7 Major Changes You'll See at Texas Roadhouse in 2024
Texas Roadhouse is on its high horse, riding the coattails of last year's success. In 2023 alone—a year of growth and innovation—the Kentucky-based entity not only roped in the title of America's fastest-growing restaurant brand but was crowned the country's most beloved sit-down restaurant chain.
So, how does Texas Roadhouse do it? It's a question other steakhouse chains are undoubtedly chomping at the bit to find an answer to.
For starters, the many different pieces of the growth puzzle have been lining up perfectly. The company has made small strategic shifts to react to factors like inflation and supply chain issues, continues to take advantage of technology enhancements, and builds on its in-restaurant success with supplementary revenue streams like retail and frozen foods.
Following this period of achievement, Texas Roadhouse could ride into the sunset—juicy steaks, honey butter rolls, and legendary margaritas in tow. But, it knows there's always some fixin' to be done or something to improve around food service. So, progress continues into 2024.
During the company's most recent earnings call, the leadership team discussed the most important changes customers will start to see over the next 365 days at Texas Roadhouse and its sister brands, Jaggers and Bubba's 33. Let's dive into the highlights:
Prices are rising even higher.
Buckle up, partner. Texas Roadhouse will ask customers to dole out more for its "legendary" dishes and drinks during 2024. On the earnings call, the company's chief financial officer, Chris Monroe, confirmed that a 2.2% menu price hike is coming—soon. It is set to hit all Texas Roadhouse locations at the end of March as the restaurant's second quarter begins.
If this news sounds familiar to you, that's because it is. This is the company's third time increasing consumer-facing costs in less than a year. A similar 2.2% boost occurred in April 2023, followed by another 2.7% incremental increase a few months later in October.
This time around, Monroe explained, the upward shift is meant to help "offset inflationary pressures." Factors like decreased cattle supply play a role. To determine the exact percent increase, the company took into account traffic trends, wage increases, labor trends, and prices at other surrounding restaurants. "This level of detail and operator involvement provides us with the confidence that we are taking the right level of pricing without sacrificing our value proposition," Monroe said. The good news is that the fluffy rolls and honey cinnamon butter are still 100% complementary.
Even more restaurants are in the works.
Yes, 2023 was a time of mega-growth for the steakhouse chain. The company said howdy to 30 restaurants in the span of the year, which included 22 Texas Roadhouses, five Bubba's 33s, and three Jaggers. Franchise partners supplemented this count with an additional 15 openings for a total of 45. The company isn't showing any signs of letting up heading into 2024.
On the February earnings call, CEO Jerry Morgan announced plans to open another round of 30 company-owned restaurants in the upcoming calendar year. Meanwhile, franchise partners anticipate cutting the ribbon at 14 new domestic and international locations. The whereabouts of these new international locations were not announced on the call. Texas Roadhouse operates in 10 countries outside the U.S., including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Philippines, Taiwan, Mexico, China, and South Korea.
If all goes according to plan, the company will significantly increase its already Texas-sized footprint and end 2024 with close to 800 total restaurants on its books.
Fast-casual spin-off Jaggers is expanding.
Among all three Texas Roadhouse brands, Jaggers 2024 growth might be the most impressive. The scratch-made burger and chicken chain opened in 2014, ready to take fast-casual dining to a new level. Expansion has been a slow, steady process. And now, 10 years later, there are still eight existing Jaggers locations across Indiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
That's all about to change, as we are poised to see nearly a doubling in Jaggers restaurants this year. Out of the 30 company-owned restaurants slated to open in 2024, three are intended to be Jaggers locations—although that number is somewhat up in the air, according to Michael Bailen, Texas Roadhouse senior director of investor relations. "The Jaggers timing, whether we get three open, we will see," Bailen noted on the earnings call. Then, on the franchise side, four of the new 14 locations coming this year are set to be Jaggers.
This could add seven locations to Jaggers' count, for a total of 15 storefronts. Even if progress is delayed on the company's end, dialing the new number back by one or two, we still think that's something to cluck about.
Restaurants themselves are getting bigger.
Texas Roadhouse locations are not only expanding in terms of volume and physical size. Currently, the average steakhouse measures around 6,700 to 7,500 square feet and can hold up to 291 guests at full capacity. These are big restaurants, especially when compared to top competitors like Outback and Longhorn, which average at around 6,000 and 5,660 square feet, respectively. Texas Roadhouse is further widening the gap.
New Texas Roadhouse restaurants built in 2023 and planned for 2024 are approximately 10% larger than the company was constructing a few years ago, pre-COVID. What is all this extra space being used for? Maybe a giant play pit filled with peanuts? Or a mechanical bull? No, it is slated for more practical store improvements, including dedicated to-go areas and more back-of-house room. It is a tad less exciting than new toys or attractions for customers, but these changes will help each restaurant serve higher guest volumes more efficiently—a win for everyone.
Digital kitchens aim to reduce your wait times.
Technological upgrades are another major 2024 focus for the chain, specifically in its kitchens. Essentially, Texas Roadhouse is moving away from a ticket system and instead adding screens to its back-of-house areas to track orders and cook times more accurately.
All of the company's new 2023 builds and Jaggers and Bubba's locations are equipped with these bells and whistles. Plus, the chain converted 20 established Texas Roadhouse locations to what it's calling a "digital kitchen" this past year. During the earnings call, the leadership team shared that feedback from these rollouts has been encouraging and announced that the goal for 2024 is to rework 200 more existing restaurants.
"We've really been talking strategically about how to get the whole roadhouse concept on that digital kitchen format, because of the many benefits that we see not only for the commotion in the kitchen itself, but even the ability to track our cook times and so many features that we believe will enhance our experience for our employees in the back of the house," CEO Jerry Morgan explained.
On the consumer side, the expected benefit will be quicker kitchen-to-table times for food and, ultimately, shorter table wait times as customers turn over at a faster rate.
Using the mobile app will streamline your visit.
Amid internal improvements, Texas Roadhouse relies on its customers to help create a better experience for everyone in 2024. Morgan explained on the earnings call that boosting guest awareness of the chain's digital platform is another ongoing objective. The chain took to Instagram earlier this year to promote online use. In a cheeky post of the restaurant's 2024 Ins and Outs, "Using digital waitlist" appears under the list of Ins along with items like "cowboy boots," "ordering appetizers," and "Texas size combo meals."
The Texas Roadhouse website and app allow customers to digitally check in and join their local restaurant's waitlist before they arrive. Both platforms also make it easy to peruse the extensive menu and place orders for pickup.
The restaurant also encourages guests to use Roadhouse Pay—its pay-at-the-table system, which rolled out to most locations in 2023. This helps to speed up the payment piece of the puzzle and is just one more feature that, when used correctly, makes the steakhouse run more efficiently.
Enticing items will include more than food and drink.
As part of the aforementioned Instagram post, the chain also files "Forgetting Texas Roadhouse has merch" under the Outs category, hinting at its continued push for its retail products heading into the new year.
Candles have been an especially hot topic lately as the restaurant invites guests to breathe in the scents of Saddle, Texas Sky, and its Legendary Margarita. You can also wear your love for Cactus Blossoms on your chest or dress up your feet in peanut-covered socks. Plus, you can't forget about the limited-edition Texas Roadhouse plushies in the shape of Andy the Armadillo and a bread basket—one of the only acceptable ways to play with your food.
This fun, albeit kitschy, merch is just one more feature that makes Texas Roadhouse, well, Texas Roadhouse. And, there's no doubt there will be more where that came from during 2024.
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