“I know I am in good company with international music sensation Armando Christian ‘Pitbull’ Pérez as an equity partner.” — Nan Oo, a Myanmar-based franchisee for Miami Grill, discussing the launch of the sub chain in the country. The chain, launched in 1988 as Miami Subs and mostly based in Florida, has faced a somewhat complicated corporate history, with Nathan’s Famous buying out the chain in 1998, not long after a failed merger attempt with Arthur Treacher’s. (The two chains would come together under Nathan’s ownership.) In 2012, a longtime fan of the sub chain, Pitbull, ended up buying a large equity stake in the chain, which is officially how all things happen in Miami. “Pitbull is the guy to take us to the next level,” Miami Grill CEO Richard Chwatt said at the time. “The brand is going to be synonymous with him. We need to translate his energy to our stores. We think he can get that done.” In case you needed any more proof that Pitbull is the modern day Kenny Rogers, here you go.

Fast food, with style. (Wikimedia Commons) The Story of Rax, the fast-food chain that tried to do way too much All the possible pitfalls that come with trying to launch a national fast food chain can best be highlighted by the fate of Rax Roast Beef. Coming out of Springfield, Ohio, It was one of many fast food chains to come out of Ohio in the 1960s. Launched in 1967, roughly the same time as Wendy’s in nearby Columbus, and Arby’s on the other side of the state, Rax was once a major fast food chain, with more than 500 locations to its name at its peak. It also had a complicated corporate history. For one thing, Rax originally wasn’t called Rax, it was called JAX. The founder, Jack Roschman, launched the chain after Ray Kroc declined to let him exclusively operate McDonald’s in Ohio due to his young age. Roschman ended up helping Burger Chef, a similar chain to McDonald’s, get off the ground in Ohio. (Despite the slight, Kroc nonetheless spoke highly of Roschman, once calling him “the best fast food man in the world,” according to Roschman’s 2009 Palm Beach Post obituary.) Roschman, who created Jax from whole cloth, quickly sold the brand to General Foods in 1969. During this time, the brand was called RIX Roast Beef. (Roschman also helped co-found another well-known chain of the era, the buffet-driven Ponderosa Steakhouse.) General Foods proved to be a poor corporate parent, and in 1978, the chain—which had hit an early peak of 195 stores in 1977—fell into disarray, with all but 10 stores closing. A franchisee, Restaurant Administration Corporation, classed up the joint a little bit and changed the name of the chain to Rax Roast Beef. Then, changing their name, they went national. A Rax newspaper ad, circa 1989. (via the Decatur, Illinois Herald and Review) Soon, the chain ballooned to more than 500 locations—far below Arby’s 2,100 locations in 1989, but a fairly decent-sized business. (Side note: Arby’s also had a fairly tumultuous corporate evolution, quickly falling into bankruptcy, then though a series of corporate takeovers. It must be a sign that selling roast beef is fraught with drama.) Rax was fairly innovative during this era. According to the book Lost Restaurants of Columbus, Ohio, Rax was the first chain in the country to fry its french fries in vegetable oil, rather than using animal fat. However, Rax made a fairly large strategic mistake. Like Wendy’s, it got caught up in the salad bar trend. Unlike Wendy’s, it strayed far from its roots of selling sandwiches. It quickly became far more known for its unusual menu additions than its roast beef sandwiches. A 1985 ad, featuring late Garfield voice actor Lorenzo Music, really nails down the problem: The company’s menu was all over the place, promoting chicken, shrimp, and taco salad, all in the span of a single commercial. The chain’s move away from simply selling roast beef eventually turned the restaurant from a contender into a story of failure. It filed for Chapter 11 in 1991, and mostly closed for business by the early ‘90s. Emphasis on mostly. That’s because, surprisingly, some Rax restaurants are still around—with menus focused on roast beef. The corporate parent is run under a new name, From Rax to Rich’s, reflecting the current owner of the chain, onetime franchise employee Rich Donohue. “I think it’s a great concept,” Donohue told the Columbus Business Journal in 2009. “I think it’s been beaten down a little, but it still has a pulse. I think I can revive it. It’s not going to happen overnight, but my goal is to regrow the company.” Rax isn’t the chain it once was, but it still lingers somewhat, a reflection of a time when it coulda been a contender. There was a time when it could’ve been the best lunch option on the strip. Executives at modern-day restaurant chains probably study the story of Rax very closely—because they know if they don’t play their cards right, this could be their story.