Ruth's Chris Steak House. Delicious steaks, successful chain, clumsy name. The year was 1965 when a lady named Ruth Fertel bought a small eatery in New Orleans known as Chris Steak House. The owner (Chris Matulich) gave Ruth the right to keep the name as long as the restaurant stayed in the original location. But after a fire forced her to relocate, she needed a new name because that agreement forbid her from using "Chris Steak House" (which is how everyone knew the joint). She simply tacked on her own name, outraging every naming consultant on the planet. "I've always hated the name," Ruth told Fortune Magazine, "but we've always managed to work around it and we've always made the steak the star." More than sixty restaurants later, her formula is still working.
