Q: What does the "Chris" part mean? Ruth has got to be the person who makes the steak, but where does this Chris guy fit in? Is it actually pieces of meat from the body of Chris? Regardless, it's a very stupid name and I hope the restaurant fails because of it.
A: The chain was founded by the late Ruth Fertel, a single mother of two, in 1965, after she bought the existing Chris Steak House in New Orleans. In buying the restaurant, Fertel had to agree that the restaurant keep the "Chris" name for a specified period of time. After the original location sustained a kitchen fire, she relocated the restaurant about one-half mile to the west on Broad Street and renamed the rebuilt establishment "Ruth's Chris." Under the purchase agreement, the name "Chris Steak House" could not be used at any other location, and she did not want to lose customers already familiar with the Chris name. Fertel started to franchise the restaurant in the 1970s to locations throughout the United States and throughout the world. (angry much)