Leadership > CEO
Steve F. de Castro
Founder and CEO
Steve de Castro is a prime example of an individual who is living “The American Dream.” Born near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he immigrated with his parents to the United States in the 1960s. At 14 years old, Steve secured his first job at a restaurant in New Orleans, La. He knew he had found his calling.
He quickly worked his way up the ranks of the restaurant industry and by 24 years old he was an experienced and well-respected restaurant manager in Louisiana. He soon took his first leap into restaurant ownership. While the venture was unsuccessful, Steve learned perhaps his most valuable lesson in the process – a restaurateur never runs out of new things to learn and master.
Shortly after his restaurant closed Steve met and went to work for Ruth Fertel, the New Orleans entrepreneur who founded Ruth’s Chris Steak House. After a brief stint at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in New Orleans, Fertel dispatched Steve to the floundering location in Washington, D.C. His resurrection of that location was so fruitful that Fertel awarded Steve his own franchise in 1992.
Today, as founder and CEO of Big Steaks Management, Steve is one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the restaurant industry. His management group operates nine Ruth’s Chris Steak House locations in Maryland, New Jersey, and North Carolina, as well as the Havana Club in Baltimore, Md.
A great believer in giving back to the communities in which he lives and works, Steve has donated a tremendous amount of time, talent and treasure to charitable organizations. He has served as a trustee of the Maryland Chapter of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and he sits on the Board of Directors for the Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM). In 2000, Steve donated a substantial sum of money to RAM for the construction of its state-of-the art headquarters building in Columbia, Md. RAM named the facility The Steve F. de Castro Building.
Steve has received numerous honors, including Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, the Restaurant Association of Maryland’s (RAM) Restaurateur of the Year, and The Academy of Hospitality and Tourism’s Industry Leader of the Year.
Press Inquiries
Please direct all requests for media interviews to Big Steaks Management:
410.653.2133 ext. 33
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