Used to be a national chain, but now it's regional with stops through the middle belt up through the midwest. All Michigan restaurants are gone, as well as the one we used to go to in O'Fallon, MO.
According to Wikipedia, the first Houlihan's opened on April 1, 1972, in Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, and there are now 84 restaurants in 18 states. If you check the homepage, you will notice they claim to have a site on Mars.
A little back story:
Paul Robinson met Joe Gilbert in 1961. Both restaurant men, they formed the Gilbert-Robinson restaurant firm, and they opened a number of successful restaurants... the restaurant partners decided to create a new casual restaurant. During construction, they couldn't come up with a name for the new restaurant, and people kept referring to it as Tom Houlihan's place... Houlihan's Old Place opened on April 1, 1972.As a result of the early success of the original Houlihan's Old Place, Gilbert-Robinson quickly embarked on a plan of nationwide expansion. A second location, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, was opened in July 1973. The third location was opened in Atlanta in December 1974, and the fourth location was opened in Des Peres, Missouri in March 1975.
The post goes on to say Houlihan's went through changes in the 2000s to eliminate poor performers and focus on their cream-of-the-crop franchises; the old location in East Grand Rapids must have met this fate. As of 2019, the chain was going through bankruptcy with Landry's Group, of Joe's Crab Shack fame, offering to save the chain from closing.
Nothing from the restaurant stands out as a signature dish, it melds into one Applebee's/Fridays/Cheddars generic casual place to me.
Tequila Sunrise
- 1 1/2 oz. tequila
- 3 oz. OJ
- 1/2 oz. grenadine
- 1 lime wedge
- 1 cherry
Pour all but the fruit over crushed ice in a tall glass. Mix well. Garnish with fruit.
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