The Remote Location Where You'll Find The Last Lone Star Steakhouse

If you had a hankering for meat in the late '90s, ideally served in a rootin' tootin' environment, the odds were good that Lone Star Steakhouse was on your mind. This chain, officially known as Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon, was originally founded in North Carolina in 1989. It was a popular Texas-themed steak chain which reached its peak in 1998 with over 200 restaurants operating across the United States. Today, only a single, independent Lone Star Steakhouse remains and it's not in the chain's home state of North Carolina, or even in Texas; it's in the United States territory of Guam.

If you happen to be in Tamuning, Guam, either for business or pleasure, you can drop in on the last Lone Star Steakhouse and enjoy a menu of classic American favorites. Lone Star Steakhouse now bills itself as "Guam's favorite steakhouse" where it serves up not only steaks but burgers, sandwiches, fried onion appetizers, drinks, and more in its classic Texas-themed setting complete with cowboy murals on the walls. Moreover, it's located just outside Guam's international airport, so you can grab a meal after the long flight from the continental United States.

The history of Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon is a dramatic one, from a rapid (perhaps too rapid) rise to a crushing fall. Between its founding in 1989 to its current standing of one solitary location, Lone Star Steakhouse opened hundreds of restaurants, became publicly traded, and, in the early 2000s, began a rapid decline that eventually left it with zero restaurants in the continental United States. While many factors were allegedly to blame, including corporate mismanagement and issues with food quality, one major problem for Lone Star was competition.

While casual steakhouses were still relatively novel when the chain was founded in 1989, Lone Star would quickly find itself locked into a battle with other steak chains like Outback Steakhouse, which was founded only one year earlier in 1988, and Texas Roadhouse, founded in 1993. Lone Star's relative lack of an original "hook," like the peanuts of Texas Roadhouse, or Australian-named cocktails at Outback, caused the brand to fade even before other steakhouse chains began to have similar issues. Hundreds of outlets closed in the 2000s and 2010s, until only the currently-operating Guam restaurant remained.