Red Robin Gourmet Burgers became the first national restaurant chain to pour Garage Beer across its entire U.S. portfolio as of July 21, adding both Garage Beer Classic Light and Classic Lime to menus at all domestic locations. The move pairs one of casual dining's larger footprints — nearly 500 locations — with what the brand describes as America's fastest-growing light beer, a 4% ABV lager at 95 calories and 3 grams of carbs now available in all 50 states.
The Operator Play
For casual dining operators watching beverage mix, the partnership signals a broader shift toward celebrity-backed craft-adjacent brands as traffic drivers. Red Robin CEO and President Dave Pace framed the tie-up as an experience play as much as a product launch. "Garage Beer is the perfect match for our craveable wings and gourmet burgers," Pace said. "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." Co-owned by NFL stars Jason and Travis Kelce, Garage Beer carries significant pop-culture pull that casual dining chains have struggled to generate organically — a dynamic worth watching as beverage partnership strategies continue to evolve across the segment.
Wings and a Merch Hook
The beer launch lands alongside a summer expansion of Red Robin's bone-in chicken wing program, which now offers 8-count, 12-count, and 16-count orders across multiple sauces and dry rubs — a direct move to compete more aggressively in the wings-and-beer daypart. To mark National Chicken Wing Day on July 29, Red Robin and Garage Beer introduced a limited-edition Jason Kelce collaboration T-shirt available exclusively through GarageBeer.com. Purchasers receive a Red Robin gift card redeemable for a free 8-count bone-in wing order, a merch-to-traffic mechanic that blends restaurant loyalty and promotional strategy with influencer appeal.
"Garage Beer landing in Red Robin restaurants nationwide definitely calls for a celebration," said Garage Beer CEO Andy Sauer. "We're proud to be pouring beer-flavored beer at Red Robin locations across the country, and we hope fans celebrate National Wing Day the right way, with a basket of wings and an ice-cold Garage Beer."
For operators in the casual dining space, the Red Robin–Garage Beer model illustrates how beverage co-branding with culturally relevant labels can reinforce food menu expansions and drive incremental check growth — particularly in an environment where differentiation at the bar remains one of the harder problems in full-service dining. Coverage of similar cross-category hospitality partnerships is a regular focus of Food & Beverage Magazine, our sister publication tracking trends across the broader foodservice landscape.
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.
