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 -8.22% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 15 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: D, Sentiment: B, 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 10.16% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 33 percentage points.

Brinker International has an average 1 year price target of $167.33, an upside of 14.76% from Brinker International's current stock price of $145.81.

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.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) 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 Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: D, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) has a Due Diligence Score of 48, which is 20 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 28.

CAKE passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Cheesecake Factory has seen its stock lose -4.3% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 19 percentage points.

Cheesecake Factory has an average 1 year price target of $57.86, an upside of 17.72% from Cheesecake Factory's current stock price of $49.15.

Cheesecake Factory stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 14 analysts covering Cheesecake Factory, 21.43% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 14.29% have issued a Buy, 35.71% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 28.57% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 21 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 2.71%. 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 8.02%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the restaurant industry average of 2.71%. 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.

Chagee Holdings (NASDAQ:CHA) has an annual dividend yield of 6.72%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the restaurant industry average of 2.71%.

Restaurant stocks were down -0.58% in the last day, and up 1.28% over the last week. Ark Restaurants was the among the top losers in the restaurants industry, dropping -3.35% yesterday.

Ark Restaurants shares are trading lower after the company reported a year-over-year decrease in Q4 sales results.

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 28 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 29. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Dine Brands Global's stock has gained 7.73% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by 31 percentage points.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) 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.

Bloomin' Brands has a valuation score of 14, which is -15 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 29. 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 "B".

Bloomin' Brands's stock has dropped -47.45% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by -24 percentage points.

Wendy's Co (NASDAQ:WEN) 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.

Wendy's Co has a valuation score of 43, which is 14 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 29. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Wendy's Co's stock has dropped -50.56% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by -27 percentage points.

51.52% of restaurant stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect restaurant stocks to rise by 19.27% over the next year.

0% of restaurant stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 5% of restaurant stocks are rated B (Buy), 72.5% are rated C (Hold), 12.5% are rated D (Sell), and 10% are rated F (Strong Sell).