Texas Roadhouse is an American casual-dining steakhouse known for hand-cut steaks, fall-off-the-bone ribs, fresh-baked bread and a lively, value-driven dining experience. The brand is operated by publicly listed Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH), which also runs the Bubba’s 33 and Jaggers concepts. The system spans well over 700 Texas Roadhouse restaurants across the United States and roughly 10 countries internationally. Crucially for prospective franchisees, the overwhelming majority of locations are company-owned; the franchised base is comparatively small, numbering only in the dozens of units in the company’s recent disclosures.
For the right investor, the brand offers genuine strengths — but they come with real constraints. Weigh these criteria before pursuing it:
The process favours established restaurant groups. In practice, a serious candidate needs deep restaurant operating experience, the financial capacity outlined above, and — for international markets — the ability to commit to a multi-unit development schedule rather than a single store. Texas Roadhouse vets partners on operational depth, local market knowledge, and real-estate access. Because domestic franchising is so limited, most genuinely available opportunities sit outside the U.S., where the brand grants market rights through a master franchise structure.
This is where the brand’s growth story is most relevant to regional investors. Texas Roadhouse signed its first international franchise agreement in 2010 and entered the Middle East through Kuwait-based M.H. Alshaya Co., one of the region’s largest franchise operators. That partnership has carried the brand across the Gulf — including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain — while separate franchise partners have opened restaurants in South Korea, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. International expansion is explicitly franchise-led, with the company targeting a steady cadence of new openings each year concentrated in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
For operators in these markets, the implication is straightforward: the steakhouse category remains underbuilt across much of ASEAN and the GCC, and a globally recognised American grill brand travels well with affluent, experience-seeking diners. Investors evaluating the Gulf specifically should weigh it against the broader franchise opportunity across Saudi Arabia and the GCC.
Rarely. The company owns and operates the large majority of its U.S. restaurants and grants very few new domestic franchises. Most realistic opportunities are international.
Primarily across the Middle East (via Alshaya) and Asia, including South Korea, China, Taiwan and the Philippines, with continued focus on the Gulf and Southeast Asia.
