Texas Roadhouse's fast-casual chain is expanding with plans for 10 locations in 2 new states

• Texas Roadhouse agreed to a franchising agreement to open 10 Jaggers locations.
• Jaggers is the company's fast-casual concept selling chicken, burgers, and salads.
• There are three Jaggers so far, with another planned by the end of 2021.

Texas Roadhouse signed a deal to allow franchising of its fast-casual restaurant concept, Jaggers. The deal will allow The Saxton Group to open 10 Jaggers locations in Texas and Oklahoma, Nation's Restaurant News reported.

Jaggers is a fast-casual restaurant serving burgers, chicken, and salads, first opened in 2015. Late Texas Roadhouse CEO and founder Kent Taylor described Jaggers as the answer to the question, "what if Chick-fil-A and Five Guys got married and had a kid?" in the Louisville Business Journal.

So far there are three operating Jaggers restaurants, all corporate-owned, in Indiana and Louisville, with a fourth location planned for Indianapolis this year. The first franchise location is set to open in 2022, most likely in Texas, Adam Saxton, co-CEO of The Saxton Group said.

"What's exciting to me about Jaggers is it's like you took quick service's greatest hits - chicken, cheeseburgers, shakes, great salads, French fries, tater tots -and elevated the food quality," Saxton told Nation's Restaurant News. Meals are typically around $10 per person, in line with other fast casual competitors. Jaggers restaurants also all have drive-thrus, which are becoming increasingly important for both fast food and fast casual chains.

Texas Roadhouse's business is booming, with same-store sales up over 80% over 2020, which was of course low because of COVID-19, but they're also up 21.3% over 2019 levels. Visits are up too, according to Placer.ai, indicating more customers are visiting the chain and are spending more money.

Franchising is relatively rare for Texas Roadhouse. Of its 580 US locations, 511 are run by the company. But that may change.

"We are seriously exploring franchise development as a potential growth vehicle," Taylor said in a 2020 letter to Texas Roadhouse Shareholders.

"We've been very successful in the full-service world, so why not retail and fast food, too?" Taylor said in February.

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