Beef O'Brady's (styled as Beef 'O' Brady's Family Sports Restaurant)[3] is an American restaurant franchise, established in 1985 by Jim Mellody in Brandon, Florida,[4] and headquartered in Tampa.[5]
History
Jim Mellody moved from his native Pennsylvania to Florida in 1971, and tried numerous restaurant ideas before hitting on the concept of a family-friendly Irish pub (serving no hard liquor). He founded Beef O'Brady's in 1985.[1] In 1998, Mellody sold most of his interest to Family Sports Concepts Inc., headed by Chuck Winship, but retained an interest in 13 locations.[6][7][8] Franchising started in 1998,[1] and by August 2000, it had grown to 40 locations.[6]
When Mellody died in November 2002, the chain had grown to 88 locations within seven southeastern states.[4][7][9] After Mellody's death, what had been his remaining interest in the company was bought out,[10] and by December 2005 there were 183 locations in 19 states.[8] As of 2009, Mellody's daughter still ran the original Brandon location.[10]
In early 2010, CEO Chuck Winship retired and was replaced by Chris Elliott, a former executive of Cinnabon and Church's Chicken; at that time, the company had approximately 245 locations, down from a high of approximately 270.[11] As of September 2019, the number of locations had dropped to 150, with 26 of those company-owned and operated.[12]
Bowl game sponsorship 2009–2013
In 2009, the company became the title sponsor of the St. Petersburg Bowl, an annual college footballbowl game held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.[13] That year's game was officially named the "St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef 'O' Brady's".[14] The game was then renamed as the "Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl" for four years (2010–2013).[15] In 2014, the game reverted to one of its former names, and in 2017 became the Gasparilla Bowl once again. (It was originally called the MagicJack Bowl prior to that.)
^ abPark, Carolyne (December 16, 2005). "Beef 'O' Brady's market push". Memphis Business Journal. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
