Longtime Burger Chain Red Robin Closing 15 Locations Across the U.S.

Yahoo

2 days ago

There's something comforting and familiar about dining at a longtime burger restaurant. The U.S. has plenty of established burger chains, and those restaurants make sure the traditional hamburger is available to Americans nationwide.
There are 84,336 burger restaurants in the U.S. as of 2025, according to IBIS World, so there's a lot of competition in that space. Also, the number of burger restaurants in the U.S. grew 0.9% per year on average between 2019 and 2024, IBIS World states.
So, the burger industry is a competitive one, and now, one longtime burger chain has announced that it's closing restaurants across the U.S. this year.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers has already closed six of its company-owned restaurants in the first quarter and one franchise location. Now, the company plans to close down eight more company-owned spots in 2025, Todd Wilson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, announced on May 29 during an earnings call.
On the company earnings call, Wilson said Red Robin currently has 401 company-owned restaurants and 90 franchise locations. By the end of the year, he expects that number to be 393 company-owned restaurants. Wilson did not state which locations are scheduled to close or reveal any plans of closing more franchise locations.
Also, Red Robin, which was founded in 1969, did not open any new locations in the first quarter of 2025 or 2024, the earnings report stated.
In April, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers named a new president and CEO in David A. Pace. He commented that Red Robin is making a "comeback," but it's not there yet.
"We are far from claiming victory and there is still more work to be done as we continue the comeback journey of Red Robin," Pace said.
On a positive note, Wilson said that he doesn't expect any additional menu price increases for 2025. "We anticipate absorbing the current expected impact of tariffs as we prioritize maintaining value for our guests," he said.
In the same earnings report, Red Robin also posted unexpected profit, which is a good sign for the company.Longtime Burger Chain Red Robin Closing 15 Locations Across the U.S. first appeared on Men's Journal on May 31, 2025