Steak n Shake CEO Sardar Biglari dishes on war…
Stars and stripes so towering they’re barely legal, Bitcoin burgers, and MAHA-approved fries — Steak ‘n Shakes’ purple, white, and blue blitz is an element of its mission to Make Americana Great Again.
The patriotic push is also an extension of the Iranian-born CEO’s own scruples, he tells The Post in an exclusive interview.
“American values and traditions? Of course we are proud of that. Who wouldn’t be?” Sardar Biglari, the elusive Steak ‘n Shake boss, told The Post.
“[My] household got here [here] with nothing. I began with nothing but an concept. America is the best nation on the planet. You could make desires turn out to be actuality so long as you put the trouble in.
On Oct. 4 Steak ‘n Shake announced it will hoisted the most important American flags legally allowed outdoors its 400 eating places, with some measuring between 30-by-60 toes and 40-by-80 toes, and positioned on 130-foot-tall poles. X/@SteaknShake
Biglari calls his San Antonio-based Biglari Holdings a “museum of businesses,” and he has a explicit fondness for burgers and ice cream. Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Ex
“Business just happens to be what I love doing,” the CEO said.
His company is at the moment getting loads of consideration for its trolling of competitor Cracker Barrel — and it’s not precisely a lighthearted slinging of mashed potatoes between them.
Biglari has repeatedly slammed the country food chain’s $700 million glow-up this summer time where it ditched mascot Uncle Herschel for a sterile, text-only emblem and modernist restaurant interiors — shortly igniting a public firestorm which tanked the stock and compelled a hasty retreat back to its rustic roots.
“Management knew the customer base wouldn’t care for the changes, but it did them anyway. They sought to destroy the soul of the core brand and replace it with something very different in a long-shot gamble to gain a new demographic,” Biglari said of the fiasco.
Shake grasp Biglari told The Post: ““It is a simple philosophy. And our customers want authenticity, quality products, great service, and reasonable prices. Nothing complicated.” Sipa USA via AP
Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino said on Tuesday the failed rebrand wasn’t ideological, but intented to make billboard more legible. FOX News
The redesign gamble coincided with the company pumping assets into a number of new, trendier ventures including an urban-centric craft cocktail startup called Punch Bowl Social, which in the end filed for chapter in 2020, and an artisanal muffin store.
Biglari noticed it coming, sounding the alarm a 12 months prior by calling the rebrand “obvious folly.”
“What the Company has been doing with its remodel program is embarking on a strategy to undifferentiate itself — and at a high cost,” he wrote.
The cause Biglari cares so a lot about a company he sees as his competitors is because he has a stake (no shake) in it.
Critics consider the Cracker Barrel fiasco was reminiscent of 2023’s Bud Light blowup, pitting fits against the brand-loyal average of us they despise. Clint Brewer Photography / BACKGRID
In March, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. visited a Steak ‘n Shake in Texas to try their seed oil-free, beef tallow frying digs. @SteaknShake/X
His company, Biglari Holdings, owns 3% of Cracker Barrel — and he’s waged seven proxy battles since 2011 to land a seat on the board, each time unsuccessful. Members have derided him as an “activist investor” and “self-interested.”
He’s acquired Steak ‘n Shake concerned too, promoting purple, MAGA-style hats that read, “Make Frying Oil Tallow Again,” “Fire Cracker Barrel CEO,” and “Biglari Was Right About Everything,”
He’s also utilizing billboard space to troll Cracker Barrel, with one studying “Fire the CEO” imposed on the failed new emblem.
The CEO in query, Julie Felss Masino, isn’t amused.
On Tuesday, at an investing convention in New York, Masino fired back telling attendees she had lunch with her investor at a Cracker Barrel in 2023 and “Mr. Biglari’s playbook…is making many misinformed statements.”
Biglari cuts the ribbon outdoors the opening of a Steak ‘n Shake in Times Square in 2012, where his Iranian refugee mother and father attended the grand opening. AP IMAGES FOR STEAK ‘N SHAKE
However, Biglari, 48, has a monitor file of success.
He acquired Steak ‘n Shake in 2008 when it was under extreme financial misery—dropping $30 million yearly.
The following 12 months the burger joint did a one-eighty, producing a daily revenue of $100,000. Later it hit financial hassle in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To bounce back, the restaurant produced a leaner, franchise-heavy model.
Steak ‘n Shake trolls Cracker Barrel is purple, MAGA-style caps blasting the shortsighted CEO. @SteaknShake/X
Biglari has launched seven proxy fights with Cracker Barrel, each unsuccessful, to gain a seat on the board. In 2007, he also trolled Friendly’s Ice Cream with billboards. Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
“When you are turning around a business, you are a sculptor. When Michelangelo sculpted, he said he saw the angel in the marble and carved until he set him free,” Biglari said.
“It is a simple philosophy. And our customers want authenticity, quality products, great service, and reasonable prices. Nothing complicated,” he added.
