Red Robin Sells 30 Restaurants in Major Deal

Red Robin has completed a significant divestiture, selling 30 of its company-owned restaurants to Evergreen Dining, a multi-unit operator, for $23.5 million in cash. The restaurants included in this transaction are situated in Washington and Western Idaho, and they will continue to operate under the Red Robin brand.

The strategic sale is expected to conclude in the second half of 2026. Red Robin intends to allocate the proceeds from this sale towards reducing its outstanding debt obligations. This move is part of the company's broader First Choice Plan, which focuses on refranchising stores and cutting expenses.

This plan aims to bolster Red Robin's financial health by decreasing debt to a level that allows for more favorable refinancing terms. CEO and President David Pace indicated that the company could potentially shift to being 65% to 75% company-owned, suggesting further refranchising efforts could be underway.

Evergreen Dining brings over 30 years of experience and operates more than 100 restaurants across various brands. Red Robin stated that Evergreen possesses the necessary organizational depth, including expertise in restaurant accounting, HR, IT, marketing, and real estate, to manage these newly acquired locations effectively.

The company continues to refine its store portfolio, having previously analyzed 70 stores for closure. Improvements at 20 of those units led to their removal from the closure list in the fourth quarter of the previous year. As of the first quarter of 2026, Red Robin operated 469 units, a slight decrease from 491 units a year prior.