Steers: History, Key Facts and Reviews

1960-1982: a Johannesburg steakhouse family

Steers grew out of the restaurants George Halamandres opened in Johannesburg in the early 1960s (Wikipedia). He started with Milky Lane ice cream parlours, then the Rosebank Golden Spur steakhouse, the Seven Steers steakhouse in Highlands North and the Black Steer in Yeoville. The brand dates its first Steers restaurant to 1960 in Highlands North (Steers), while the Famous Brands timeline places the first Seven Steer there in 1963. The name changed several times, from Golden Spur to Seven Steer, Branded Steer and Longhorn Steer, before it settled on Steers. By 1970 the restaurants were known for flame-grilled 100% beef burgers, hand-cut chips and very thick shakes.

1983-1995: franchising and the first stores abroad

Steers became a franchise business in 1983. A single newspaper advertisement brought in hundreds of requests, and 15 new restaurants opened over the next two years. George Halamandres died in 1984, and his nephews Peter, Theo and Perry and his youngest son John took over. By 1988 there were 50 restaurants and a supply factory in Midrand with its own bakery, butchery and sauce bottling plant. In 1993 the chain opened its 250th restaurant and its first outside South Africa, in Botswana, Swaziland (now Eswatini), Namibia and Zimbabwe. In 1995 the King Steer burger and the hand-cut chips won best burger and chips in the Leisure Options Best of Joburg awards.

1994-2025: Famous Brands and the tests abroad

Steers became the base of Africa’s largest restaurant franchisor. Steers Holdings listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November 1994, bought Debonairs Pizza in 1997, Wimpy South Africa in 2003 and Wimpy UK in 2007, and renamed itself Famous Brands (Famous Brands). Outside Africa, results have been mixed. A restaurant in Athens in the early 1990s lasted only a few years, and a London branch on Lavender Hill, Battersea, opened in July 2013 and had closed by 2022. In December 2025 Steers reached Southeast Asia with its first Malaysian outlet, at a PETRONAS station in Bandar Baru Bangi, under a master licence. At home, the competition now includes newer burger chains such as RocoMamas, which we reviewed in our RocoMamas Johannesburg guide.

2026: 757 restaurants

Steers is today Famous Brands’ largest burger brand. At the end of February 2026 it had 757 restaurants: 690 in South Africa after 26 openings and 7 closures in the year, 65 elsewhere in southern Africa and 2 in the Africa and Middle East region (Famous Brands results presentation). A year earlier, the group counted Steers in 13 markets (Famous Brands).

Key dates

• 1960: first Steers restaurant in Highlands North, Johannesburg, according to the brand.
• 1983: Steers starts franchising after a single newspaper advertisement.
• 1993: 250th restaurant and first stores in Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
• 1994: Steers Holdings lists on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
• 2003: the group buys Wimpy South Africa, then Wimpy UK in 2007.
• 2013: a Steers opens in Battersea, London.
• 2025: first Malaysian outlet, in December.
• 2026: 757 restaurants at the end of February.