Twin Peaks-- Fastest Growing Restaurant Chain in US

[Al Dente]

I've never even heard of this place.

Will anyone own up to dining there (other than Don)?

I remember when I was 13 or 14 my mother took me and my siblings to this new restaurant in town called "Hooters". That one meal has shaped my entire life.

Anyway, Hooters' sales have been sagging over the years, so I'm surprised that a similar concept would have such perky growth.

[DaveO]

I had to do a little research to tie down dates.  Back in 1982 Gino's sold its almost 400 operations to Marriott.  But they kept at least 2 locations in the DC area, and possibly some others in some other areas.  They converted the two locations to a concept called H I Ribster, one in Annandale and one on the SW Waterfront.  The concept featured Ribs and was a take off on Tony Roma's a popular Ribs chain that was gaining growth and appeal.

The other element was as a "breastaurant".  They featured very attractive FOH  women dressed sexily and working as servers and behind the bar.  This actually preceded Hooters by a year (per Wikipedia), but lets face it...the Playboy clubs and other restaurants and bars, if not chains had learned the value of this strategy years earlier.

My job, as a commercial real estate agent, working on their behalf was to get them more locations.  I loved that job.  Ultimately I would get landlords to meet me at Ribster where we would drink beer, eat ribs....and oh yeah...we ogled the staff.  I was young and single.  It seemed to be a perfect job for me; with one caveat.  I only got paid when we made deals and opened more Ribsters.

We didn't.   Why, I don't recall?  Was it me?   Was it the Ribster's team?  Was the Ribster team too cheap for the market?  Were the landlord's too tough?  I can't recall.  All that beer probably fogged my memory.

So no, I have not been to Twin Peaks.  Have I been to places like it?  Sure, around the country. And I must sadly report that in those various dining experiences over many years there was never a  memorable food/dining/culinary experience of note.  Did I enjoy the visits to the restaurants? Probably most of the time.