Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. (LEYE) is a restaurant group currently comprising 120 or more restaurants mainly located in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded by Rich Melman and Jerry A. Orzoff in 1971.
History
The first restaurant, R.J. Grunts in Lincoln Park, opened on June 10, 1971. It is still in operation, as of 2026.
The company lists nine original partners: Bill Higgins, Melman, Bill Frost, Bob Wattel, Charles Haskell, Orzoff, Marvin Magid, Danny Koval and Fred Joast. By 1976 the company had 5 restaurants and a band called Fresh Lettuce. The partners continued expanding the company's network of restaurants. By the mid-1980s, the company employed over 2,000 people and had annual revenues of $40 million. Since its founding the company has opened 130 restaurants, with 70 concepts.
The restaurants vary in price, theme, and cuisine. LEYE currently owns, licenses or manages more than 100 establishments in Illinois, California, Arizona, Maryland, Virginia, Minnesota and Nevada, including Wildfire, Petterino's, RPM Italian, RPM Steak, Beatrix, Oyster Bah, Shaw's Crab House, and Everest. Also among its creations are two restaurants in the Paris Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, the Eiffel Tower and Mon Ami Gabi (an expansion of the flagship location in Chicago), Big Bowl, and L2O.
IN 2000, LEYE had 38 partners, 45 concepts, and 4,000 employees. It owns, operates and licenses 90 restaurant venues in the United States. It has separate restaurant consulting and restaurant development companies. The food court at Water Tower Place is among its operations. 1999 annual revenue estimates ranged from $145 to over $200 million. 2005 revenue estimates were $300 million, with 5000 employees and approximately $50 million in net earnings. The Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants annual revenue was $541.2 million in 2025.
Restaurants Lettuce Entertain You restaurants include: Aba Antico Posto Beatrix Beatrix Market Big Bowl Big Bowl Chinese Express Bub City Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! Di Pescara Eiffel Tower El Segundo Sol Ēma Gus' Sip and Diphttps://chicago.eater.com/2024/11/6/24289860/gus-sip-dip-kevin-beary-lettuce-entertain-you-river-north-preview Il Porcellino Joe's Seafood Prime Steak & Stone Crab - an offshoot of Joe's Stone Crab in Miami L. Woods Miru, St. Regis Chicago Mon Ami Gabi Osteria Via Stato Pizzeria Portofino Pizzeria Via Stato R.J. Grunt's Ramen-San RPM Italian RPM Seafood RPM Steak Saranello Shaw's Crab House Stella Barra Pizzeria Santa Monica Summer House (Las Vegas) Sushi-San Tallboy Taco The Dalcy The Oakville Grill & Cellar Three Dots and a Dash Tokio Pub Tre Dita, St. Regis Chicago Twin City Grill Wildfire For a more up-to-date and accurate list, please consider viewing Lettuce Entertain You's Webpage https://www.lettuce.com/restaurants/
Sold/divested restaurants Corner Bakery Cafe Maggiano's Little Italy Petterino's Krispy Kreme (franchise) Wow Bao
Closed restaurants A 1 Beanery Reel Club Nacional 27 Magic Pan Crepe Stand Frankie's Scaloppine & Fifth Floor Pizzeria Hub 51 Mity Nice Grill Foodlife Don & Charlie's Papagus Greek Taverna Tru (restaurant), closed 2017 L2O, closed 2014 Fritz That's It Lawrence of Oregano Jonathan Livingston Seafood Oyster Bah Naoki Sushi M Burger Ben Pao Scoozi! Stella Barra Pizzeria Chicago Stella Barra Pizzeria Hollywood Tucci Benucch Intro The Eccentric Hat Dance Great Gritzbe's Flying Food Show Un Grand Cafe RJ Grunts (Glenview location) Everest Community Canteen Stripburger Vongs Thai Kitchen
See also Rick Tramonto Laurent Gras Jean Joho Thai Dang
References