Morton's, Arnie Morton's, Morton's The Steakhouse… whatever you want to call it, the upscale steakhouse chain with 77 locations may be looking for a new daddy. Parent company Morton's Restaurant Group has begun “exploring strategic options,” including a possible sale, reports NRN.

After a tough couple years for the high-end chain, which relies on plenty of corporate credit cards to pay for those $49 double-cut filet mignons and $17 burgers, business travel and convention attendance have begun rebounding with same-store sales rising 4.8% for 2010.

With locations in Burbank, Woodland Hills, downtown LA and near Beverly Hills, Morton's is something of an institution — albeit a prefab, corporate-owned one. The Chicago-based company has been public since February 2006, and also operates Trevi, an upscale Italian restaurant chain in Las Vegas.

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