Pikesville, MD.- Big Steaks Management, LLC, a franchisee of
Ruth's Chris Steak House restaurants and owner/operator of Blue
Sea Grill, Babalu Grill and The Havana Club, is opening three
new Ruth's Chris Steak House locations in North Carolina in 2008
in upscale, re-developed areas of Wilmington, Raleigh and Durham.



Opening in June, the Wilmington Ruth's Chris will be located
at the Hilton Wilmington Riverside hotel.  The Raleigh Ruth's
Chris is scheduled open in the affluent North Hills live-work-play
development in July, and the new Durham restaurant will open
in Renaissance Center at Southpoint in the Fall.  Each is expected
to hire from 60 to 100 team members.  Big Steaks Management has
operated a Ruth's Chris Steak House in Cary since 1997, winning
"best steakhouse" reviews from patrons and dining critics.  



"These additions to our portfolio are a logical next step,"
said Steve F. de Castro, CEO of Big Steaks Management.  "We have
been steadily expanding up and down the Mid-Atlantic since 1992
into markets that offer a good mix of business clientele, vacation
diners and local fine dining patrons.  We're pleased to offer
these customers additional Ruth's Chris dining destinations,
with menus that they already highly regard and enjoy." 



Each new restaurant will have spacious private dining and banquet
facilities in addition to a decorative bar, lounge and dining
rooms.  Guests will select from menus that specialize in generous
cuts of corn-fed USDA Prime Midwestern beef, custom-aged to the
peak of flavor, broiled to order at 1800 degrees to lock in the
natural juices and served sizzling on a 500 degree plate, as
well as live lobster and daily fresh seafood selections. New
Orleans-inspired appetizers, unforgettable desserts and an award-winning
wine list round out the menu, all of which have earned the brand
local and accolades and top Zagat ratings.



After a brief stint at Ruth's Chris Steak House in New Orleans,
de Castro was dispatched by Ruth Fertel, the founder of Ruth's
Chris Steak House, to turn around the floundering Ruth's Chris
Steak House in Washington, D.C. de Castro's resurrection of the
Washington restaurant was so successful that Fertel awarded him
his own Ruth's Chris Steak House franchise on Baltimore's Water
Street in 1992.



Headquartered in Pikesville, MD., Big Steaks Management, LLC,
will soon operate 13 restaurants, clubs and banquet facilities
in Maryland, New Jersey and North Carolina. These include: Ruth's
Chris Steak House in Baltimore (Water Street and Pier 5), Annapolis
and Pikesville, MD.; Ruth's Chris Steak House in Cary, N.C.,
a suburb of Raleigh; and Ruth's Chris Steak House in Atlantic
City, N.J.; Babalu Grill, Blue Sea Grill and Havana Club in Baltimore,
as well as the Crystal Room in Pikesville. With these three new
North Carolina locations, Big Steaks Management now operates
nine Ruth's Chris Steak House franchises.



Over the years, de Castro's acute business acumen, outgoing
personality, indefatigable drive, discriminating taste and attention
to detail have earned him the reputation as one of the industry's
most respected individuals. It is known throughout the industry
that he can spot a knife under a table or an empty bread basket
the instant he enters a restaurant.



The original Ruth's Chris Steak House restaurant was established
in 1965 when founder Ruth Fertel purchased Chris Steak House
in New Orleans. Against the advice of her lawyer and her banker,
she mortgaged her house and bought the restaurant, eventually
renaming it Ruth's Chris Steak House.  Today, Ruth's Chris Steak
House company is the largest fine dining steak house group in
the world with 120 restaurants worldwide, still serving many
of Ruth's original recipes.



About Big Steaks Management, LLC

Headquartered in Pikesville, MD, Big Steaks Management, LLC
operates Ruth's Chris Steak House restaurants in Annapolis, Baltimore
(Water Street and Pier 5) and Pikesville, MD, as well as in Cary,
NC, and Atlantic City, NJ.  The company also owns and operates
Babalu Grill, Blue Sea Grill and the Havana Club in Baltimore,
MD and The Crystal Room in Pikesville, MD.  The company currently
employs more than 600 people in Maryland, New Jersey and North
Carolina. www.SeriousSteaks.com.