It’s one of the most popular steakhouses here in Minnesota and around the country, but its name sounds like someone made a typo and just rolled with it. As it turns out, the story behind that strange name is just as memorable as the steak it’s famous for serving.
It’s no surprise that Minnesotans like a good steak, right? In fact, steak is a popular meal not just here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes but across the country. According to a survey in this Fox News story, steak is America’s favorite meal. And, steak is also the choice nearly 66 percent of Americans say they would have as their LAST meal too.
Why Minnesotans Keep Coming Back to Ruth’s Chris Steak House
So if you’re looking for a good steak here in the Bold North, you can’t go wrong if you head over to Ruth’s Chris Steak House. That classic steakhouse chain was recently ranked as the 6th-best Steakhouse Chain in the U.S. according to this Tasting Table survey.
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If you want to see for yourself, there are two Ruth’s Chris Steak House locations here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes:
- The original location on 2nd Avenue South in downtown Minneapolis
- A second location that opened in the Kahler Grand Hotel, on 2nd Street Southwest in Rochester in 2024.
The Surprising Story Behind the Name “Ruth’s Chris”
But what’s up with that strange name? I mean, ‘Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse’ is a little odd, isn’t it? Well, we now know just WHY it has such a unique moniker. According to the Ruth’s Chris website, it can be traced back to the chain’s founder, Ruth Fertel.
Back in 1965, the site says, Ruth bought a small but well-known steakhouse in New Orleans called Chris Steakhouse. She operated that restaurant in the Big Easy for over a decade before a fire forced her to move in 1976. And that’s when the classic name came into being, the site said:…