Houlihan's is an American casual restaurant and bar chain with locations operating throughout the country, 60% of which are franchised. It is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. The first Houlihan's opened on April 1, 1972, in Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, and there are now 35 restaurants in 15 states.[1] It was originally named Houlihan's Old Place because it was first located in the space of Houlihans Clothing Store.
Houlihan's is privately owned by Fertitta Entertainment, who bought HRI, a company that developed and owned several restaurant concepts including Bristol Seafood Grill, Devon Seafood Grill, and J. Gilbert's Wood-Fired Steaks.
History
Paul Robinson met Joe Gilbert in 1961. At that time Robinson was manager of the Golden Ox restaurant in Kansas City's West Bottoms (and creator of Inn at the Landing, which opened in 1960 at the Landing shopping center at 63rd and Troost) and Gilbert was the creator of the Four Winds restaurant at the Kansas City downtown airport. The two men formed the Gilbert-Robinson restaurant firm, and they opened a number of successful restaurants including Plaza III Steakhouse at the Country Club Plaza in 1963 and Gilbert & Robinson's (later renamed Sam Wilson's) on 103rd Street in Overland Park. Several years later, Gilbert-Robinson looked into expanding Plaza III into the space being vacated next door by men's clothing store Tom Houlihan's. Instead of expanding Plaza III, the restaurant partners decided to create a new casual restaurant. During construction, they couldn't come up with a name for the new restaurant, and people kept referring to it as Tom Houlihan's place.