Michigan’s Football Team To Participate in Beef Bowl Thursday

The University of Michigan’s football team will participate in Lawry’s Beef Bowl at Lawry’s The Prime Rib Thursday, one day before its opponent in Monday’s 110th Rose Bowl, Alabama.

Lawry’s The Prime Rib, a renowned restaurant chain, has deep roots in Pasadena through its founding families. The first Lawry’s, known for its prime rib and tableside service, opened in Beverly Hills in 1938 by Lawrence L. Frank and Walter Van de Kamp.

The family ties to Pasadena extend beyond their restaurant business. Richard N. Frank, son of Lawrence, was an emeritus trustee of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Lawry’s Restaurants Inc., the parent company, is headquartered in Pasadena.

The Frank and Van de Kamp families remain involved in the company’s operations, with the fourth generation now at the helm. Ryan O’Melveny Wilson, Lawrence Frank’s great-grandson, became CEO of Lawry’s Restaurants Inc. in 2020.

Lawry’s Beef Bowl consists of the teams separately dining on prime rib, with one player each conducting the salad spin and performing the ceremonial first cut of prime rib.

Lawry’s Spinning Salad involves the designated server making the salad tableside in a bowl set into a large bucket of ice with the dressing poured on top as it is spun, then served.

Since 2018, each portion of the Beef Bowl has included the presentation of the Tournament of Roses Scholar Athlete Award to a player from each team.

Rose Bowl teams have dined at the Beverly Hills restaurant annually since 1956, except for 2020 and 2021 when the event was canceled because of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Beef Bowl is older than all but the Rose, Orange, Sugar, Sun, Cotton, Gator and Citrus bowls. It is billed by organizers as college football’s most enduring pre-bowl game tradition.

Lawry’s Beef Bowl has not been a competition since 1970. Coaches are informed that there is a limit of two servings of prime rib per player.

“The Beef Bowl is an opportunity for us to celebrate the players and coaches and kick off the festivities of the Rose Bowl Game,” said Ryan O’Melveny Wilson, CEO of Lawry’s Restaurants Inc.

The series of events leading up to the Rose Bowl began Wednesday with both teams visiting Disneyland and being celebrated with a cavalcade on Main Street, U.S.A.