Texas Roadhouse Plans to Open Dozens of New Restaurants This Year
Texas Roadhouse achieved a record-breaking year of growth in 2023 as it opened dozens of new restaurants. And in 2024, the beloved steakhouse chain plans to continue expanding at a similarly breakneck pace.
During an earnings call with investors on Feb. 15, CEO Jerry Morgan announced plans to open about 30 company-owned restaurants this year between Texas Roadhouse and its two sister brands: the burger and pizza chain Bubba's 33 and the burger and chicken chain Jaggers. The Kentucky-based company also expects its franchise partners to open up to 14 international and domestic locations in 2024, including four new Jaggers restaurants.
That adds up to roughly 44 new Texas Roadhouse, Bubba's 33, and Jaggers locations slated to open this year, though Morgan didn't specify how many new restaurants each individual chain will receive.
If the company does reach that 44-unit goal in 2024, then it will mostly keep pace with what Morgan said was a "record" year for new openings in 2023. Texas Roadhouse opened 30 company-owned restaurants across the three brands throughout the year. Meanwhile, franchise partners opened an additional 15 restaurants, including the first two franchised Jaggers locations. All in all, 45 Texas Roadhouse, Bubba's 33, and Jaggers locations opened their doors in 2023.
As of late December 2023, the company and its franchisees were operating 741 restaurants across the United States and its international markets, according to the Texas Roadhouse investor website. That includes 686 Texas Roadhouse restaurants, 45 Bubba's 33 restaurants, and 10 Jaggers restaurants. The company should end 2024 with close to 800 restaurants total if it stays on track with its ambitious expansion plans.
In other Texas Roadhouse news, the company also revealed last week that it plans to raise prices by 2.2% at the start of the second quarter of 2024, which should begin around late March. CFO Chris Monroe explained during the earnings call that the upcoming price hike is meant to "help offset the impact of inflationary pressures" it expects to face this year.
That will be the third price increase at the steakhouse chain in less than a year, following a 2.7% hike in October 2023 and a 2.2% hike in April 2023. But despite the uptick in prices, Texas Roadhouse's popularity with customers continues to grow.
The chain's same-store sales increased 9.9% in the fourth quarter of 2023, while customer traffic increased by 5.1%. Texas Roadhouse restaurants were also "the busiest they've ever been" last year, Monroe said.
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