RESTAURANT INDUSTRY ICONS INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME
The Restaurant and Hospitality Association of Indiana recently inducted two restaurant industry icons into its Hall of Fame. The RHAI Hall of Fame recognizes individual present and past members for long standing careers and service in the foodservice and hospitality industry, contributions to their communities, and recognition by their peers of personal commitment to the advancement of the foodservice and hospitality industry.
This year’s recipients are as follows:
(left-circa 1980s) Don “Bud” Hall, Hall’s Restaurants, Fort Wayne – Bud Hall is part of the second generation carrying on his family business started in 1946 in the Fort Wayne area. The business now boasts 12 restaurants, a hotel, a catering operation and one of few restaurants in the state that operates a commissary and a state inspected meat-cutting department.
Hall’s currently employs almost 650 people, vividly demonstrating the impact of his business in the community. He is a former board member and Past President of the Restaurant Association and his active participation in industry issues at both the state and local level has had an impact on all restaurants.
One of his greatest accomplishments can be seen in the longevity of his employees. The average employment length of his managers is almost 30 years. Many started in the business as high school kids and stayed for life-long careers.
Harry Roth, St. Elmo Steak House, Indianapolis – Harry Roth spent his 39-year career in the Indianapolis restaurant business at St. Elmo Steak House. A Southside native, Roth was working in Chicago as an optometrist in 1946 when his brothers Ike and Sam purchased the downtown restaurant for $30,000. When Harry’s brothers left the restaurant business in the mid-1950s, Harry Roth took childhood friend Izzy Rosen as his partner in St. Elmo Steak House.
St. Elmo Steak House established a reputation as the place to see and be seen in downtown Indianapolis. The restaurant’s signature hand-cut steaks and shrimp cocktail attracted patrons locally and nationally.
Harry Roth led St. Elmo Steak House to a renowned level of food standards and service expectation. In nearly 40 years in the Indianapolis restaurant business, Harry Roth had made St. Elmo Steak House a household name in the Circle City.
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