George McKerrow Interview: Ted’s Montana Grill Co-Founder Shares His Journey, Lessons, and Thoughts on Alpharetta

From starting as a dishwasher to founding Longhorn Steakhouse, Ted’s Montana Grill, Canoe, and Aria, George McKerrow is recognized as one of the original pioneers of the modern Atlanta restaurant market. Since opening the very first Longhorn location in 1981, his restaurants have become beloved staples of the community.

While each of McKerrow’s restaurant concepts features its own unique personality, they share a common DNA: a focus on fresh food, debt-free operations, and a founder who believes that genuine hospitality is the ultimate key to earning a guest’s loyalty. With only a handshake agreement and no contract, George McKerrow and Ted Turner have grown Ted’s Montana Grill to having 37 locations in 14 states over the last 25 years.

Our team had the opportunity to speak with George McKerrow to reflect on his monumental career and the current state of the restaurant industry. In our conversation, he explains why he chose Avalon in Alpharetta as one of the locations for Ted’s, his perspective on the intense pressures facing restaurants in 2026, and the powerful story of how a willingness to “risk everything” enabled him to build a restaurant empire.

You are one of the original architects of the Atlanta dining scene. Can you take us back to when you opened the first Longhorn Steakhouse in 1981?

“Atlanta was a very immature restaurant market in 1981. At this time, Atlanta’s restaurant market was being discovered. There were all sorts of people moving into Atlanta. Businesses were growing, and demand for steak and potatoes was ever-present. The area had independent and chain restaurants, but it didn’t have upscale, high-quality dining.

When we launched the first Longhorn Steakhouse in 1981, that is when the market began to mature. People started expecting more value when dining. Longhorn fit a niche that brought high-quality, fresh food to the marketplace when the chain restaurants had all abandoned their roots and were trying to be everything to everybody. I saw a niche between the family steakhouses and the chain prime rib houses. We thought that if we had a high-quality, fun environment with a Texas honky-tonk style and feature quality for value. that we could win the day. And that’s exactly what happened. 

Movies often have a big impact on consumer behavior. When the movie A River Runs Through It was released, fly fishing became a fad. At that time in the 1980’s, Urban Cowboy with John Travolta was a big hit, which put Texas at the forefront of the consumer behavior pattern. Texas culture with cowboy boots and Wrangler jeans was the call for the day, and Longhorn Steakhouse played off of this consumer pattern.”

The dining customer in Metro Atlanta today looks very different from when Ted’s Montana Grill launched in 2002. What has this forced your team to do differently?

Photo courtesy of Ted's Montana Grill

“I think there’s been a change in consumer behavior where well-prepared, tasty food is the expectation. Consumers are rewarding hospitality more than ever and visiting the restaurants where they feel special. People are expecting more of an experience because it’s a lot more expensive to dine out now than it used to be.

In Atlanta, a consumer will forgive you for mediocre food if you offer outstanding hospitality and service. However, if you have poor hospitality, consumers will not forgive you even if you offer quality food. Wherever we have a restaurant, we are part of a community where people gather to have a good time. Our team concentrates on creating genuine experiences with our hospitality to give our guests a real reason to come back and make our restaurant their regular place to dine out.

Atlanta consumers have matured, and their expectations for the dining experience have grown. The restaurants that are focused on the delivery of the experience are the ones that are winning.”

When Ted’s Montana Grill opened the Alpharetta location in 2014, the city wasn't the destination it is today. What did you see in Alpharetta early on that told you the market was ready?

“In Alpharetta, I saw an economic environment that was highly lucrative. There were many people moving outside the perimeter in Alpharetta with high-quality incomes and a propensity for dining out.

The Avalon project was one of the most creative and well-executed lifestyle centers ever built in the country and turned out to be a model for other developments. When Mark Toro bought it and took over, I just believed it was going to be a dynamic draw based on what I knew about where people were moving and the economic drivers in the area. 

Also, the Alpharetta community was welcoming businesses. Alpharetta was defining itself as a desirable place to grow a business and live, work, and play. And we jumped on the bandwagon early.”

Your restaurants survived recessions, a pandemic, and every disruption the industry has thrown at restaurants. What has kept you standing when others didn’t make it?

Photo courtesy of Ted's Montana Grill

“First of all, we stayed focused on the fundamentals of being in the restaurant business: great food, great service, and a warm, inviting environment. Restaurants often overcomplicate it and focus on analytics, but at the end of the day,  the foundation of food, services, and attitude is what the consumer rewards time and time again. If you look at the oldest restaurants in the United States, they consistently delivered on what they said they were going to be within the community. 

