Steak n Shake has an interesting history. This is the wiki part about our Persian friend, Sardar:

Entrepreneur Sardar Biglari took control of Steak 'n Shake in August 2008 after three years of declining same-store sales and losses of $100,000 per day. He led a turnaround which resulted in 24 straight quarters of increases in same-store sales and profits of $100,000 per day.[13][unreliable source?] He focused the brand on burgers, fries and milkshakes, reducing the menu from eight pages to a bi-fold.[14] However the chain ran into more problems in 2016 and onward, with revenue declining sharply.[15] Reasons included under-investment in the restaurants after the deep price cuts of 2008; competition from "fast casual" restaurants like Chipotle which aimed for a more high-class experience; and two expensive lawsuits from former managers who accused the chain of misclassifying them as salaried employees and refusing to pay earned overtime.[15]

Graham Rahal's 2015 Indianapolis 500 IndyCar was sponsored by Steak 'n Shake. In 2018, Steak 'n Shake changed its business model to a franchise partner system, with Biglari attempting to turn all of the 400+ company-owned restaurants into franchise operations. Entrepreneurial single-unit operators could take control of an existing Steak 'n Shake for $10,000, an unusually low price, but were required to give the company 50% of the restaurant's profits.[16] Even though it offered the new franchise inducement, the firm remained heavily indebted. As of April 2020, its debt was rated as a low C/D "speculative" grade (colloquially known as junk bonds) by bond rating agencies. The Washington Post considered the chain to be extremely likely to default with a low likelihood of recovering, with the restaurant closings due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States being an unrecoverable blow to the firm.[17]

In 2021, Steak N' Shake made a strategic decision to transition away from casual dining and become a fast food restaurant. Steak 'n Shake replaced lunch counters with self-serve kiosks in 2021 to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The chain estimated that remodeling and adding kiosks to each restaurant would cost between $100,000 and $200,000. Changing the service model allowed a significant reduction of store staff. According to management, the old casual dining model faced the challenge of long food preparation time and a cost structure that required paying wait staff. Long-term strategy is to empower customers to place and pick up their own orders. In February 2025, Steak N' Shake announced it would start making fries with 100% beef tallow by March 1.[18] This announcement was later praised publicly by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who used it as an example of his "Make America Healthy Again" agenda.[18]

In May 2025, Steak N' Shake announced it would begin accepting Bitcoin as payment at all U.S. locations,[19] which will eventually include "all international units" at a later date.[20] On May 16, 2025, it began accepting Bitcoin payments at all U.S. locations using the Lightning network.[21][22]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_'n_Shake