Unregistrable
MYSTE®Y: SOLVED!
Before the nation’s economic woes began crimping expense accounts and tightening purse strings, steakhouses ruled the restaurant kingdom. Every new upscale office complex seemed to sport a branch of the legendary Morton’s Steakhouse. Every airline magazine seemed to contain page after page of “Top 10 Steakhouse” lists and advertisements for Brazilian “all–you–can–steak” chains. And, of course, on any given night in the home of the New York Strip, warhorses such as Peter Luger and Sparks overflowed with well-heeled financiers feasting on prime aged beef and Martinis. But no premier steakhouse chain was and is as ubiquitous, and vexing, than “Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.” Vexing not because of the quality of its first-rate food, ambience, and service, but because of its curious name. Countless diners undoubtedly have scratched their heads in wonder pondering the eternal steak-o-phile’s question: Why is the place called “Ruth’s Chris”? Why the two names? Why does the possessive “Ruth’s” precede the second name, “Chris”? To paraphrase the famous line from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: “Who are those guys?”
At a recent dinner in New Orleans, the home of the first Ruth’s Chris, the answer was provided by a waiter who had worked at the establishment from its inception. On February 27, 1927, Ruth Ann Udstad Fertel was born in New Orleans. Years later, heeding her entrepreneurial spirit, Ruth bought the Chris Steakhouse at the corner of Broad and Ursuline in New Orleans. She and her steakhouse survived a massive hurricane that hit NOLA just a few months after she bought Chris, and then began attracting large crowds of loyal patrons. But in 1976, a kitchen fire destroyed the thriving Chris Steakhouse. Determined to persevere and with her typical pluck and determination, Ruth moved to a new location on Broad Street, but faced an existential trademark dilemma. Her contract with Chris Steakhouse stipulated that she could use that name only at the original Broad and Ursuline location. So the enterprising Ms. Fertel “staked” her claim to a new brand by superimposing her own first name, “Ruth’s,” on “Chris Steakhouse” and so was able to skirt the contractual conundrum. Soon after the rebirth of “Ruth’s Chris,” Ms. Fertel licensed her first franchise, and the rest is steakhouse history.
While she blazed a trail as a female business owner who thrived in the testosterone–laden steakhouse arena, Ruth Fertel did not fit the mold set by another prominent women in the hospitality industry (think notorious Manhattan hotelier who recently bequeathed the lion’s share of her multimillion–dollar estate to her dog). By all accounts, Ruth Fertel was a kind and caring boss who inspired devotion and loyalty over her nearly forty years in the restaurant business. She died in 2002, but her legacy lives on in her curious twin-named steakhouse juggernaut. They say, “It’s the sizzle that sells the steak.” Now we know the truth. At Ruth’s Chris, it’s not the sizzle—it’s the trademark.
