This Now-Closed Chain Restaurant Was So Famous They Parodied It On SNL

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"Saturday Night Live" is no stranger to parodying all things food. (One of "SNL's" most celebrated sketches featured Dan Aykroyd lovingly lampooning Julia Child.) However, topical comedy sometimes ages poorly, which is the case with "SNL's" 1980 sketch "Pre-Chew Charlie's." To modern viewers, it looks like simple gross-out humor featuring a restaurant where the food comes "pre-chewed," but it's actually a reference to Beefsteak Charlie's, a now-defunct New York City-based chain. 

It makes sense that the Pre-Chew Charlie's sketch aired in 1980. This is around the time that Beefsteak Charlie's was at its peak, opening 68 locations on the East Coast by the mid '80s. Commercials often featured jovial singing waiters promising patrons they'd "get spoiled."

"SNL" has thrown shade at Taco Bell and Arby's in the past, but its Beefsteak Charlie's sketch had little to do with mocking the actual restaurant. Beefsteak Charlie's just happened to be the location the writers chose for a nauseating sketch. (If you're squeamish, you might want to skip this one.) The premise is a chain called Pre-Chew Charlie's, designed for anyone with dentures, wired jaws, recently removed wisdom teeth, or even people who "plain don't like to chew [their] own food." The sketch goes on to explain the specialties, including steak (pre-chewed by staff). It ends with a musical number. Drawing on one of Beefsteak Charlie's memorable slogans, Pre-Chew Charlie's waiters sing, "We'll spoil you at Pre-Chew Charlie's."

Technically, Beefsteak Charlie's had been around since the early 1900s, but its original form bears little resemblance to the chain it would later become. The original Beefsteak Charlie was Charles W. Chessar, who opened a New York City restaurant in 1910. Popular with horse racing enthusiasts, it had a sports bar feel. It was not until 1976 that Beefsteak Charlie's became a chain when restauranteur Larry Ellman used the Beefsteak Charlie's name to rebrand his fledgling Steak & Brew chain. There was no existing trademark on the Beefsteak Charlie's name, so Ellman was free to take it. By the '80s, Beefsteak Charlie's was known for endless shrimp cocktails, steaks, massive salad bars, and even beer. 

Beefsteak Charlie's popularity dwindled in the early 2000s after being hit by a series of financial stressors throughout the '80s. In 1987, Bombay Palace Restaurants acquired Beefsteak's Charlies via merger.  This move spelled trouble for the franchise, with Bombay Palace Restaurants facing civil charges over illegally transferring $2 million from Beefsteak Charlie's to Bombay Palaces to overstate the latter's earnings. By 1989, Bombay Palace filed for bankruptcy and the number of Beefsteak Charlie's was down by nearly half, with only 35 locations left in operation. While some locations hung on until the early 2000s, these days Beefsteak Charlie's is sadly just another popular steakhouse you'll never eat at again.