Black Angus Steakhouse, America’s original steakhouse since 1964, announces its appointment of two new leaders, Deborah Shapiro and David Bolosan. As Black Angus looks to connect with a younger audience while maintaining longstanding ties with devoted fans of all ages, Shapiro and Bolosan help ensure the growth and continuation of the restaurant’s rebranding strategy and core values. As of July 2022, Black Angus Steakhouse has reported that they are achieving pre-pandemic sales levels—efforts largely accomplished by Shapiro, Bolosan, and the rest of the dedicated Black Angus team.
Showcasing strong communication and leadership skills intertwined with a guest-oriented approach, VP of Growth Deborah Shapiro not only believes in empowering the next leaders of hospitality, but also in bringing together guests with Black Angus’ core values of quality, family, trust, value, and heritage. She recently helped launch the new Square Cow Live music series, which provides live music on Friday nights as a homage to the legendary Square Cow Fun Bar parties prevalent during the 80s and 90s. These social gatherings are meant to entertain all generations and bring people together in a festive atmosphere.
“It all boils down to our belief that we are in the business to create memorable experiences. Dining is about the experience and, yes, the food is a big part of that memory, but all guest touchpoints should be considered a part of the restaurant journey,” Shapiro explains. “The brand needs to start outside of the four walls – digital interactions, physical brand impressions, retail products on the shelves, sponsorships, charitable work, and creating a culture connection with the guest before they walk in.”
Senior Director of Product Innovation and Procurement David Bolosan helms the multifaceted culinary program at Black Angus—bringing in more than two decades of intrepid restaurant and hospitality experience. Having previously worked at Black Angus for seven years, Bolosan understands the restaurant concepts and knows how to connect the brand with the larger audience. Overseeing Black Angus’ food & beverage strategies and procurement, he works with each location’s head chefs and culinary teams to ensure every guest receives the opportunity to try high quality yet affordable steakhouse dishes.
“I look at the experience as a whole – food, beverage, service, and atmosphere – each one equally important as the other,” Bolosan explains. “As a team, we need to execute for that experience to be memorable.”
Emphasizing heritage has been a key component of Black Angus’ employee and customer support initiatives. Black Angus has also increased community involvement by recently welcoming minority-owned small businesses such as Equator Coffee, McBride Sisters Wine Company, Me & The Bees Lemonade, and Lillie’s of Charleston Spicy Mustard BBQ Sauce into the menu selection at several locations.
Black Angus has also recently expanded its online retail presence across the nation. For people who prefer to cook to their own specifications in the comfort of their kitchen, the restaurant recently launched their new Meat Market where shoppers order items like beef patties, butterflied lobster tails, and Black Angus Steak Sauce online before picking up their purchases in store. Black Angus Steakhouse has partnered with Daymon for private label food brand development to help further develop the restaurant’s retail strategy.
Along with the new hires and as part of the steakhouse chain’s growth strategy, Black Angus has also appointed Evolution USA as its global licensing and brand management agency in key categories. Evolution is tapped with developing and managing a retail, direct to consumer and online licensed consumer products program for the Black Angus Steakhouse brand.
