Texas Roadhouse is eyeing more Bubba’s 33 diners nationwide as an Ohio township prepares to review a proposed 6,686-square-foot restaurant next week.
The U.S. Sun reported that Texas Roadhouse plans to open 35 company-owned locations across its three brands in 2026, with sister concept Bubba’s 33 part of that push.
In West Chester Township, Ohio, the zoning commission is set to meet next Monday on plans for a 6,686-square-foot restaurant. The public is welcome at that meeting. Local coverage has tied the project to a possible second Bubba’s 33 in the area.
A first Bubba’s 33 in the area is already lined up. The brand is set to open January 18 at a former TGI Fridays site, with a Texas Roadhouse sitting right across the street from the new restaurant.
Bubba’s 33 is also tied to new locations in Louisiana, Iowa, and Colorado. In Louisiana, the concept is slated to take over a former Tokyo Japan Steakhouse & Sushi, described as a Texas Roadhouse rival.
TGI Fridays, whose former space will host the January 18 opening, filed for bankruptcy in November 2024 and has been working through a comeback. Empty big-box restaurant pads do not stay empty forever when a stronger chain wants the traffic.
Asked about the West Chester plans, a Bubba’s 33 representative struck a cautious note.
"Thanks so much for reaching out. At this time, we have no plans that we can confirm."
So the public picture is mixed. Zoning officials are preparing to discuss a sizable restaurant footprint. The company will not confirm a deal. And Texas Roadhouse still says it intends to open dozens of company-owned sites next year across its brands.
November 2024 brought the TGI Fridays bankruptcy filing. January 18 brings the first area Bubba’s 33 at that former Fridays location. Next Monday brings the West Chester Township zoning session on the 6,686-square-foot plan. 2026 is the target year for those 35 company-owned openings.
No street address for the proposed West Chester site was detailed in the reporting. No named executive stepped forward beyond the unnamed representative. And the other two brands under the 35-location plan were not spelled out in the account.
Still, the pattern is plain enough for anyone who watches American casual dining. One national chain is backfilling space left by a bankrupt competitor. Another concept under the same corporate umbrella is testing new markets in the Midwest, the South, and the Mountain West. Local zoning boards remain the gatekeepers for square footage, parking, and traffic.
Texas Roadhouse has spent recent months rolling out fresh development news. Bubba’s 33 is the sports-bar-and-burgers sister brand riding that same expansion wave, when local approvals and corporate sign-off line up.
When a working restaurant concept can take a failed competitor’s box, put people to work, and give families another place to eat, that is the market doing what zoning fights and bankruptcy courts often delay: replacing weakness with something customers will actually drive to.