Industry Restaurants, bars Founded 2005 | Genre Casual dining Key people Toby Keith | |
Type Limited Liability Company Products Alcoholic beverages, french fries, hamburgers, steak | ||
Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill is a restaurant chain inspired by the country music singer Toby Keith and founded by Boomtown Entertainment. The bar is named after Keith's hit song "I Love This Bar", originally recorded for his 2003 album Shock'n Y'all.
Contents
Toby Keith's Bar & Grill locations operate as full-service restaurants with large bars in the shape of guitars. They primarily serve American cuisine, especially Southern food. The bars regularly have live musical entertainment from local performers without a cover charge. Keith himself has made surprise visits to franchises, where he performs and socializes with fans.
Locations
The first Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill restaurants opened in 2005 in Oklahoma, Keith's native state, in Oklahoma City and at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa. Restaurants in Thackerville, Oklahoma and in Las Vegas, Nevada, soon followed. The Oklahoma locations are operated by the Hal Smith Restaurant Group of Norman, Oklahoma.
In spring 2009, a new Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill was opened in Mesa, Arizona. Later in 2010 new restaurants were opened in St. Louis Park, Minnesota and in Denver, Colorado at Northfield Stapleton.
In April 2010, the New England Patriots announced that the first New England I Love This Bar & Grill was to be located at the Patriot Place complex outside Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It opened in May 2011.
In March 2011, a Dallas location was announced for half of the former AMC Grand 24 multiplex. That location opened on May 15, 2012, with a formal grand opening in September 2012. When it opened, the Dallas location was the second-largest in the chain.
Other locations existed in Peoria, Arizona, Cincinnati, Ohio, City Center at Oyster Point in Newport News, Virginia and Rancho Cucamonga, California and Rosemont, Illinois until 2015. In early 2013 a location opened in Syracuse, New York at the newly constructed Destiny USA. . Toby Keith was going to open up a I Love This Bar & Grill restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida at Roosevelt Square,in Savannah, Georgia in the Savannah Mall, and in Anaheim, California in Anaheim GardenWalk but never did.
Closings
Throughout 2014 and 2015 several locations were closed abruptly.
On 3/7/14 the location in Tucson Arizona closed abruptly after being evicted by General Growth Properties for breach of contract.
On 12/30/14 the location in Folsom California closed abruptly. It had been open since 2012.
On 1/1/15 the location at City Center in Newport News closed. At the time of their eviction, the restaurant owed City Center more than $554,000 in delinquent rent and fees.
On 1/3/15 the location in Houston Texas closed due to unpaid rent.
On 5/2/15 the location in Woodbridge Virginia closed.
On 4/7/15 the location in the Savannah Mall was given their final notice of eviction. The restaurant that was to open 8/2014, never did.
On 5/3/15 The location at The Collection at RiverPark in Oxnard California closed after being open less than a year. As of 11/28/14 they were behind over $605,000 in back rent.
On 5/17/15 the location in the Destiny USA mall in Syracuse, New York closed abruptly and without notice amid rumors of a rent dispute with the mall owners.
On 6/3/15 the location at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama was padlocked and posted with a notice of eviction.
On 6/24/15 the location at St. Louis Park, Minnesota closed abruptly.
On 7/2/15 the location at Artegon Marketplace in Orlando, Florida closed abruptly. It opened in late December, 2014
7/13/15 the location in Cincinnati closed.
On 9/3/15, it was announced that the location in Phoenix, Arizona had closed. The other Arizona location in Peoria had closed previously over the summer.
On 9/14/15, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill at Victoria Gardens, in Rancho Cucamonga, CA has become the latest restaurant in the chain to close without any notice.
In September, 2015, the Northfield location in Denver, Colorado closed abruptly. The City of Denver auctioned off all contents in October, 2015 to recoup over $70,000 in back taxes.
In October 2015, the Rosemont,Illinois location closed
On 11/9/15 the location at Great Lakes Crossing, in Auburn Hills, MI closed permanently after having their liquor license suspended due to repeated violations.