Kansas City Restaurant Company Acquires Famous Sam's Restaurants and Sports Bars

TWA Restaurant Group, a Kansas City-based restaurant company, announced today that it has acquired Famous Sam's, a chain of 29 restaurants and sports bars located throughout the state of Arizona.

Feb 11, 2006 - 09:38
Famous Sam's will be one of five restaurant brands that TWA Restaurant Group will oversee. Currently, the restaurant group operates Back Yard Burgers, Captain D's Seafood, Qdoba Mexican Grill, and KC's Rockin' Rib House franchises in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

"We are truly excited to be part of such a well-known brand in the state of Arizona," says Brian Studdard, president of TWA Restaurant Group. "We are actively recruiting franchisees that are just as committed as TWA to aggressively growing this brand in Arizona and throughout the U.S."

One region that TWA plans to expand into quickly is the group's hometown market, Kansas City.

"We know that Kansas City is a great sports town with die-hard fans that want to go to their neighborhood sports bar to watch their favorite team play. While we don't have a definitive timetable as to when we will enter the market, we have already begun talking with potential franchisees about opening Famous Sam's locations in the Kansas City area and we continue to look for additional qualified restaurant operators," adds Studdard.

Charlie Wooten and Ron Megli of Peoples Bank, Overland Park, provided funding for the transaction.

Founded in Tucson, Ariz., in 1963, Famous Sam's falls into the "Eatertainment" category of the restaurant industry and features overstuffed and oversized sandwiches and a full bar. Famous Sam's also offers large numbers of televisions for viewing sporting events and has game areas for both adults and children. Famous Sam's bucks the restaurant industry trend by focusing on keeping its customers in the restaurant as long as possible, not quickly turning tables.