By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-842314.mp3
Dallas, TX – Restaurant entrepreneur Norman Brinker, who launched Steak and Ale in Dallas and then made Chili's a worldwide brand, has died. He was 78. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more.
Brinker's Dallas roots go back to the 1960s when he created the casual dining category with Steak and Ale, with its signature salad bar. He also helped create Bennigans, On The Border, Eatzi's, and many, many more. Editor Ron Ruggles, with the Nation's Restaurant News, interviewed Brinker many times.
Ruggles: He changed the face of American dining from his start in north Texas. 134 He not only developed an entire generation of restaurant leaders, but returned the community's hospitality towards a number of benevolent donations.
Brinker helped fund cancer research, & created SMU's Institute for Hospitality and Restaurant Management. Working in his restaurants was like a graduate school. Former employees became executives at TGI Fridays, Chuck E Cheese, Applebees, Chi-Chi's, Outback Steakhouse, Houstons and many more. He was among the first to routinely hire college students.
Ruggles: He had ideas about hospitality far ahead of the time. 78 is a long and full life and he lived a full one.
Brinker died while vacationing in Colorado. Funeral information is pending. Bill Zeeble KERA news.