Steak 'n Shake Operations, Inc. (doing business as Steak 'n Shake) is an American casual restaurant chain concentrated primarily in the Midwestern United States with locations also in the South, Mid-Atlantic and Western United States, Europe, and the Middle East. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Biglari Holdings. , 628 Steak 'n Shake restaurants were in operation, with 414 of them corporate-owned, and 214 franchised. The company has since attempted to convert to a fully franchised model. Typical restaurant locations have sit-down, drive-thru and front-window service, resulting in a hybrid of fast-food to-go and diner-style sit-down service. Many locations are open 24 hours a day, seven days per week. The menu features primarily burgers and hand-dipped milkshakes; other entrees, side items, and drinks are also available. The corporation's slogan, "Famous for Steakburgers", refers to its most prominent food item, the Steakburger. The "steak" in the restaurant name comes from that menu item. History A. H. "Gus" Belt (born in Morrisonville, Illinois) founded Steak 'n Shake in Normal, Illinois, in February 1934, after serving four years in the United States Marine Corps. He converted the combination gas station and chicken restaurant that he owned (Shell's Chicken) into a hamburger stand. Steak 'n Shake's slogan, "In Sight It Must Be Right", originally referred to Belt's practice of wheeling a barrel of T-bone, sirloin, and round steaks into the public area of his restaurant, then grinding them into burgers in front of his customers—a practice intended to reassure customers of the product's wholesomeness as, at the time, ground beef was still viewed with skepticism by the general public, based on the likelihood of its having impurities deliberately added to it. This also assured Belt's customers of the veracity of his "Steakburger" claim. Later, patrons were assured that Steakburgers were still made from these ingredients "at our own commissary" for shipment to the restaurants, where the open grill line remained "in sight" to customers. Following the restaurant's success, Belt purchased a chain of Goal Post restaurants throughout central Illinois, converting them to Steak 'n Shakes, and added curb service to them. The original building at the intersection of Main Street and West Virginia Avenue was damaged by a fire in the early 1960s, but was repaired and its dining room expanded. In the late 1990s, Steak 'n Shake sold the building to the Monical's Pizza company.