Not just the ordinary steakhouse

Paul Clinton

Dark mahogany paneling, thick smoky air and a “sea of suits” don’t

have a place at Fleming’s Steakhouse, Chief Executive Bill Allen said

of a steakhouse that, only slightly more than four years after its

founding here, is taking the restaurant business by storm.

The Newport Coast resident, who founded the restaurant in 1998

with noted restaurateur Paul Fleming, set out to create a steakhouse

that would be different from Morton’s, Ruth’s Chris and other more

traditional steak servers.

Their formula is paying off as the Newport Beach company rolls out

a handful of new restaurants this year and next. By the end of 2003,

Allen said there will be 23 steakhouses across the country. Ten more

are planned for next year.

“When we stop and take a look [at the end of 2004], we’ll be the

third largest steakhouse in the nation,” Allen said. “We try to

execute the concept the way it was designed everywhere the same way.”

An important element to the Fleming’s concept, Allen said, is the

inclusion of women, couples and groups other than the expense-account

crowd. That includes a no-smoking atmosphere, even at the North

Carolina Fleming’s, which sits in the heart of tobacco country.

Allen met Fleming in the 1990s. Fleming is the founder of P.F.

Chang’s China Bistro Inc., which now generates about $456 million a

year in sales from its restaurants. The public company now holds a

$1.26 billion market value.

In the 1980s, Fleming, who also owns a winery in Napa Valley, held

franchise agreements for about eight Ruth’s Chris steakhouses in

California, Arizona and Hawaii.

After Fleming left P.F. Chang’s, he decided to get back into the

steakhouse business. He met up with Allen, who was then chief

executive of French bakery company La Madeleine in Texas. Allen was

an investor in P.F. Chang’s.

“We believed there was a need for a steakhouse where everyone

would feel included, that cost less and was something different on

the wine front,” Allen said.

At Fleming’s, patrons can order any one of about 100 wines by the glass each day. Typically, steakhouses offer their most far-reaching

wines only by the bottle. That can range anywhere from $30 to $300.

To help customers choose just the right wine, Fleming’s offers

what they call a “wine flight” -- three two-ounce samples of either

red or white wines. The patron can test each sample, then choose the

wine for the meal.

Though he has retired, Fleming is also readying a cabernet

sauvignon from his winery. Allen is working to bring it to the

restaurant by 2005.

After opening at its Newport Center location in 1998, Fleming’s

has slowly rolled out more restaurants. The company expects annual

sales this year to reach $100 million. By the end of July, two more

restaurants are scheduled to open in San Diego and Edgewater, N.J.

Along with Allen and Fleming, Outback Steakhouse owns a small

share of Fleming’s. Earlier this year, Allen also purchased Roy’s

from Randy Schoch, who owns Thaifoon.

So far, so good for Fleming’s, said Peggy Fort, a spokeswoman for

the Newport Beach Restaurant Assn.

“In the restaurant industry, paying attention to detail and

offering a lot of choices to the patron is what makes them stick

out,” Fort said. “Their decor is very elegant. It’s not a stuffy, old

steakhouse.”

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

paul.clinton@latimes.com.