The chain was founded in 1958 as Del's Sizzler Family Steak House by Del and Helen Johnson in Culver City, California.The chain is composed of more than 270 locations throughout the U.S.Most of Sizzler's U.S. locations are in the West.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sizzler promoted mainly steak and combination steak dinners with an optional salad bar. The restaurant wanted to give the customer the feel of a full-service restaurant, but at a price just slightly more than that of a fast food chain. To keep costs down, many of the restaurants had their own in-house meat cutters where they would cut their own steaks and grind their own hamburgers.