About the Lawry's Beef Bowl

Richard N. Frank went to his first Rose Bowl Game when he was just eight years old. The action, the sights, the sounds and the excitement he found there began his lifelong fascination with The Granddaddy of Them All.

When Richard became head of his family’s restaurant company, he wanted to find a way for Lawry’s to celebrate the Rose Bowl Game and its importance to his hometown of Pasadena. In 1956, he conceived the idea of treating the game’s opposing teams to pre-bowl dinners at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills.

Richard thought the players and coaches might welcome an evening’s respite before the big game. Not surprisingly, he felt there was no better place they could go than to Lawry’s for great food and pampering.

He proposed his idea to the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, which in turn approached the then Pac-12 and Big Ten Conferences. The Beef Bowl concept was met with approval all around. A few years later, at the suggestion of Tournament officials, a tradition began of inviting the Rose Queen® and Royal Court to attend.

For the first several years, Lawry’s The Prime Rib catered the meal on the practice field for the Big Ten teams and fed the Pac-12 champions in the Beverly Hills restaurant. Since 1965, both teams have dined in the restaurant on separate evenings prior to the Rose Bowl Game.

The Beef Bowl has become one of the favorite traditions of game week festivities, a time for feasting, swapping stories and basking in the glow of hoped-for victories. Time and again, these special evenings have been singled out by players and coaches as the highlight of their pre-game activities.

The 2013 Rose Bowl Game week will mark the 57th annual Lawry’s Beef Bowl.