This Very Popular Steakhouse in Texas Is Now The Biggest Casual Dining Restaurant in the U.S.

There is a new casual-dining King in the United States, and Texas just happens to have over 75 locations and nothing seems to be slowing them down.

After spending seven years as the top causal dining chain in the United States, Olive Garden has lost its top spot to a place that serves a lot of beef. Texas Roadhouse.

RestaurantBusiness.com reported late last week that Texas Roadhouse, which has 664 locations, including 79 locations in Texas as of January 1 of 2025, has pushed past Olive Garden in terms of sales. And with how the economy has been going, that's a pretty big deal. In fact, when it comes to the restaurant business in the last few years, there isn't always good news to repot as diners have more frugal about where and when they dine out.

Texas Roadhouse Is Now The Biggest Casual-Dining Chain In America

According to the report, U.S. sales for Texas Roadhouse increased 14.7% last year as Texas Roadhouse brought in $5.5 billion. They also continued to open restaurants, opening 36 new locations.

Olive Garden and Chili's Are Still Doing Well

While Olive Garden is no longer number one, settling for number two when you do $5.2 billion in sales isn't too bad. According to the report, Olive Garden was hit harder by lower-income consumers who have felt the brunt of inflation.

Chili's has been a big success story over the past year. In fact, Chili's reportedly overtook Applebee's for the #3 spot as they have seen a resurgence in popularity in the last year or two.

Texas Roadhouse Isn't Texan Though

One common misconception is that Texas Roadhouse was founded in Texas. It wasn't. In fact, Texas Roadhouse was founded in Clarksville, Indiana by W. Kent Taylor in 1993. The company now has its headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. While they may not be from Texas, they sure do like to honor Texas and let's be honest. Texas Roadhouse sounds a lot better than Indiana Roadhouse.

And yes, they do a great job with the steaks at Texas Roadhouse, but let's not forget about their delicious rolls. Delicious.