Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses

Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses originally owned by Ali Salih and trading as either Angus Steak Houses or Aberdeen Steak Houses are a chain of steak houses with a history dating back to the 1960s [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=The Real Story of 1966 and all That | date=2006-03-27 | publisher= | url =http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article696805.ece | work =The Times | pages = | accessdate = 2008-02-01 | language = ] primarily trading in prominent locations in the West End of London. At its peak, the chain had more than 32 restaurants with sales exceeding 700,000 meals per year. [cite news | first=Richard | last=Alleyne | coauthors= | title=Steak Houses Will Soon be Very Rare | date=2003-03-03 | publisher= | url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/03/04/nangus04.xml | work =The Daily Telegraph | pages = | accessdate = 2008-02-01 | language = ] It was considered by some to be as much a part of the visitors' view of London as Buckingham Palace due to its distinctive appearance. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Who Goes There? | date=2001-05-17 | publisher= | url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2001/05/17/edaber19.xml | work =The Daily Telegraph | pages = | accessdate = 2008-02-01 | language = ]

Decline

Although perceived as popular among tourists, the restaurant suffered from a decline in business in 2001 when Foot and Mouth Disease plagued the United Kingdom. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Who Goes There? | date=2001-05-17 | publisher= | url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2001/05/17/edaber19.xml | work =The Daily Telegraph | pages = | accessdate = 2008-02-01 | language = ] . This followed an earlier crisis, during which even a £5 special couldn't draw sufficient customers. [cite news | first=Michael | last=Serrill | coauthors= | title=Mad Cows and Englishmen | date=1996-04-01 | publisher= | url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984329,00.html | work =Time | pages = | accessdate = 2008-02-01 | language = ]

In 2002, the restaurant went into receivership with about £7 million in debt. The owner cited BSE and threats of war, which were keeping American visitors from London as the primary reasons for the chain's demise. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Adieu, Angus | date=2003-03-04 | publisher= | url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/03/04/dl0403.xml | work =The Daily Telegraph | pages = | accessdate = 2008-02-01 | language = ] Some newspaper reviews instead mentioned the quality and the mainly tourist clientele. [cite web | title = Flogging a dead cow - review and article in the Guardian| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,803345,00.html] [cite web | title = Review from The Spectator| url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200203/ai_n9070896]

References