Blue Plate Restaurant

What Blue Plate Restaurant does

Blue Plate Restaurant Company is a privately held, founder-owned multi-brand neighborhood restaurant group founded in 1993 by David Burley and Stephanie Shimp with the opening of Highland Grill in St. Paul, and currently owned by Stephanie Shimp. Headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota, the company operates a portfolio of casual American dining concepts across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, comprising six active restaurants (Highland Grill, Groveland Tap, Longfellow Grill, 3 Squares, and The Freehouse), the seasonal The Blue Barn concept at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, and a food truck. Two long-running locations, Edina Grill (closed September 18, 2025 after 26 years) and The Lowry (closed April 26, 2026 after 15 years), have permanently shut, reducing the active footprint.

The company's technology stack is built on third-party SaaS platforms rather than proprietary infrastructure. Toast serves as the unified point-of-sale, e-gift card, online ordering, and loyalty/rewards platform across all restaurant locations, enabling e-gift cards redeemable at any of the six active sites and integrated rewards balance lookup via Toast Tab. Paylocity is used for recruiting and HR management. The company offers dine-in service, order-ahead takeout, reservations, a points-based loyalty/e-club program, and both electronic and physical gift cards.

Blue Plate's revenue model is purely transaction-based on consumer food and beverage sales at restaurant locations, supplemented by one-time gift card purchases. Pricing is menu-based at the individual restaurant level and is not publicly disclosed. The company targets local neighborhood communities and general diners in the Twin Cities metro through a direct-to-consumer model, with marketing conducted via loyalty email, individual restaurant websites, organic social media, and community/seasonal event presence. No B2B, catering, or enterprise contracts are disclosed.

Name

Blue Plate Restaurant

Legal name

Blue Plate Restaurant Company Inc.

Website

https://blueplaterestaurantco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Blue Plate Restaurant Company is a privately held, founder-owned multi-brand casual dining group operating six neighborhood restaurants across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro, plus a Minnesota State Fair concept and a food truck, serving local diners since 1993.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (7225)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Casual Dining Restaurants (THAFACAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

All-Day Dining Restaurants (THAFACAJ)

Keywords

• Casual dining restaurants
• Neighborhood restaurant group
• Made-from-scratch food
• Brewpub dining
• Restaurant gift cards

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Restaurant Sales: Revenue from food and beverage sales at restaurant locations, including alcohol sales
2. Takeout and Food-to-Go: Order-ahead takeout service at all locations, generating incremental revenue beyond dine-in
3. Gift Card Sales: Electronic gift cards sold through website, usable at all restaurant locations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Blue Plate Restaurant Company is a multi-brand neighborhood restaurant group operating six active dine-in locations across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, serving made-from-scratch American fare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The company also operates a seasonal State Fair concept (The Blue Barn), a mobile food truck, and complementary guest-facing services including Toast-powered electronic gift cards and a Toast Tab-integrated loyalty rewards program.

Product overview

Blue Plate Restaurant Company operates a portfolio of neighborhood restaurants offering craveable, made-from-scratch American fare with hospitality-focused dining experiences. The collection includes seven distinct restaurant brands: Highland Grill (St. Paul - the original founded in 1993), Groveland Tap (St. Paul), Longfellow Grill (Minneapolis), 3 Squares (Maple Grove), The Freehouse (Minneapolis North Loop brewpub), plus The Blue Barn (Minnesota State Fair) and a food truck. The company also offers complementary services including a Toast-powered e-gift card system accepted at all locations and a loyalty/rewards program integrated across all restaurants. Edina Grill and The Lowry have permanently closed (September 2025 and April 2026 respectively).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Highland Grill Neighborhood restaurant in St. Paul serving fresh made-from-scratch dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week, known for Hot Hash and cheesecake. Open to individual diners and local community patrons.
• Groveland Tap

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• ToastcoreTechnology or IntegrationToast provides the technology platform powering Blue Plate's e-gift card system. The integration allows gift cards to be used across all 6 restaurant locations for dine-in and takeout purchases. Toast also powers the rewards lookup functionality for customer loyalty programs.
• PaylocitysupportingTechnology or IntegrationPaylocity provides the recruiting and HR platform for Blue Plate Restaurant Company's job postings and career applications. All restaurant team member and management positions are posted through the Paylocity recruiting portal.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Brinker International: Operates Chili's and Maggiano's — large casual and casual-dining chains; relevant incumbent for benchmarking multi-unit casual dining operations and loyalty programs at scale.
• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store: Multi-unit casual dining operator with strong breakfast-through-dinner daypart coverage and a community/locale-driven brand; relevant incumbent for unit-economics comparison.
• Bloomin' Brands: Portfolio operator of Outback, Carrabba's, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming's; broadly comparable as a multi-brand casual dining holding structure, though at much larger scale.
• The Cheesecake Factory: Iconic casual dining chain with broad American menus and full bar service; overlaps with Blue Plate's made-from-scratch, expansive menu approach across grills and pubs.

Others

• Toast (Toast Inc.): POS, gift card, and online ordering platform provider for Blue Plate; ecosystem/technology peer rather than a direct competitor, but a critical operational dependency.
• Bruegger's Bagels (Einstein Bros / JAB Holding): National bagel/breakfast casual concept; relevant as an adjacent daypart-focused casual dining peer to Highland Grill's breakfast-heavy trade.

Regional players

• Cossetta's: Iconic multi-unit Minneapolis Italian restaurant and market operator; comparable as a long-standing, family-owned Twin Cities hospitality group with a flagship plus adjacent concepts.
• D'Amico Restaurant Group: Twin Cities-based multi-concept restaurant operator; directly comparable as a fellow local hospitality group managing multiple casual and upscale dining brands in the same Minneapolis-St. Paul market.

Direct peers

• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers: Casual dining chain specializing in burgers, beer, and family-friendly neighborhood dining; comparable business model and menu positioning to Blue Plate concepts like Groveland Tap.
• Perkins Restaurant & Bakery: Casual full-service chain serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a neighborhood setting; directly comparable to Highland Grill and 3 Squares' all-day dining format.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blue Plate Restaurant