Saddle Ranch Chop House Universal CityWalk Calls It Quits On January 2

The bucking will soon cease at the Saddle Ranch Chop House’s Universal CityWalk location, as the restaurant prepares to close on January 2. After this closure, only five Saddle Ranch Chop Houses will remain, including the mothership location on Sunset Boulevard.

The Saddle Ranch Chop House is best known for the centrally-placed mechanical bull, and western-themed food. Inside Universal first reported on the approaching closure. The company is in the midst of challenges, with recent closings in Scottsdale and Kansas City. In 2016, the Saddle Ranch Chop House also filed suit against The Outlets at Orange, complaining that the shopping mall construction limited parking and restaurant access, along with noise and foul odors.

The Universal Saddle Ranch experienced a long run after initially opening in 1995. The space always seemed to attract cowboy-themed restaurants. Long before Universal CityWalk was a concept, the rib-loving Tony Roma’s created Womphopper's Wagon Works Restaurant in 1981, which eventually became Womphoppers. Tony Roma’s took over the space in 1988, then moved when construction began on Universal CityWalk in 1991. In 1995, the Country Star restaurant moved in, then transformed into the Saddle Ranch Chop House in 2003. There is no word on what will replace the massive restaurant space.

• Saddle Ranch Chop House at Universal CityWalk Hollywood set to close Jan 2 [Inside Universal]