February 21, 2009 – After buying the parent company and every Dick’s Last Resort except for the one in Chicago, the new owners of DLR Restaurants are two months into an 18-month option to buy the Marina City location.

On December 28, 2008, Dallas entrepreneur Steve Schiff (left) sold his company to a group of investors that included Nashville restaurateur Edwin (Ted) Moats, Jr. Moats is co-founder of Logan’s Roadhouse, a chain of casual restaurants based in Nashville.

The Marina City location was not included in the deal. According to local manager Richard Fulghum, “Given the difficulties and setbacks we had in getting this store opened there was no way to guarantee this location would be operational when the sale was finalized.”

Fulghum believes the new owners will buy the Marina City location sometime in the fall. “They just want to see some sales history on this store and I think Mr. Schiff wants to make a few nickels back on this store he worked so hard to get open and dumped a nice chunk of change in. The new ownership is very involved in the operations of this restaurant, they just don’t technically own it.”

Moats and fellow investors at Triton Pacific Capital Partners purchased Dick’s locations in Dallas, San Antonio, Myrtle Beach, San Diego, Boston, and Las Vegas. Moats was named CEO of DLR Restaurants and the headquarters has been moved from Dallas to Nashville. About six people worked at the Dallas headquarters.

“We have been very impressed with the management and the underlying business model of the company,” Moats said of Dick’s Last Resort in an interview in January with the Nashville Post. “There is a counter-cyclical growth opportunity in casual dining to expand into leases vacated by weaker brands, and Dick’s unique model is well positioned to take advantage of such situations.”

Triton Pacific Capital Partners, LLC, a private equity firm in Los Angeles that invests in small and mid-size companies “with considerable growth prospects,” according to its web site, has the largest stake in Dick’s Last Resort, followed by Moats. Triton managing partner Craig Faggen told the Dallas Morning News the new owners hope to open as many as three new locations this year.

Logan’s Roadhouse was sold in 1998 to CBRL Group, Inc., the parent company of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. More recently, Moats was president of H&C Racing, Inc., a company that operates a chain of restaurants with a stock car racing theme.

Dick’s offering free breakfast, fleeting local fame to Marina City residents

WGN-TV will be at Dick’s Last Resort on Tuesday morning, shooting video for “Around Town,” a segment of WGN News. The station is covering Dick’s “Fat Tuesday Party.” The restaurant will be offering a free breakfast buffet from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The celebration Tuesday evening at Dick’s will include a contest for best Mardi Gras costume, with the winner receiving “double their weight in cash,” according to the restaurant’s web site.

Dick’s will also be handing out coupons at the breakfast event, redeemable for free drinks at the Fat Tuesday Party later in the day.

What: Free breakfast buffet, taste of tv stardom When: Tuesday, February 24, 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Where: Dick’s Last Resort, Marina City