Sectors & IndustriesConsumer CyclicalRestaurants

Best Restaurant Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top restaurant stocks in 2026 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:

El Pollo Loco Holdings (NASDAQ:LOCO) is the #1 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 El Pollo Loco Holdings (NASDAQ:LOCO) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

El Pollo Loco Holdings (NASDAQ:LOCO) has a Due Diligence Score of 28, which is -2 points lower than the restaurant industry average of 30. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates LOCO as a "B".

LOCO passed 9 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. El Pollo Loco Holdings has seen its stock return 52.14% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 110 percentage points.

El Pollo Loco Holdings has an average 1 year price target of $14.17, an upside of 4.86% from El Pollo Loco Holdings's current stock price of $13.51.

El Pollo Loco Holdings stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering El Pollo Loco Holdings, 66.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Yum China Holdings (NYSE:YUMC) is the #2 top restaurant stock out of 53 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 Yum China Holdings (NYSE:YUMC) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: D, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Yum China Holdings (NYSE:YUMC) has a Due Diligence Score of 42, which is 12 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 30.

YUMC passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Yum China Holdings has seen its stock return 10.72% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 69 percentage points.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) is the #3 top restaurant stock out of 53 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 Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: D, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) has a Due Diligence Score of 43, which is 13 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 30.

EAT passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Brinker International has seen its stock return 5.34% over the past year, overperforming other restaurant stocks by 63 percentage points.

Brinker International has an average 1 year price target of $183.50, an upside of 25.43% from Brinker International's current stock price of $146.30.

Brinker International stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 14 analysts covering Brinker International, 64.29% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 7.14% have issued a Buy, 28.57% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% 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:

Chagee Holdings (NASDAQ:CHA) has an annual dividend yield of 8.37%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the restaurant industry average of 3.08%.

Chagee Holdings's dividend payout ratio of 14.7% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Wendy's Co (NASDAQ:WEN) has an annual dividend yield of 8.06%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the restaurant industry average of 3.08%. 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 78.8% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) has an annual dividend yield of 5.6%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the restaurant industry average of 3.08%. Papa Johns International's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Papa Johns International's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Papa Johns International's dividend payout ratio of 219% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Restaurant stocks were down -1.41% in the last day, and down -4.28% over the last week. Shake Shack was the among the top losers in the restaurants industry, dropping -28.26% yesterday.

Shake Shack shares are trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 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:

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) 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.

Bloomin' Brands 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.

Bloomin' Brands's stock has gained 9.5% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by 67 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 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 -40.9% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by 17 percentage points.

Jack In The Box (NASDAQ:JACK) 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.

Jack In The Box has a valuation score of 0, which is -29 points higher than the restaurant industry average of 29. It passed 0 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates JACK a Valuation Rating of "B".

Jack In The Box's stock has dropped -47.84% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the restaurant industry by 10 percentage points.

43.75% of restaurant stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect restaurant stocks to rise by 24.85% over the next year.

0% of restaurant stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 2.7% of restaurant stocks are rated B (Buy), 72.97% are rated C (Hold), 16.22% are rated D (Sell), and 8.11% are rated F (Strong Sell).