News Release

National Restaurant Association Recognizes T-60 Grill with 2007 Restaurant Neighbor Award for Commitment to Education

September 25, 2007

(Washington, DC) The National Restaurant Association today announced that Coach's Low Country Brand's dba T-60 Grill in Seneca, S.C., has been named the small business winner of the Association's ninth annual Restaurant Neighbor Award. The restaurant was presented the award by U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-SC), and received a prize of $5,000 to continue its community outreach during the Association's annual Public Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C. The award celebrates the philanthropic spirit of the restaurant industry and serves to inspire others to actively get involved in their communities.

"Quality education is vital for young people to leverage future careers in the restaurant industry, as well as in other industries, and T-60 Grill has shown outstanding commitment to support the public education system in its community," said Peter Kilgore, acting interim president and chief executive officer of the National Restaurant Association. "By raising money for scholarships and for teachers to buy supplies, T-60 has inspired other companies to also get involved. The restaurant's innovative approach to saying 'it takes a village to raise a child' truly earn it the Restaurant Neighbor Award."

In 2005, school budget cuts hit the education system in Oconee County hard. Determined to help, T-60 Grill made a $5,000 donation to the Education Foundation of Oconee County earmarked for teachers to help offset the impact of the cuts. When local teachers visited the restaurant to dine, many told owner Joe Crosby that they routinely spent their own money on school supplies, which spurred Crosby to increase the restaurant's involvement the following year.

In August 2006, T-60 Grill held a golf tournament that raised $41,000 as part of Oconee County 's "Make a Difference Day." Crosby initially intended to give each of the county's 410 teachers gift cards to spend on classroom supplies. But, he believed he could use the contribution to really show the teachers that others in the community valued their hard work too. He approached a local Staples store, suggesting they help organize a special shopping event. Staples agreed and added a discount to whatever the teachers bought. The store also closed its parking lot for the teacher shopping spree where the T-60 Grill served food to the teachers and their families. Wishing to join the effort, other companies came forward to show their appreciation of the county's teachers.

From the beginning of the T-60 Grill's success, Crosby and his wife Kristina wanted to focus their philanthropic efforts on education as a way to honor Joe's mother, who spent 40 years as a teacher and administrator. Education is indeed a passion for the T-60 Grill. In addition to the gift card donations and Staples event, T-60 has also paid full tuition scholarships for four local students to attend Johnson & Wales University ; provided uniforms, equipments, coaches and other items for youth school sports teams; and made scholarship donations to four universities.

Restaurants from participating states were selected to contend for the national Restaurant Neighbor Award (small business, mid-size business and large business categories) and the Cornerstone Humanitarian award, which is awarded to an individual who is personally dedicated to community service. A profile of the community-service efforts of each national and state winner will be highlighted on the Association's Web site, www.restaurant.org/community. American Express is the founding sponsor of the awards program.

"American Express is pleased to work with our partner, the National Restaurant Association, in supporting the Restaurant Neighbor Award. We extend our sincere congratulations to the 2007 Restaurant Neighbor Award winners and finalists, as well as our appreciation to all who submitted applications this year," said Hans Lindh, vice president, restaurant industry, American Express Merchant Services.

The 2007 Restaurant Neighbor Award large business winner is Ninety Nine Restaurants in Woburn , Mass. , and the mid-size business winner is Canlis Restaurant in Seattle, Wash. The winner of the Cornerstone Humanitarian award is Pano Karatassos, Buckhead Life Restaurant Group in Atlanta, Ga.

For more information on the 2007 winners, or the Restaurant Neighbor Award, visit www.restaurant.org/community.

The National Restaurant Association, founded in 1919, is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which is comprised of 935,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a work force of 12.8 million employees - making it the cornerstone of the economy, career opportunities and community involvement. Along with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, the Association works to represent, educate and promote the rapidly growing industry. For more information, visit our Web site at www.restaurant.org.