GEN Restaurant Group, Inc.

GEN Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEN) operates one of the largest Asian casual dining restaurant concepts by total revenue in the United States. The company's website is located at www.genkoreanbbq.com.

Founded in 2011 by two Korean immigrants, GEN operates a distinctive Korean barbecue restaurant concept centered around a unique "cook-it-yourself" dining experience. As of December 31, 2025, the company operates 57 company-owned restaurants across twelve states including California, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and South Korea. The company expanded significantly in 2025, opening fifteen new restaurants including six international locations in South Korea.

GEN's core business model features embedded grills at each table where guests prepare their own food, reducing the need for traditional kitchen staff and enabling efficient operations. The company offers an extensive menu of traditional Korean and Korean-American cuisine, including high-quality meats, poultry, and seafood at fixed all-you-can-eat price points ranging from approximately $20.95 to $37.95 depending on meal type and location. This model allows guests to order unlimited quantities at a single affordable price, differentiating GEN from traditional à la carte casual dining competitors.

Beyond restaurant operations, GEN has expanded into wholesale channels, partnering with grocery retailers to offer ready-to-cook meals at over 800 locations as of 2025, with plans to expand to 1,500 to 2,500 locations in 2026. The company employs approximately 2,700 employees across its operations, with an average of 70 employees per restaurant.

GEN's competitive advantages include its proprietary in-house design and fabrication capabilities for ventilation systems, strong supplier relationships including a three-year agreement with Sysco, and a loyal customer base particularly among Millennial and Gen Z demographics. The company targets new restaurant payback periods of less than three years with average unit volumes ranging from $4.0 to $5.0 million. Recent restaurants opened in 2022 and 2023 achieved average payback periods of approximately 1.9 and 2.2 years respectively.