“Sophistication lies in doing the simple things very well.”
Steak ‘n Shake was based in 1934 on Route 66. In 2008, Biglari turned the struggling company around, telling The Post, “Sophistication lies in doing the very simple things very well.” jetcityimage – stock.adobe.com
From his humble beginnings as a baby refugee from post-revolution Iran, Biglari now slaps his signature on many of his merchandise and storefronts. homank76 – stock.adobe.com
One of those issues is celebrating the US. Steak ‘n Shake —based in 1934 along Route 66 in Illinois — announced it can set up the tallest and largest American flag legally allowed by local ordinance outdoors each of its 400 shops.
In some places, those colossal flags lumbering in the breeze will measure between 30×60 toes and 40×80 toes, and positioned on 130-foot-tall poles.
“Every Steak n Shake is getting the tallest and biggest American flag that local governments will allow! Steak n Shake proudly supports American values and traditions,” the burger joint posted on X on Oct. 4.
The burger chain launched a restricted version Bitcoin burger this 12 months to have fun its transfer to settle for cryptocurrency as fee at its store places. @21MBitties/X
CEO Masino ran Cracker Barrel back to its rustic roots after the rebranding catastrophe left prospects offended and confused–and despatched the stock price plummeting. BACKGRID
The average US flag people often fly outdoors of their home is 3×5 toes on a 20 ft pole while flags flown over the Capitol are 8×12 toes.
In May, Steak ‘n Shake also started accepting Bitcoin at its US places and this month launched a restricted version Bitcoin burger to have fun.
Biglari is also in the distinctive place of being a fast food tycoon in good graces with health and human providers secretary RFK Jr., who swung by a Texas Steak ‘n Shake in March to have fun the company ditching seed oils for beef tallow frying.
Biglari warned against the sterile, soulless Cracker Barrel glow-up, telling buyers a 12 months prior that it was an “obvious folly” and “unmitigated disaster.” Cracker Barrel
@bennyjohnson/X
A Steak ‘n Shake billboard in Rome, Ga. honors slain free speech activist Charlie Kirk. Wayne Robinson
“We’re big fans of MAHA and making America healthy again. We want MAHA supporters and parents everywhere to feel good about taking their kids to Steak ‘n Shake,” Biglari told The Post.
The burger boss began his first company at age 18, an web service supplier called INTX.web which he offered for an undisclosed quantity in 1999.
He used the proceeds to invest in Friendly’s Ice Cream and eating chain Western Sizzlin Corp., changing into CEO of Western Sizzlin in 2006.
President Trump joined in on the Cracker Barrel dogpile, telling the highway journey mainstay they ought to return to the previous emblem, and then congratulated the company on returning to its rustic roots. @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Steak ‘n Shake says it “proudly supports American values and traditions,” in line with its Iranian-born CEO’s patriotism. X/@SteaknShake
Bilgari returned a celebration of the male gaze back to males’s magazine Maxim after he acquired the shiny in 2016. Maxim
Today Biglari calls his San Antonio-based Biglari Holdings a “museum of businesses.” He also owns oil firms and hundreds of thousands of shares in fast food chain Jack in the Box and luxurious car model Ferrari.
He only knew two phrases in English when he got here to the US as a baby: “hi” and “bye,” he tod The Post.
Born in Tehran two years before the Islamic Revolution, his father, Ken Biglari, was a brigadier normal in the Imperial Iranian Army under the Shah. The elder Biglari was imprisoned by the new authorities, but his spouse efficiently negotiated with the prison guards for his release.
Steak ‘n Shake’s purple meat patriotism isn’t just stylish at the second, it’s a direct extension of the Iranian-born CEO’s own scruples, he told The Post in an exclusive interview. billtster – stock.adobe.com
The 90-year-old restaurant chain has over 400 shops and was saved by Biglari in 2008, when the enduring model was in deep financial hassle. Jenna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
At age seven, while under home arrest, Biglari escaped with his household under the quilt of the evening and fled to the US, he told The Post.
They settled in San Antonio in 1984 and began a business importing Persian rugs. In distinction to his father, who always maintained a low profile, the restaurateur now installs his signature, “By Biglari,” on Steak ‘n Shake signage and the nameplate of his men’s magazine, Maxim, which he acquired in 2016.
Biglari told The Post he hopes his company’s new franchise model will give people from humble beginnings, like himself, an alternative to flourish by working his eating places.
“I am a believer in meritocracy. That is the system we implemented at Steak ‘n Shake, with great success,” he said.
“We are building a business around the principle of equal opportunity. At Steak ‘n Shake, we are building a franchise system that is designed for those long on ability but short on capital. Our system of meritocracy is about placing the right people into positions of power and ownership.”
Stay in the loop with the latest trending topics! Visit our web site daily for the freshest lifestyle news and content, thoughtfully curated to inspire and inform you.