EXHIBIT 23.1
                INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' CONSENT
                              
The Board of Directors
Ryan's Family Steak Houses, Inc.:

We   consent   to  incorporation  by  reference  in  the
Registration Statements on Form S-8 of Ryan's Family Steak
Houses, Inc.  Incentive Stock Option Plan (No. 2-83987),
Ryan's Family Steak Houses, Inc. 1987 Stock Option Plan (No.
33-15924), and Ryan's Family Steak Houses, Inc. 1991 Stock
Option Plan (No. 33-53834) of our report dated January  22,
1997, relating to the consolidated balance sheets balance
sheets of Ryan's  Family  Steak Houses,  Inc. and
subsidiaries as of January 1, 1996 and January 3, 1996 and
the related consolidated statements of earnings  and  cash
flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended
January  1, 1997,  which  report is incorporated by
reference in the  1996  annual report on Form 10-K of Ryan's
Family Steak Houses, Inc.  Our report refers to the adoption
of the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting
Standards No. 121, "Accounting for the Impairment of Long
Lived Assets and for Long-Lived Assets to be Disposed of."



Greenville, South Carolina             KPMG Peat Marwick LLP
March 28, 1997