Sectors & IndustriesConsumer CyclicalRestaurants

Best Restaurant Stocks to Buy Now (2025)

Top restaurant stocks in 2025 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best restaurant stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best restaurant stocks to buy right now are:

Arcos Dorados Holdings (NYSE:ARCO) is the #1 top restaurant stock out of 56 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Arcos Dorados Holdings (NYSE:ARCO) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Arcos Dorados Holdings (NYSE:ARCO) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 4 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 28.

ARCO passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Arcos Dorados Holdings has seen its stock lose -6.18% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 21 percentage points.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) is the #2 top restaurant stock out of 56 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: F, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) has a Due Diligence Score of 45, which is 17 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 28.

EAT passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Brinker International has seen its stock return 16.27% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 43 percentage points.

Brinker International has an average 1 year price target of $166.27, an upside of 8.11% from Brinker International's current stock price of $153.79.

Brinker International stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 15 analysts covering Brinker International, 46.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 13.33% have issued a Buy, 40% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Nathans Famous (NASDAQ:NATH) is the #3 top restaurant stock out of 56 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Nathans Famous (NASDAQ:NATH) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Nathans Famous (NASDAQ:NATH) has a Due Diligence Score of 43, which is 15 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 28.

NATH passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Nathans Famous has seen its stock return 5.44% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 32 percentage points.

Out of 19 restaurant stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 restaurant stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Fat Brands (NASDAQ:FAT) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the restaurant industry average of 2.69%. Fat Brands's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Fat Brands's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Fat Brands's dividend payout ratio of -1% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Wendy's Co (NASDAQ:WEN) has an annual dividend yield of 9.23%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the restaurant industry average of 2.69%. Wendy's Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Wendy's Co's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Wendy's Co's dividend payout ratio of 82.1% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) has an annual dividend yield of 6.34%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the restaurant industry average of 2.69%. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Bloomin' Brands's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio of -103% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Restaurant stocks were up 0.26% in the last day, and up 3.61% over the last week. Rci Hospitality Holdings was the among the top gainers in the restaurants industry, gaining 11.52% yesterday.

RCI Hospitality Holdings shares are trading higher after the company acquired 821,000 shares from ADW Capital Partners for $30 million, using $8 million in cash and $22 million in two-year seller financing at 12%.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued restaurant stocks right now are:

Dine Brands Global (NYSE:DIN) is the most undervalued restaurant stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Dine Brands Global has a valuation score of 57, which is 27 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 30. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Dine Brands Global's stock has dropped -13% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by 14 percentage points.

Wendy's Co (NASDAQ:WEN) is the second most undervalued restaurant stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Wendy's Co has a valuation score of 43, which is 13 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 30. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Wendy's Co's stock has dropped -53.98% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by -27 percentage points.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) is the third most undervalued restaurant stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Cheesecake Factory has a valuation score of 71, which is 41 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 30. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Cheesecake Factory's stock has dropped -5.88% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by 21 percentage points.

53.13% of restaurant stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect restaurant stocks to rise by 19.3% over the next year.

0% of restaurant stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 5.13% of restaurant stocks are rated B (Buy), 69.23% are rated C (Hold), 12.82% are rated D (Sell), and 12.82% are rated F (Strong Sell).