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:

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) is the #1 top restaurant stock out of 53 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

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

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 10 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 31.

EAT passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Brinker International has seen its stock return 164.54% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 157 percentage points.

Brinker International has an average 1 year price target of $156.73, a downside of -13.53% from Brinker International's current stock price of $181.26.

Brinker International stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 11 analysts covering Brinker International, 18.18% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 81.82% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Nathans Famous (NASDAQ:NATH) is the #2 top restaurant stock out of 53 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 Nathans Famous (NASDAQ:NATH) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: B.

Nathans Famous (NASDAQ:NATH) has a Due Diligence Score of 39, which is 8 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 31.

NATH passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Nathans Famous has seen its stock return 58.57% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 51 percentage points.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) is the #3 top restaurant stock out of 53 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 Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) has a Due Diligence Score of 23, which is -8 points lower than the restaurant industry average of 31. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates DRI as a "B".

DRI passed 9 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Darden Restaurants has seen its stock return 46.35% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 39 percentage points.

Darden Restaurants has an average 1 year price target of $216.56, a downside of -3.65% from Darden Restaurants's current stock price of $224.76.

Darden Restaurants stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 18 analysts covering Darden Restaurants, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 16.67% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 23 restaurant stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 restaurant stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Ark Restaurants (NASDAQ:ARKR) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the restaurant industry average of 2.73%. Ark Restaurants's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Ark Restaurants's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Ark Restaurants's dividend payout ratio of -6.8% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) has an annual dividend yield of 8.33%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the restaurant industry average of 2.73%. 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 -4,350% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Wendy's Co (NASDAQ:WEN) has an annual dividend yield of 7.93%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the restaurant industry average of 2.73%. 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 105.3% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Restaurant stocks were up 1.65% in the last day, and down -1.52% over the last week. Darden Restaurants was the among the top gainers in the restaurants industry, gaining 3.34% yesterday.

Darden Restaurants shares are trading higher after UBS maintained a Buy rating on the stock and raised its price target from $225 to $245.

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 -25.66% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by -33 percentage points.

Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN) is the second 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.

Denny's has a valuation score of 86, which is 56 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 30. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Denny's's stock has dropped -35.54% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by -43 percentage points.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) is the third 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.

Bloomin' Brands has a valuation score of 14, which is -16 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 30. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates BLMN a Valuation Rating of "A".

Bloomin' Brands's stock has dropped -52.32% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by -60 percentage points.

58.33% of restaurant stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect restaurant stocks to rise by 6.93% over the next year.

2.44% of restaurant stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 4.88% of restaurant stocks are rated B (Buy), 73.17% are rated C (Hold), 9.76% are rated D (Sell), and 9.76% are rated F (Strong Sell).