant in Los Angeles still operated by the same family in the same location. In 1938, the two opened Lawry's The Prime Rib on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills. In 1947 Lawry's restaurant moved from its original location on La Cienega across the street and a few yards further south to a larger, mostly windowless, strikingly modernistic building designed by Wayne McAllister. In 1993, it moved to a new building on the original site. McAllister's building is now occupied by The Stinking Rose, a well-known garlic-themed Italian restaurant. In 1956, just prior to the

1957 Rose Bowl The 1957 Rose Bowl was the 43rd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Tuesday, January 1. The third- ranked Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference defeated the #10 Oregon State Beavers o ...

Game between the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ( Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for ...

and the Iowa Hawkeyes, Lawry's entertained the two competing teams. The Beavers were fed a prime rib dinner at the Beverly Hills restaurant and the Hawkeyes the same on the Pasadena City College football field following their practice. This started an annual tradition of hosting both Rose Bowl-bound teams, although following the inaugural event with Iowa, the Big Ten teams were served outside Rose Bowl Stadium from 1957-1962. By 1963, when Illinois and Washington both dined at the restaurant on separate nights prior to the 1964 Rose Bowl Game, the two team events had become known as "Lawry's Beef Bowl." The Beef Bowl has expanded to the

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, location for the two Cotton Bowl participants. In 1974, Lawry's opened a satellite in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

River North The River North Gallery District or simply River North, in Chicago, is in the Near North Side, Chicago. It hosts the largest concentration of art galleries in the United States outside of Manhattan. River North has experienced vast changes in ...

district, followed by restaurants in Dallas in 1983 and

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

in 1997. Internationally, Lawry's opened in Jakarta in 1997,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

in 1999,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in 2001,

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

in 2002,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

in 2006,

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

in 2008, and Seoul in 2013. However, the Chicago, Jakarta, and Shanghai locations are now closed.

Seasoned salt

While operating the Tam O'Shanter, Frank created a special

for use there, which was available only to customers. In 1938, Lawry's opened The Prime Rib on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills and began marketing its signature seasoned salt in retail stores. This marked the beginning of a food products company under the Lawry's name that today sells a wide range of seasonings and flavorings. The line was sold to Lipton/

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

in 1979, which in turn sold it to

in 2008.

Restaurant menu

Along with roasted

of beef, the restaurant is known for its

Yorkshire pudding Yorkshire pudding is a baked pudding made from a batter of eggs, flour, and milk or water. A common British side dish, it is a versatile food that can be served in numerous ways depending on its ingredients, size, and the accompanying compon ...

and its signature "spinning salad," introduced when the restaurant opened in 1938 and still included with every entree. At the time of its founding, salads usually consisted of a combination of fruit, cottage cheese, and gelatin; Lawry's restaurant was one of the first to feature a green salad as an integral part of every meal. The salad is prepared tableside by a server who spins a large metal bowl of greens atop a bed of ice, which is then dressed with "Vintage classic dressing with sherry wine". The salad dressing is sold in bottles at the restaurant but not at retail.

References

External links

Lawry'sLawry's food products
{{Restaurants of Los Angeles County, California Restaurants established in 1938 Restaurants in Chicago Restaurants in Los Angeles Restaurants in Hong Kong Regional restaurant chains in the United States Steakhouses in the United States 1938 establishments in California