Dive Brief:
- Nusr-Et Steakhouse will close its Beverly Hills, California, location this spring, leaving it with two U.S. locations in Miami and New York City, according to a Wednesday press release.
- The fine dining chain, which had seven U.S. locations in 2023, closed its restaurants in Dallas and Las Vegas in January as well as one location each in Boston and in New York City’s Meatpacking neighborhood last year.
- The closures are part of a shift in business strategy to focus on international growth, and the company recently opened a restaurant the Aqua Florya shopping center in Istanbul, Turkey, in May and has five other restaurants planned in the coming quarters.
Dive Insight:
The steakhouse brand, owned by Nusret Gökçe, a chef who became known as Salt-Bae as a result of a 2017 viral video, started 2024 with 31 units. It now has 25 units. In 2023, the chain told Restaurant Dive that it planned to reach 40 locations this year. It will fall short of that goal even with expected openings.
Nusr-Et represents another example of full-service restaurants, like Denny’s, Red Robin, Bahama Breeze and Bertucci’s, closing restaurants across the U.S. Denny’s has been closing unprofitable locations and focusing on new and remodeled restaurants that are more profitable.
Small fine dining chains in major cities have seen struggles of late, with Planta, a vegan chain based in the U.S. and Canada, filing for Chapter 11 last month.
Nusr-Et said its international expansion is part of its “commitment to evolving its footprint in line with guest demand, travel trends, and regional opportunity.” That will include entering new markets in Rome, Italy, and Ibiza, Spain. The chain also has a SaltBae Burger location in the iGA Istanbul Airport, with plans to open the concept in other major airports around the world.
The high-end chain’s business model blends entertainment with fine dining, as steaks are cut in front of guests and other items, like beef carpaccio, are prepared tableside. Guests typically experience a high-energy atmosphere with music curated by an on-staff DJ, the company has told Restaurant Dive.
