Texas Roadhouse had a fantastic 2024. The steakhouse chain’s U.S. sales grew nearly 15%, to more than $5.4 billion, and it became the largest casual-dining chain in the country, bumping Olive Garden out of the top spot.
It was a landmark year by almost every measure for the 664-unit chain. And yet Texas Roadhouse was not even the fastest-growing brand in its own portfolio. That would be Bubba’s 33, the 52-unit sports-bar chain the company created in 2014 as a pizza and burgers-focused complement to its main concept.
Bubba’s systemwide sales leapt by 20.4% last year, to almost $298 million, according to Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant data. In an otherwise slow year for casual dining, it was the fastest-growing sports bar chain in the country by sales, and the ninth fastest-growing casual chain overall.
Bubba’s was the brainchild of the late Kent Taylor, Texas Roadhouse's larger-than-life founder and former CEO. He started thinking about a second concept in the mid-2010s, when Texas Roadhouse was hitting its stride selling steaks, potatoes and beer in its high-energy, country-themed restaurants. Taylor thought the brand’s success could be replicated under a slightly different model, something closer to the sports bars like Hooters and Bennigan’s where he got his start in the industry.
“I think he saw an opportunity in an additional casual-dining segment of burgers and pizzas and sports and rock-and-roll kind of energy,” said Texas Roadhouse CEO Jerry Morgan in an interview.
The company named the concept after Bubba, Taylor’s after-hours alter ego.
“There was Kent Taylor, and then late at night, there was Bubba,” Morgan said. “And Bubba liked him a burger and pizza after midnight. So we thought it was kind of a great thing to call a restaurant chain.”
The 33 is a nod to 1933, the year prohibition ended in the U.S. and alcohol flowed freely again. Today, Bubba’s marks the occasion with a celebration every Dec. 5.
The first Bubba’s 33 opened in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in a converted Texas Roadhouse. A Texas Roadhouse now sits across the street, a sign of the two brands' compatibility.
The bar is a central feature at Bubba's 33.
Roadhouse and Bubba’s share a lot of the same DNA. Both pride themselves on good food, good service and a fun atmosphere. That focus on fundamentals has fueled Roadhouse’s meteoric rise over the past decade, and it is doing the same for Bubba’s.
“We use the same philosophy,” Morgan said. “It's all about legendary food and legendary service, high-level hospitality. And it's about being great partners in our community.”
But while Texas Roadhouse has the added benefit of being in the booming steak segment, Bubba’s is more of a bar concept. Each location has two bars, some of which are outdoors. It offers a wider beer selection and sells more cocktails than its sibling brand.
It’s also more sports-focused. Early restaurants had as many as 70 televisions, though that number has shrunk to 45, thanks to larger screens. “Anywhere you sit in Bubba's, you can see sports on the TV,” Morgan said.
But not every TV shows sports. Some screens show music videos from Taylor’s beloved ‘70s and ‘80s. Rock-and-roll is to Bubba’s what country music is to Roadhouse. It helps create the energy and atmosphere of the restaurants.
With its emphasis on alcohol, sports and rock music, Bubba’s was envisioned as a more adult-oriented brand than Roadhouse. So its founders were surprised when it turned out to be a hit with families. “We're really a casual-dining family concept” rather than a traditional sports bar, said Travis Doster, chief communications officer.
Bubba's has been a surprise hit with families.
It helps that Bubba’s offers a wide menu that appeals to many different tastes and occasions. There’s pizza, burgers, chicken wings, appetizers, sandwiches and salads—what the chain refers to as a “food for all” philosophy. Executives expected pizza to be the star of the menu, but burgers and wings are the clear favorites.
And like at Roadhouse, the food comes first. “It's always been about the food for us,” Morgan said. “It's got to be food that people want to eat. You got to serve it smoking hot. Picture perfect, recipe right. That’s our trophy.” Much of Bubba’s menu is made from scratch.
That has helped the brand stand out in the crowded sports bar segment, where the menu can sometimes be secondary to whatever game is on TV. At Bubba’s, it’s the other way around. “People come for the food, and the sports is there,” Doster said.
Bubba’s serves both lunch and dinner and is currently generating average unit volumes of $6.5 million, well above the sports-bar average of $4 million, according to Technomic. In fact, its numbers are more similar to a steakhouse, where the per-unit average is more than $5 million. Texas Roadhouse, though, is in a tier of its own with $8 million AUVs.
At first, the company was careful not to make the Bubba’s-Roadhouse connection too obvious in an effort to protect its original concept.
“I think when you have such success with one brand, you are a little cautious when a second one comes out, because if it isn't as successful, then does it hurt your main brand,” Morgan said. “But that's not the case in this scenario. Bubba's 33 is absolutely a complement to our portfolio.”
Bubba’s and Roadhouse can co-exist in the same market, Morgan said. When scouting real estate for Bubba’s, the team will look at the existing sports bar competition in a town. But it doesn’t worry too much about stealing share from a Roadhouse that may already be there.
That said, the two brands do share customers. Burgers and pizzas are everyday items, but Texas Roadhouse has made steak, typically reserved for special occasions, more accessible to the masses.
“I do see a lot of the same guests that eat at Roadhouse would probably eat at Bubba’s,” Morgan said. But he noted that there are plenty of meals in the week to go around. “How can we get Roadhouse and how can we get Bubba’s in that equation a little more on a regular basis?”
Bubba's specializes in pizza and burgers, but aims to offer a little something for everyone.
One potential answer to that question is value, which has helped both brands avoid some of the consumer spending challenges that have stung the restaurant industry in recent years. Roadhouse has deliberately underpriced inflation, sacrificing some profits in exchange for better traffic and sales.
“You've got to have value built into your menu and your concept,” Morgan said. “You have to be able to serve a lot of people from that side of it.”
Bubba’s is still small, just 5.5% of the size of Roadhouse in terms of total sales last year. But the company doesn’t intend for it to stay that way. Executives have their sights set on 200 locations in the near term, but believe Bubba’s could eventually have as many as 500, which is about the size of a Red Robin or Red Lobster today.
That is a recipe for a very large brand. If Bubba’s AUVs were to stay where they are today, even 200 restaurants would make it among the very largest casual-dining chains in the country in terms of sales.
“We're targeting 200 right now, but I do believe we can get to 400 or 500,” Morgan said. “And once we get there, then we'll know how much further we can go.”
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