After a years-long spell of tepid sales, Steak ‘n Shake has landed on a formula that’s infusing performance and buzz into the legacy chain.
Same-store sales in Q2 lifted 11.9 percent and are up 14 percent across the first half of the year. According to the Wall Street Journal, average visits per location bumped 5.8 percent over that span as well.
This after the 1934-founded brand began fiscal 2026 with comps of 10 percent and posted its best calendar run in 2025 since 1992.
On a two-year stack for Q2, Steak ‘n Shake reported 22.6 percent higher.
Pretax earnings in the quarter increased 31 percent, year-over-year, to $8.5 million, and net revenue (inclusive of frees from franchise partners) rose 4.1 percent.
Better results have come as the footprint retracts, however, although the pace has settled somewhat of late. It ended Q2 with 126 company-operated units, 183 franchise-partner (the single-store model introduced in 2018), and 90 traditional franchises for a total of 399. That compares to a year-ago measure of 143, 174, 100, and 417, respectively.
Additionally, eight of Steak ‘n Shake’s 126 company-operated locations were closed as of June 30. Of those, two should reopen and six are slated to be sold or leased.
The brand is down about 17 percent from this point in 2023.
And further:
Q2 revenue at Steak ‘n Shake was $72 million compared to roughly $69 million a year ago. Over the first half of the year, it’s $135.8 million compared to $131.1 million.
More recently, per its X account, franchise-partner same-store sales gained 19 percent through Q3. The brand said it’s achieved double-digit same-store sales since making the call in May 2025 to take Bitcoin.
Steak ‘n Shake’s franchise-partner comp was 14.5 percent this past quarter.
Returning to the larger formula at work, Steak ‘n Shake continues to lean into two outward levers as it strips underperformers from the system and adjusts to a kiosk-forward QSR model.
One is a MAHA-inspired ingredient push. The second, becoming increasingly political.
The brand on September 9, in a rare spin for restaurant chains, endorsed Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), praising him as a champion of the MAHA movement. It also criticized Democratic opponent Sherrod Brown for supporting federal spending “that fueled the inflation crisis.” Previously, Steak ‘n Shake endorsed Republican challenger Derek Merrin against Marcy Kaptur and republican Zach Lahn, who is aiming to become Iowa’s governor.
Per The Washington Post, Steak ‘n Shake’s April-appointed “Chief MAHA Officer,” Michael Boes, who previously advised Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said the brand “supports candidates who are committed to improving people’s health” and would endorse Democrats as well as Republicans if the person fit the bill.
On Saturday, it added an endorsement of retired U.S. Army Colonel and Republican Laura Buckhout for North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, saying “we stand behind her mission to cut unnecessary regulations, relieve the burden on small businesses, and improve Americans’ access to healthy, natural, high-quality food at a price they can afford.” Buckhout posted a video on X stopping by a location in Dallas.
Boes told The Post he wasn’t concerned about alienating customers, noting Steak ‘n Shake would prioritize “doing the right thing, even if it hurts our short-term profits.”
Steak ‘n Shake has waved this MAHA banner for years now, really taking off when RFK Jr. visited a store last March. That remains Steak ‘n Shake’s pinned X post, collecting more than 155,000 likes, 4,300 comments, and 10,000-plus retweets.
Steak ‘n Shake’s redirect has included implementing tallow-cooked fries, tots (the switch from seed oils was announced in March 2025), Grade A Wisconsin butter, A2 whole milk, cane-sugar bottled soft drinks (August), and the elimination of microwaves (February).
It began September by adding crinkle-cut fries (also cooked in tallow), allowing customers a chance to swap for shoestring. Late August, it claimed to be the first major fast-food chain making buns seed oil-free. Starting October 5, Steak ‘n Shake buns will be “unapologetically drenched in pure Grade AA Wisconsin butter.”
In June, Steak ‘n Shake progressed to beef from pasture-raised cattle, stating the product would be 100 percent grass-fed and finished, “making us the only American burger joint serving the healthiest kind of beef.”
Steak ‘n Shake previously required suppliers to meet a certain list of standards, such as humane treatment of cattle, no added hormones, and no animal by-products in feed, but didn’t require grass-fed.
Carl’s Jr. once had an “All-Natural Burger” in 2014–2015 that was grass-fed, free-range beef and marketed as the first such offering at scale. It was later discontinued.
Steak ‘n Shake today is also serving a “Protein Steakburger” (lettuce instead of a bun), along with a Double Steakburger Double Cheese (bun). The former has 530 calories, 31 grams of protein, and 6 grams of carbs. The latter, 690 calories, 31 grams of proteins, and 38 grams of carbs.
September 1 was “Tesla Tallow Tuesday,” where Steak ‘n Shake offered all Tesla drivers a free small order of its new crinkle-cut fries and jar of grass-fed tallow cooking oil, which it sells in stores for $9.
As noted, Steak ‘n Shake slid before this stretch of attention. Its operating earnings swung negative in 2018 for the first time since 2008 as it went, the prior calendar, from $34.7 million in earnings to $431,000 before back-to-back yearly loses. That ignited a transformation agenda pre-dating Steak ‘n Shake’s more recent MAHA initiatives.
Steak ‘n Shake began structurally adjusting amid COVID. It spent roughly $50 million to remodel units, shedding servers (kiosks) and adding a new point-of-sale. It cut operating hours and trimmed menus. The company said it took just under 18 months to pay back the investment and the update drove triple-digit percentage gains in productivity, like output per hour of employment.
The franchise-partner system was developed to mirror concepts like Chick-fil-A, where store-level leaders own a stake in their success and, in turn, are more dialed into local happenings. Steak ‘n Shake asks for $10,000 upfront and takes care of the site (most are company run swapping over) and assesses a fee of up to 15 percent of sales as well as 50 percent of profits.
Ultimately, Steak ‘n Shake hopes to transition all corporate locations to owner-operators.
The brand in 2025 also overhauled senior management after it failed to maintain margins, with net sales in Q4 2024 coming in at $159,213 compared to $152,545 the prior year. It changed leaders of ops, finance, franchising, and supply chain.
Biglari Holdings chairman Sardar Biglari said 2025 was defined by faster pace and becoming relatable to a new generation by stressing quality.
The Bitcoin flip, where hourly employees earn a bitcoin bonus of 21 centers per hour (funds are designed to vest after two years) has helped the chain reinvest, it said. Payments go into a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” that funds the extra pay.
