(NEXSTAR) — When you’re there, you might be family, but for the first time in seven years, Olive Garden is not the most popular casual dining restaurant in the United States.
An analysis of 2024 sales data found that increasingly, customers are hungrier for buttery rolls than for garlicy breadsticks. For the first time since 2018, Texas Roadhouse is the top casual dining chain in America.
Technomic, a foodservice industry research and insights company, recently analyzed 2024 sales data to determine its Top 500 Chain Restaurant report, as explained by Restaurant Business. While “OG” remains the U.S.’ second-most-popular chain, the real story is Texas Roadhouses’ 14.7% increase in sales in 2024.
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While some other chains saw growth, no others experienced as drastic an increase as Texas Roadhouse did. For comparison, the next-biggest sales increase, per Restaurant Business, is LongHorn Steakhouse, which saw a 7.2% increase last year.
According to Texas Roadhouse’s fourth quarter 2024 results, its average weekly sales at company restaurants last year grew to about $155,285 per week. All-in-all, the company had over $5 billion in sales last year — only about $334,707 more than Olive Garden, per Technomic’s data.
Texas Roadhouse, which has 722 locations, says that guests generally were spending more money per visit, allowing for an offset in wage and other labor inflation. As Restaurant Business also noted, the company also “helped its cause by investing in staffing and operations while keeping its prices lower than inflation.”
Over on TikTok, many Texas Roadhouse employees also sing praises of the company on their own personal accounts, including user Brittany Spurlock, who has posted several videos explaining what she makes in one day working at Texas Roadhouse. Another server chronicled his week as a server and how much he made, which ended up being around $981.98 across 31.55 hours, or roughly $31.12 an hour, according to the user.
To read more about Technomic’s report — and to find out which casual dining chains are the most popular in the U.S. — visit Restaurant Business.
