Islands Restaurants was founded in 1982 with a basic philosophy – serve great, fresh food with friendly service in a fun atmosphere. Entrepreneur Tony DeGrazier had a vision of a restaurant that would offer a simple, original menu featuring gourmet hamburgers, specialty drinks and a fun, tropical theme. In fact, he wanted to recreate the dining experiences he had in the 1960s while stationed in Oahu with his Navy buddies. Islands was an instant hit -- we ran out of food the first night at our West Los Angeles location, and we’ve been building a loyal following ever since. Since that first night, we’ve been slowly expanding and building upon our success. You can now find more than 50 Islands Restaurants throughout Southern California and Arizona, and more recently in places like Summerlin, NV and Sacramento. Over the years, we’ve added a few more burgers, served too many baskets of our fresh-cut fries to count, and perfected our salads and soft tacos, but our commitment to you – our guest – hasn’t changed.

This company shows traditional food favorites can fit in an alternative lifestyle. Hamburger Mary's International operates a chain of a half dozen casual-dining restaurants that target the gay and lesbian community with a menu of premium burgers and appetizers, as well as nighttime entertainment. Operating in such markets as Chicago, Orlando, and Southern California, the chain markets itself through ads in national gay magazines and community involvement. Hamburger Mary's original location in San Francisco opened in 1972. The company was acquired in 2007 by business partners Dale Warner, Brandon Wright, and Ashley Wright.

International Dairy Queen (IDQ) has been supplying brain-freezes for a long, long time. International Dairy Queen, Inc. is a leading franchisor of frozen treat stores with more than 5,900 quick-service restaurants, most of which operate under the Dairy Queen banner. Popular DQ ice cream treats include Blizzards, sundaes, and cones. Many of the stores also serve burgers, fries, and other items. In addition to its flagship chain, IDQ has about 700 Orange Julius locations offering blended fruit drinks and a small number of Karmelkorn stands that feature popcorn snacks. Only a small number of units are company-owned. Tracing its roots back to 1938, the company is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

My Gym Enterprises owns and franchises more than 200 My Gym Children's Fitness Centers in the US and 24 other countries. The company's facilities offer physical fitness and educational activities to children from three months of age to nine years old. Programs include age appropriate infant to three-year old classes where parent's play too and a series of increasingly complex gymnastics and general sport skills classes for older children. My Gym emphasizes positive reinforcement and a non-competitive environment. My Gym Enterprises was founded in 1983 by William Caplan and husband and wife Yakov and Susi Sherman.

Individual Restaurant Company Plc is a publicly listed company which owns and operates 34 restaurants in major UK cities, towns and suburbs. It is IRC's committed corporate mission to continue to open restaurants throughout the UK to meet the ever increasing demand for quality dining. The IRC's aim is to maximise this ever growing market opportunity and to remain a leading player in the premium-casual dining sector. Growth in this sector is under exploited and forecast to grow significantly as consumers become more discerning in their choice of cuisine.

Dynamic Management owned and operated Barnhill's Buffet along with private equity firm Jefferies Capital Partners. The chain of more than 40 buffet restaurants filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2007 and shuttered or sold all its eateries. Previously, Dynamic Management operated the Black-eyed Pea restaurant chain. It was formed in 2002 to acquire the Black-eyed Pea business from bankrupt Phoenix Restaurant Group.

Florida Panthers Hockey Club operates the professional hockey team that represents the Miami area in the National Hockey League. The Panthers entered the NHL as an expansion franchise in 1993 and boasts a few playoff berths, including a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 1996. (The team lost to the Colorado Avalanche that season.) Wayne Huizenga, who once owned the Miami Dolphins and the Florida Marlins, was awarded the franchise and later sold the team to a group of investors led by Alan Cohen in 2001. Cohen's Sunrise Sports & Entertainment controls the Panthers, as well as its BankAtlantic Center home arena.

Being marooned at one of this company's eateries might not be such a bad experience. Desert Island Restaurants is a leading regional dining company with a handful of restaurant concepts. Its holdings include five Ruth's Chris steakhouses located in Hawaii franchised from Ruth's Hospitality Group and an Asian-themed restaurant in Salt Lake City operating under the name Thaifoon - Taste of Asia. Desert Island also operates Ling & Louie's Asian Bar & Grill with locations in Denver and Scottsdale, Arizona. CEO Randy Schoch founded the company in 1998 and opened his Thaifoon restaurant in 2001.

Over 25 years ago we opened a little restaurant in St. Paul Minnesota named Concourse 7. It quickly became apparent that burgers, beer, and sports were never going out of style. We shifted our focus a little, invested in a bunch of big screen TV's and renamed the restaurant, Champps.At the time when everyone else in America was coming up with ways to downsize and think small, we were thinking bigger and better. Our philosophy is simple. Make burgers from scratch and pile them high. Fill our bar with TV's and turn the volume up for games. Bring in a DJ and have a party every night. It wasn't like anything else and the people loved it. That slightly irreverent attitude has become our calling card over the years, doing things the way we always have regardless of convention. We're still making fresh hand-crafted burgers, roasting our own turkey and chicken, slow-basting our falling-off-the-bone-tender ribs, and hiring the friendliest people to be part of our team.The party is still going strong today. The burgers are still huge, the beer is still cold and we're the best place to watch the game. No matter what part of the country you're in, you are sure to find a neighborhood Champps nearby.

We are a global hospitality company with widely recognized, industry leading brands and a tradition of innovation developed over our more than fifty-year history. Our mission is to provide authentic hospitality by making a difference in the lives of the people we touch every day. We focus on this mission in pursuit of our goal of becoming the most preferred brand in each segment that we serve for our associates, guests, and owners. We support our mission and goal by adhering to a set of core values that characterizes our culture. We manage, franchise, own and develop Hyatt branded hotels, resorts and residential and vacation ownership properties around the world. As of March 31, 2010, the company's worldwide portfolio consisted of 434 properties.

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