Strike Gold With Texas Roadhouse

If you have missed out on a few of the hottest dining concepts (Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), Buffalo Wild Wings (BLWD), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)) you still have a chance of striking gold with Texas Roadhouse (TXRH).

With 160+ company owned locations and 80+ franchised, there is a lot of room for growth. With good portions at a reasonable price this concept is quickly taking a slice of the casual dining steakhouse sector. The established fully priced chains - Outback, LoneStar (now taken private) and Longhorn to name a few, have menus that are on average price 2$ higher per entree. In a world where fuel is eating away at expendable income, menu prices are key. On top of that, the speediness of service, and quality of food puts this chain in a breed of its own. Wait times on a Saturday night are reminiscent of recent visits to The Cheesecake Factory, except you can eat peanuts while you wait.

As their foray westward continues, with two new locations in Arizona they are still filling in holes back east with over 10 openings planned in 2007.With a 52 week range of $9-$16, this stock, which deserves a PE of at least 35, has room to grow.

Disclosure: Author is long TXRH

TXRH 1-yr chart