After closing 23 locations, burger chain sells 30 restaurants

For astir of the past 2 years, the quality coming retired of this burger concatenation was astir what it was losing. Locations. Revenue. Customers it could not clasp onto.

The announcement it made connected May 28 is simply a antithetic benignant of quality entirely. For the archetypal clip successful a while, the quality is astir thing gained, not lost.

What Red Robin announced and the nonstop presumption of the deal

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers has agreed to merchantability 30 company-owned restaurants to Evergreen Dining LLC, a Washington State-based multi-unit operator, for $23.5 cardinal successful cash, according to the company's authoritative property merchandise published May 28. The locations are successful Washington and Western Idaho and volition proceed operating nether the Red Robin marque aft the transaction closes.

Evergreen Dining's principals person operated much than 100 restaurants crossed aggregate nationalist brands implicit astir 3 decades. The institution has much than 1,200 employees crossed its operating entities and a enactment halfway covering accounting, HR, IT, marketing, payroll, purchasing, and existent property services.

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Red Robin CEO Dave Pace said the institution has been looking for franchise partners who stock its values since launching its First Choice Plan past year. "We are assured Evergreen Dining is the close spouse to accelerate maturation astatine these locations portion besides helping america fortify our equilibrium sheet, amended our superior structure, and heighten our fiscal flexibility arsenic we measure imaginable refinancing partners," Pace said.

The transaction is expected to adjacent successful the 2nd fractional of 2026, taxable to modular closing conditions. Red Robin said it expects to update guidance pursuing the close.

How the First Choice Plan got Red Robin to this point

Red Robin launched its First Choice Plan successful July 2025 with 3 halfway priorities: refranchising stores, cutting expenses, and reducing debt. The program followed years of postulation declines and equilibrium expanse unit that had near the concatenation with $169.2 cardinal successful outstanding indebtedness arsenic of mid-2025.

The aboriginal results person been meaningful. Red Robin closed 23 locations successful 2025 arsenic leases expired, repaid $20.3 cardinal successful indebtedness by mid-year, and improved its restaurant-level operating borderline to 12.7%, a 190 ground constituent betterment from fiscal 2024, according to Restaurant Business.

The institution had primitively identified astir 70 underperforming locations for imaginable closure implicit a five-year timeline. But 20 of those restaurants improved capable to travel disconnected the closure database entirely. Red Robin present expects to adjacent astir 20 further locations successful 2026 arsenic leases expire, Restaurant Business confirmed.