What does "Ruth's Chris steak" mean?

Question

What does the "Chris" part mean? Ruth has got to be the person who makes the steak, but where does this Chris guy fit in? Is it actually pieces of meat from the body of Chris?

Regardless, it's a very stupid name and I hope the restaurant fails because of it.

Answer 1

The chain was founded by the late Ruth Fertel, a single mother of two, in 1965, after she bought the existing Chris Steak House in New Orleans. In buying the restaurant, Fertel had to agree that the restaurant keep the "Chris" name for a specified period of time. After the original location sustained a kitchen fire, she relocated the restaurant about one-half mile to the west on Broad Street and renamed the rebuilt establishment "Ruth's Chris." Under the purchase agreement, the name "Chris Steak House" could not be used at any other location, and she did not want to lose customers already familiar with the Chris name. Fertel started to franchise the restaurant in the 1970s to locations throughout the United States and throughout the world.

(angry much)

Answer 2

Mergers is exactly right.  And the information is also available on the Ruth's Chris web site, so you could have looked it up for yourself faster and easier than you posted a question here.  You could even have clicked their "contact us" link to let their public relations people know how stupid you think their name and their owners are.

Answer 3

I guess it means the same thing as McDonalds or Chili's or whatnot, just a name! I've seen those around and wonder the same thing, it really does strike me as a stupid name, and I've heard it's very pricey, I probably wouldn't go even if I DID like steak, the name kinda turns me off!