Dallas wouldn’t be Dallas without its legendary steakhouses. And when cataloging the all-time greats, no list would be complete without Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse. Originally founded by Dale Wamstad in Kentucky in 1981, the brand reached new heights when Dee Lincoln came on board and expanded the brand with its first Dallas location a few years later. It wasn’t long before she became known as the “Queen of Steaks,” a fitting nickname that has stuck with the accomplished restaurateur over the past 40 years and will likely continue in perpetuity.
During the years after bringing Del Frisco’s to Texas, she was instrumental in the brand’s impressive growth into a multi-billion-dollar luxury brand, which eventually led to its 1995 acquisition by Lonestar Steakhouse & Saloon, a publicly traded company founded by Jamie B. Colter. She could’ve walked away with a lot of cash and become a happy vegan in a gorgeous house on a lush tropical island somewhere, but beef remained her calling and her place in history was only just beginning.
Lincoln continued in a leadership role at Del Frisco’s as Vice President of Operations, successfully expanding the brand into an additional eight markets, including Denver, New York City, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Houston, and Philadelphia.
In 2009, she officially exited Del Frisco’s to write her next chapter, during which her name emerged as a brand itself. Dee Lincoln’s Bubble Bar, Dee Lincoln Prime, and Dee’s Table have all thrived under her visionary leadership, focusing on exquisite experiences while continually fine-tuning the signature southern hospitality at the heart of everything she does—something she brings from her earliest restaurant days in New Orleans.
Getting to this point in her very successful career wasn’t always easy. Not only was the restaurant industry in the 1980s predominantly male-driven, but the steakhouse industry was even more so. Only Ruth’s Chris founder, Ruth Fertel, had found the level of success that Lincoln would eventually achieve, making her consistent rise something few could ever have accomplished with such finesse and a clear vision for what she wanted the guest experience to be.
“It was not an easy task,” Lincoln says, specifically of the brand’s expansion to Manhattan. “But I would say that the pinnacle of my career was living in New York, although my home base was here in Dallas, and the Spring Valley location was certainly the flagship. But moving to a city like Manhattan, just a female going into a city like New York and being in a dominantly male industry with all kinds of old school steakhouses, my entry into the steak business was really rooted to the core of just meat and potatoes.”
She credits Coulter with being a great mentor and helping her break into New York. “It wasn’t that I didn’t have the knowledge of food and spirits and wine—it was more about doing business in Manhattan,” she says. “So having a public company behind me was fantastic, and it led to a very interesting time in my career.”
Lincoln was 35 and had just sold Del Frisco’s, but she continued to learn, grow as a business person, and succeed in new cities while adapting what it means to be a steakhouse to trends and changes over time.
“I think it’s really the basics of me being able to pull up my bootstraps and work in the kitchen, and work in the front, and understand the cuts of beef, understand food, and even working with stockyards back in the day. And Allen brothers. Allen Brothers is still my beef vendor today,” she says.
Lincoln recalls her days in the Big Apple, and how she navigated her way through the challenges of being a woman from Texas by way of Louisiana. “I think one of the greatest attributes is the fact that I knew my stuff, and I was able to be in a city where I gained respect very quickly because I understood all the aspects of the business,” she says. “It was not like coming into the front of the house to be just a pretty face, but understanding people, because it’s such a natural thing for me.”
Lincoln assures that selling a steakhouse to a public company was not a small feat. “Obviously, big kudos as well to my original partner, who was a butcher, not a chef by trade. Back then, that was the only thing we really knew.”
By the time Lincoln exited Del Frisco’s for good, she thought that was probably the end of that chapter of her career. “It was an amazing journey, but it was not really in my cards to do another steakhouse. Fortunately, I’m blessed to have beautiful relationships with Jerry Jones and his family.”
Her first Dee Lincoln’s Bubble Bar was inside AT&T Stadium, another Jones venture, so through the friendship she’d built with him and members of his family, she was selected to open the steakhouse for the Star, a 91-acre campus that included the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and practice facility. “Everyone was trying to get that location. So I have to say, besides my daughter, Dee Lincoln Prime is my greatest accomplishment. It’s not only my namesake, but a legacy for my family.”
It’s also part of a legacy she created for all women leaders in the restaurant business. With more than 130 steakhouses in North Texas alone, the brands she created continue to epitomize the very best in high-end luxury hospitality.
Dee Lincoln Prime’s team, including culinary director Julian Rodarte, will take part in DiningOut’s RARE Steak Championship on Thursday, May 7, so you can taste for yourself the culmination of 40+ years of excellence.
“I’m extremely honored to be able to have Julian and for us to participate in something like this, because it does put a focus on many steakhouses doing many great things,” she says. “It’s something that’s only going to get better, and it’s exciting to celebrate steak. Because no matter what, we can’t lose sight of what is the staple food of the state of Texas, and it is Prime steaks.”
In addition to RARE as a way to experience steak in all its glory, you can always visit Dee Lincoln Prime any day of the year and request Lincoln’s go-to steakhouse order. “A wedge salad. A ribeye, medium rare. And, au gratin potatoes.”
Pure perfection, just like Lincoln’s position in restaurant history.