When the outside environment is uncertain, the winners are the ones with the best reputation. At the end of the day, you earn your reputation in the restaurant business by focusing on the fundamental deliverables and consistently delivering those to the guests.

Also, I don’t believe in carrying a great deal of debt. Longhorn Steakhouse was debt-free until it went public, and Ted’s Montana Grill never had any debt. Debt adds a burden to a restaurant that makes you do financial decision-making that isn’t consistent with the fundamentals that grow your business. 

You have to be flexible. The only thing predictable about the restaurant business is the unpredictable, so you have to be able to roll with the punches.”  

Tariffs, food costs, and labor pressures are hitting restaurants hard. What’s your read on the health of the restaurant industry in 2026?

Photo courtesy of Ted's Montana Grill

“It’s not in a great place right now. There are a vast number of major restaurants that are in jeopardy of closing in 2026, and guest counts are down. The fast food industry is able to survive, but there are still effects from consumers rewarding the experience and quality of food. For example, Wendy’s is about to close around 300 restaurants.

All restaurants have increased their prices, but it’s important to offer a  welcoming experience to go along with the higher prices. The consumer is really withdrawing from the average dining experience and rewarding the fun, hospitable places. At Ted’s Montana Grill, we grew our guest counts and sales last year. We’ve tried to resist high price increases, and we’ll continue to do that. 

The major pressure point is in the labor market. After the pandemic, there was a march towards exorbitant minimum wage pressures for salaried team members, which has costed millions of dollars to the industry. At the same time, fewer people are looking at the hospitality industry as a career of choice. 

The only way you can fight this uncertainty is to earn more money by raising prices and earn more consumers by earning their loyalty through genuine hospitality.”

You have mentioned before that you have to be "willing to risk everything" in business. Can you take us back to one specific moment in your career where you felt most tested on that principle?

“I was a Southeast Regional Manager for Victoria Station in Atlanta. I left the company when I was invited by a friend of mine to be an owner of Longhorn Steakhouse. I got 25% of the company in sweat equity to develop and run the restaurant. I created the concept and business plan from scratch.
 

The gentleman was supposed to raise all the money. He wanted to build 10 restaurants, and I wanted to build one first. After I quit my job, I was building the restaurant during the day and bartending at night. When we got halfway through the building process, he disappeared. I was left with a dream in my pocket, an overdrawn bank account, and nobody to bail me out.

And that was the moment in time when I had to rely on the fact that if I believed in something hard enough and I worked hard enough, I could make it work. 
So, I put together a new group of investors. It would have been easy for me to just walk away and find another job, but I didn’t give up. I put my head down and found a solution. The first day Longhorn Steakhouse opened, we did 14 lunches and 21 dinners. 

It’s important to learn from your failures and not make the same mistake twice. With Ted’s Montana Grill, Ted and I had to take the risk to put our money up and get it done, and that’s what we did. We built 56 restaurants in 72 months in 19 states across the country with no debt.”

What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned from working with Ted Turner?

“Be loyal, be trustworthy, and never give up. Create an environment of success for everyone around you, and always remember that we all look good together and we all look bad together. 

I’ll go into the restaurants and wash plates and clear tables. We’re not a company that has a bunch of people working for their ego. We’re a team that works together to achieve a common mission and never gives up.

Ted and I have never had a contract. We shook hands in May of 2001 and have been great partners for 25 years.”

For a first-time visitor at Ted's Montana Grill, what is the one dish and one beverage they should order to get the full experience?

Photo courtesy of Ted's Montana Grill

“We grind our beef and bison burgers in-house every morning for lunch and every afternoon for dinner. Our burgers have been renowned for the last 25 years. I suggest a burger with our hand-cut French fries. When you order French fries at Ted’s, it’s a whole potato, and nine minutes later, it’s on your plate. I suggest one of our delicious malts to go along with it.

That’s my favorite meal ever, and that’s why I created it the way I did. Perfect French fries, the perfect cheeseburger, and a chocolate or vanilla malt. That’s a deadly meal that you have to experience at Ted’s.

For those wanting to try something unique, I recommend our bison steaks, as all of our steaks are hand-cut in the restaurant. Bison is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, half the fat and cholesterol of beef, and is in the top 5 foods that women should eat for iron replacement.

Everything about Ted’s is just like coming into your own home and having someone cook for you, and there’s no freezer except for the ice cream.”

Ted's Menu Highlights