Alan Stillman

The Climb

The first major line in the record is founder at T.G.I. Friday's in Manhattan (1965–1976), where Alan Stillman established the framework for a career built on bold hospitality and unmistakable style. That early run set the terms of his reputation: reading what people wanted from a night out, then building a restaurant around that demand. In 1977, he founded Smith & Wollensky, extending that approach into a second name with a different scale but the same emphasis on presence. He remains founder of Smith & Wollensky (since 1977) and serves as chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, Inc, keeping his role tied to the brands he created.

Today

Founder of Smith & Wollensky and chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, Inc., Alan Stillman remains connected to the businesses that define his professional record. The continuity matters here: the same operator who shaped one influential Manhattan concept continued to hold the line on another, with a career marked by longevity, continuity, and a visible footprint in the restaurant trade.

Signature

The signature names associated with Alan Stillman are T.G.I. Friday's and Smith & Wollensky. In trade terms, they function as shorthand for two distinct expressions of the same operator's instinct: a lively room, a memorable name, and a concept built to register immediately. The legacy sits in the brands themselves, which carried his approach from one chapter to the next.

In Their Words “It seemed to me that the best way to meet girls was to open up a bar.” These lines are plainspoken, and that plainness tracks with the career they introduce. They show a founder working from practical observation rather than theory, and the result was a Manhattan dining presence that began with T.G.I. Friday's and continued through Smith & Wollensky and The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, Inc.