Texas Roadhouse says a false social media post took a real toll on business in the third quarter. Company executives said the accusations did not hold up under investigation, but the online backlash still dragged down September sales.
What Texas Roadhouse said happened
Texas Roadhouse discussed the issue when it reported third quarter 2026 results on November 5. The company said comparable restaurant sales rose 4.3% from a year earlier, with traffic up 0.7%, according to its earnings release and executive comments during the quarter’s discussion with investors.
Executives said the quarter started much stronger than it ended. Texas Roadhouse said same store sales were up 5.9% in July and 6.8% in August, then slowed to positive 1% in September after a now-deleted Facebook post spread online, according to Nation’s Restaurant News and the company’s investor materials.
According to Texas Roadhouse, the post accused workers at Texas Roadhouse and Logan’s Roadhouse of planning to tamper with Black diners’ food and claimed a group of 400,000 people was involved. The company said it immediately reviewed the allegations internally and hired a third party online forensics firm to examine them.
On August 27, Texas Roadhouse posted a public statement saying the accusations had been “proven as an online hoax” after the investigation. The company said the claims were false and said it remained committed to treating guests with respect and providing what it calls Legendary Food and Legendary Service.
Why the rumor mattered to diners and the chain
For home cooks and restaurant regulars, the story is less about Wall Street and more about how fast an unverified post can shape where people choose to eat. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that some social media users said they planned to stop visiting Texas Roadhouse after seeing the allegation circulate.
Texas Roadhouse executives said the sales hit was concentrated in September, which helps explain why the quarter’s overall growth looked muted compared with the chain’s earlier momentum. Through the first five weeks of the current quarter, same store sales were up 1.5% from a year earlier, according to the trade outlet’s report on the earnings discussion.
Michael Bailen, vice president of investor relations, said recovery has taken longer than some may have expected, but said operators had doubled down on execution in restaurants. Chief executive Jerry Morgan said local operators were also reaching back into their communities and reconnecting with guests they had not seen in a while.
That response matters because Texas Roadhouse has built its business on repeat visits and steady traffic. As of September 29, 2026, the company and its franchisees operated 840 restaurants systemwide, including 760 Texas Roadhouse locations, plus Bubba’s 33 and Jaggers units, according to the company’s investor relations site.
What else Texas Roadhouse reported
The company said business began to improve after the September slump. Executives said sales and traffic got better each week in October and that the improvement continued into early November, though they did not provide exact weekly figures.
Texas Roadhouse also shared a small menu update alongside the earnings news. Executives said Chicken Alfredo Pasta had been added to more than 600 locations and was expected to reach the remaining roughly 100 locations by spring, after early tests performed well with customers and staff.
On the cost side, Texas Roadhouse said commodity inflation was 2% in the quarter, at the low end of its expected range. Labor inflation was 4.1%, and restaurant level margin improved by 30 basis points to 14.6%, according to the company’s results.
Revenue for the quarter reached $1.6 billion, up 9.5% from a year earlier, and net income rose 6.2% to $89.4 million. The company also said it opened five company restaurants and three franchised locations in the quarter, and it still expects positive comparable sales growth for the full year.