So long, Golden State! In perhaps the biggest restaurant news out of DFW in the past week, it was revealed that celebrity chef and TV host Gordon Ramsay relocated his North American restaurant headquarters from California to Texas earlier this year.
First reported by The Dallas Morning News, the move comes amid plans to expand Ramsay’s restaurant brand across North America in the next year and beyond.
An all new team of of businesspeople and chefs have been hired to work on this expansion out of the new headquarters in Las Colinas, a 12,000-acre master-planned business and residential community in Irving. The community is already home to a number of Fortune 500, Fortune 1000, and Inc. 5000 companies including Celanese, ExxonMobil and McKesson. Organizations such as AT&T, Citigroup, The Kroger Company, McDonald’s, Microsoft and Neiman Marcus also have offices in Las Colinas.
Led by CEO Norman Abdallah, the brand is planning to debut 75 company-owned restaurants in the next five years and some of those are anticipated to open in Dallas–Fort Worth. Specifically, Street Pizza, a restaurant from London; Lucky Cat, an Asian restaurant from London; and Gordon Ramsay Fish and Chips are being considered for the area. A new restaurant, simply called Ramsay Kitchen, could also land in DFW.
Ramsay’s namesake restaurants within the U.S. include Hell’s Kitchen (based on the global hit reality television show), as well as burger, steak, pub and grill, and fish and chips concepts. Locations are currently in Atlantic City, Baltimore, Chicago, Kansas City, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas and Orlando.
The DFW restaurant locations aren’t likely to open until late 2022 or 2023 as the expansion will first be focused on the East Coast and Chicago.
CEO Abdallah has over 45 years of experience in the industry. He started out as a dishwasher at his parents’ restaurant in Waxahachie, Monday’s Soup and Sandwich. He eventually became vice president for worldwide franchise of Chili’s Grill and Bar and was most recently the CEO of Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group.
As to why Ramsay decided to move his restaurant headquarters to Texas, Abdallah believes Dallas is the best place to find chef and restaurant support talent. Additionally, the Lone Star State’s tax benefits were pretty enticing.
“If you can make it in Dallas, you can make it anywhere,” Abdallah told The Dallas Morning News.
