Posted on: Monday, October 15, 2001

Morton's steak house to open at Ala Moana

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Morton's of Chicago plans to open a steak house on Nov. 28. The 150-seat restaurant will be in a two-story addition to the mall on the makai side. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Chicago-based owner of Ala Moana Center is bringing a little bit of its Chi-Town neighborhood to Honolulu with a high-end steak house.

Morton's of Chicago will open its dinner-only restaurant Nov. 28 in a recently constructed building on the makai parking deck just outside Banana Republic and 'ewa of Neiman Marcus.

The 150-seat restaurant will occupy the lower half of a two-story addition to the mall. A second restaurant is being sought, but has not been selected. "We're still looking at a couple of prospects right now," said Dwight Yoshimura, center general manager, who declined to name them.

Adding more full-service dining choices has been a focus of center owner General Growth Properties Inc. since it acquired Ala Moana from Daiei Inc. in 1999.

"That's the goal: to have a complete shopping/dining experience," Yoshimura said. "Getting people to stay longer, shop longer."

In the past two years, new restaurants moving into the mall have included Assagio Ristorante Italiano, Alan Wong's Pineapple Room inside Liberty House, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and California Pizza Kitchen, which joined Mariposa at Neiman Marcus and Hanako.

Local retail analysts say even with the recent additions, Ala Moana, for its size, is still underserved by full-service dining. They said the newest additions will help change that.

Morton's has built up a business-oriented clientele with its club-like atmosphere, private meeting rooms, wine storage for repeat customers and dishes of steak, lobster and veal that are the same at every Morton's. The average tab per person is $76. Average annual revenue per restaurant was $4.3 million last year.

The company has been on a growth streak, opening restaurants earlier this year in Kentucky, Virginia, Hong Kong and Australia. Including Hawai'i, the company has agreements to open six more U.S. restaurants, bringing the total to about 70.

Last year, the restaurant's parent company, Morton's Restaurant Group Inc., earned $10 million on $250 million in revenues. The publicly traded firm also is exploring sale options after it rejected a hostile bid by a group led by billionaire Carl Icahn.

Tammy Hawk, Morton's vice president of marketing and sales, said the company does not have any specific plans for more restaurants in Hawai'i.

"Right now we just have the plans for the one restaurant in Honolulu, but we're always looking at new opportunities," she said. "So if all goes well, there's a chance in the future."

Reach Andrew Gomes at 525-8065 or agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.