<description>&lt;p data-start="273" data-end="366"&gt;πŸ–πŸ”₯ &lt;strong data-start="278" data-end="359"&gt;Tony Roma's: The Rib Pivot That Took Over the World (and Then Left America?)&lt;/strong&gt; πŸ”₯πŸ–&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p data-start="368" data-end="757"&gt;This week, &lt;strong&gt;Gabe Legg&lt;/strong&gt; (@gabe_legg) joins me to unpack the history ofΒ &lt;strong&gt;Tony Roma's&lt;/strong&gt;, a restaurant that stumbled into ribs, built an empire on them, and somehow ended up bigger overseas than in the US. From Playboy beginnings to NFL ownership to a string of financial shakeups, Tony Roma's might be one of the strangest success (if you can call it that?) stories in chain restaurant history.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; πŸ– A Random Rib Special That Completely Rewrote the Menu&lt;br /&gt; 🍸 Tony Roma &amp; Hugh Hefner&lt;br /&gt; 🏈 A Dallas Cowboys Owner Added Tony Roma's to His Portfolio&lt;br /&gt; πŸ“‰ Bought, Sold, Flipped, Bankrupted...Repeat?&lt;br /&gt; πŸ“Ί "Show Us Your Rib Face" Is a Messy But Clever Campaign&lt;br /&gt; πŸ§… The Onion Loaf: The Bloomin' Onion's Spiritual Cousin&lt;br /&gt; πŸ”₯ The Heat Lamp Debuts: Gabe Fires Off His Controversial Restaurant Hot Take&lt;br /&gt; 🀒 Yelp from Strangers: Violent Illness Still Nets FOUR STARS??&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;πŸ’¬ COMMENT BELOW:&lt;/strong&gt; How do you like your ribs?&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;πŸ“’ SUPPORT THE SHOW &amp; JOIN THE COMMUNITY:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt; πŸŽ‰ Patreon (Bonus episodes, extended Yelp segments &amp; more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast&lt;br /&gt; πŸ’¬ Discord (Food talk, memes, board games): discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4&lt;br /&gt; πŸŽ₯ Watch full episodes: youtube.com/channel/UCLbraNhL6KhDPkdSWt2yiuw&lt;br /&gt; πŸ”— All links: linktree.com/finediningpodcast&lt;br /&gt; 🎀 Guest: Gabe Legg | IG: @gabe_legg&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong data-start="1738" data-end="1760"&gt;Patreon Producers:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Sue Ornelas, Joyce Van, &amp; Robert McLaughlin&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong data-start="1810" data-end="1834"&gt;Patreon Subscribers:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;David Ornelas, Kellie Baldwin, Jeremy Horwitz, Herbert Amaya, Simone Davalos, Scott Bennett, Amy Reinhart, Josef Castaneda-Liles, &amp; Travis Langley&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong data-start="1987" data-end="2014"&gt;Free Patreon Followers:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Joe Warszalek, Lauren Cummings, Grace Krainak, Keri Estes, Robert Duran, Patrick Elliott, Michelle Elmer, Dave Plummer, Nicholas Volney, Michael Gerard, Tracy Molino, Phuong Duong, Tyler Robinson, Brandon Gully, Mason Cruz, Michael Milito, Mez, Aaron Hubbard, Steff, Jewell Hermann, Renae Michael, Crystal C.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;πŸ‘‰ NEXT WEEK:&lt;/strong&gt; We put &lt;strong&gt;Tony Roma's&lt;/strong&gt; to the &lt;strong data-start="2369" data-end="2385"&gt;Chili's Test&lt;/strong&gt; and see if the ribs hold up.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

"Fine" Dining

Michael Ornelas

Tony Roma's: Playboy, Pivoting to Ribs, and "Winning Best Ribs in America"

APR 29, 202632 MIN
"Fine" Dining

Tony Roma's: Playboy, Pivoting to Ribs, and "Winning Best Ribs in America"

APR 29, 202632 MIN

Description

πŸ–πŸ”₯ Tony Roma's: The Rib Pivot That Took Over the World (and Then Left America?) πŸ”₯πŸ– This week, Gabe Legg (@gabe_legg) joins me to unpack the history of Tony Roma's, a restaurant that stumbled into ribs, built an empire on them, and somehow ended up bigger overseas than in the US. From Playboy beginnings to NFL ownership to a string of financial shakeups, Tony Roma's might be one of the strangest success (if you can call it that?) stories in chain restaurant history. πŸ– A Random Rib Special That Completely Rewrote the Menu 🍸 Tony Roma & Hugh Hefner 🏈 A Dallas Cowboys Owner Added Tony Roma's to His Portfolio πŸ“‰ Bought, Sold, Flipped, Bankrupted...Repeat? πŸ“Ί "Show Us Your Rib Face" Is a Messy But Clever Campaign πŸ§… The Onion Loaf: The Bloomin' Onion's Spiritual Cousin πŸ”₯ The Heat Lamp Debuts: Gabe Fires Off His Controversial Restaurant Hot Take 🀒 Yelp from Strangers: Violent Illness Still Nets FOUR STARS?? πŸ’¬ COMMENT BELOW: How do you like your ribs? πŸ“’ SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE COMMUNITY: πŸŽ‰ Patreon (Bonus episodes, extended Yelp segments & more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast πŸ’¬ Discord (Food talk, memes, board games): discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4 πŸŽ₯ Watch full episodes: youtube.com/channel/UCLbraNhL6KhDPkdSWt2yiuw πŸ”— All links: linktree.com/finediningpodcast 🎀 Guest: Gabe Legg | IG: @gabe_legg Patreon Producers:Sue Ornelas, Joyce Van, & Robert McLaughlin Patreon Subscribers:David Ornelas, Kellie Baldwin, Jeremy Horwitz, Herbert Amaya, Simone Davalos, Scott Bennett, Amy Reinhart, Josef Castaneda-Liles, & Travis Langley Free Patreon Followers:Joe Warszalek, Lauren Cummings, Grace Krainak, Keri Estes, Robert Duran, Patrick Elliott, Michelle Elmer, Dave Plummer, Nicholas Volney, Michael Gerard, Tracy Molino, Phuong Duong, Tyler Robinson, Brandon Gully, Mason Cruz, Michael Milito, Mez, Aaron Hubbard, Steff, Jewell Hermann, Renae Michael, Crystal C. πŸ‘‰ NEXT WEEK: We put Tony Roma's to the Chili's Test and see if the ribs hold up.