Benzinga | Jun 18, 2021 10:26AM EDT

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Says Expansion Plan Will Feature Donatos Pizza In More Than 200 Restaurants By Year-End

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews continues its focus on off-premise growth announcing the expansion of its Donatos(r) Pizza partnership into key territories for the brand. The Ohio-based Donatos Pizza partnered with Red Robin in June 2018, offering its famous pizzas as part of Red Robin's already robust menu offerings. After much success in early launch markets, the two chains have grand plans for adding more locations this year as part of an aggressive market expansion plan.

Red Robin plans to add Donatos pizza to approximately 120 additional restaurants by the end of 2021, resulting in more than 200 locations. In Q2 of 2021, 41 Red Robin locations rolled out Donatos, including restaurants in six new states: Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Donatos pizza was also added to Red Robin locations in Arizona, as well as its founding market, Seattle. The partnership will expand to several East Coast Red Robin restaurants in Maryland and Virginia in Q3, followed by a California expansion through the back half of the year.

As a result of the market expansion, more Red Robin Guests will now be able to enjoy freshly prepared premium pizzas with edge-to-edge toppings as well as gourmet burgers, brews and shakes under the same roof. Donatos pizza will be available in restaurants for dine in and for pickup or delivery through the Red Robin website.

Donatos continues to be a hit with Red Robin anticipating annual pizza sales of more than $60MM and profitability of more than $25MM by 2023. The introduction of a limited-time Donatos cauliflower crust menu option in Q1 was so well-received it became a permanent menu item.

"Our continued market rollout featuring Donatos pizza as yet another family-friendly menu offering has been well-received by Guests," said Jonathan Muhtar, Red Robin Executive Vice President & Chief Concept Officer. "Our Donatos locations consistently out-perform our non-pizza restaurants and we continue to be pleased with sales in our newest markets."

"Our partnership with Red Robin has allowed us to open our distribution line across the entire country," said Tom Krouse, President and CEO of Donatos Pizza. "What better way to expand than with a likeminded, family-friendly partner that can help bring Donatos to the rest of the pie-loving nation beyond the Midwest?"

For more information on Red Robin and Donatos pizza offering please visit: https://www.redrobin.com/pages/donatos/.