Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB) began pouring Garage Beer at all U.S. locations on July 21, making the nearly 500-unit casual dining chain the first national restaurant operator to carry the celebrity-backed light lager systemwide. The move pairs a fast-growing beer brand with a menu expansion designed to lift food and beverage attach rates during the summer traffic window.
The Brand Play
Garage Beer — co-owned by NFL veterans Jason and Travis Kelce and distributed across all 50 states — positions itself as a 4.0% ABV lager with 95 calories and 3 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Two SKUs, Classic Light and Classic Lime, are now available on tap and at the bar across Red Robin's domestic footprint. For a casual dining segment that has leaned heavily on beverage mix to recover margins, adding a celebrity-backed brand with national recognition carries tangible revenue implications: alcoholic beverage incidence and average check size are both directly tied to branded pour programs at table-service chains.
"Garage Beer is the perfect match for our craveable wings and gourmet burgers," said Dave Pace, Chief Executive Officer and President of Red Robin. "If you haven't tried our wings lately, this is your sign — we think they're some of the best in casual dining, and Garage Beer makes them even better."
Wings Expansion and Promotional Mechanics
The beer partnership lands alongside a deliberate menu build-out in the bone-in chicken wing category. Red Robin added 8-count, 12-count, and 16-count wing orders this summer, offered across multiple sauces and dry rubs — a format shift that broadens both the shareable and individual occasion. Wing programs have become a margin lever for casual dining operators as protein costs moderate; for Red Robin, the category also competes directly with fast-casual and sports-bar concepts that have made wings a core traffic driver.
To mark National Chicken Wing Day on July 29, the two brands launched a co-branded Jason Kelce T-shirt sold exclusively through GarageBeer.com, while supplies last. Purchasers receive a Red Robin gift card redeemable for a free 8-count bone-in wing order. The mechanic is a classic continuity play: drive merchandise revenue for Garage Beer while seeding repeat restaurant visits for Red Robin through loaded gift card redemptions.
"We're proud to be pouring beer-flavored beer at Red Robin locations across the country," said Andy Sauer, Chief Executive Officer of Garage Beer, adding that the chain's footprint represents a significant on-premise distribution milestone for the brand.
What It Means for Operators
For Red Robin, the Garage Beer tie-up fits a broader pattern of casual dining chains using celebrity-affiliated beverage brands to generate earned media and differentiate their bar programs without the capital commitment of an owned brand. The Kelce brothers command outsized cultural relevance heading into the 2026 NFL season, giving the partnership a built-in promotional runway well beyond the July launch window. Rival chains watching the program will note whether the beer brand's demographic skew — younger, sports-oriented consumers — translates into measurable traffic and beverage sales lifts at RRGB locations.
Red Robin operates nearly 500 restaurants in the United States and Canada, including franchised units. Investors tracking beverage-mix trends in the casual dining segment can find additional context in our coverage of restaurant beverage strategy and celebrity brand partnerships in foodservice.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
