Amid pandemic, Texas Roadhouse planning to build location in Rogers

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 23,639 views 

Kentucky-based restaurant chain Texas Roadhouse has filed a preliminary development plan with the city of Rogers for technical review, signaling its intention to build a 7,800-square-foot restaurant in Rogers.

The document was filed May 12. Comments or revisions by the committee are due back to the developer by Thursday (May 28), and the plan will go before the city’s planning commission at a later date.

The potential restaurant site, according to the filing, is along northbound Interstate 49, situated on South 27th Street between A.G. Russell Knives and Duluth Trading Co. The 3.5-acre site is owned now by The Black Family Revocable Trust.

Texas Roadhouse specializes in steak, ribs, chicken and a variety of side dishes. Made-from-scratch rolls and peanuts are offered with every meal. Most locations only open for dinner.

The company, which opened its first restaurant in 1993, has more than 600 locations across 49 states and 10 countries.

Shares of Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH) were trading Tuesday (May 26) afternoon at $52.04.  The company reported earnings of 23 cents per share on revenue of $653 million in its first-quarter earnings release May 4.

Along with the quarterly earnings release, company founder Kent Taylor offered a statement to shareholders, providing a business update in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A few weeks into March, when the “you-know-what” hit the fan, we had two choices: (a) hunker down, lay people off, conserve cash, and wait it out; or (b) deal with the reality of each day, pivot, experiment, learn, and pivot again,” Taylor wrote. “We went with (b) and jumped in headfirst.  We quickly learned from our individual operators, especially some of our crazy, out-of-the-box thinkers, like me, who were not afraid to push the boundaries and try new things.

“What normally would take six months, we were able to do in just a few days. We made the pivot quickly and safely from dine-in to traditional To-Go before pivoting again to To-Go/Curbside before adding family value packs (both hot and cold) and ready-to-grill steaks.

“Who knows what our operators will come up with next, but I’m sure it will be amazing and probably a little out-of-the-box.”

Arkansas restaurants were allowed the opportunity to reopen their dining rooms May 11, with seating capacity limited to 33%. Texas Roadhouse has Arkansas locations in Benton, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Fort Smith, Hot Springs and Jonesboro.

A company representative did not immediately return a message Tuesday seeking comment.