For the first time since 2018, there’s a new restaurant that can lay claim to the top casual dining title in the United States.
Olive Garden led the nation in sales for years, but according to Restaurant Business, that honor now belongs to Texas Roadhouse.
Citing data from Technomic on the 500 largest restaurant chains in the U.S., Restaurant Business says Texas Roadhouse, which was founded in Clarksville, Indiana, in 1993, reached $5.5 billion in nationwide sales as it opened 26 new locations last year. Olive Garden sales were $5.2 billion for the year.
If you want to try the hand-cut steaks, ribs or fresh-baked bread from Texas Roadhouse and you live in the Portland area, you’ll have to take a pretty decent drive. The chain has 722 locations in 11 countries, according to their website, but the only Oregon locations are in Eugene and Medford.
If you’d rather carb load at Olive Garden, there are eight Oregon locations, five of which are in the Portland area, as well as two in Vancouver.
Chili’s, Applebee’s, and Buffalo Wild Wings are the third, fourth, and fifth most popular casual dining locations in the U.S., respectively.
Mims Copeland is a social media producer and covers trending topics for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her at mcopeland@oregonian.com
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