The Company Hiding Behind Texas Roadhouse's Store-Bought Rolls At Walmart

Texas Roadhouse is famed for its juicy steaks and fall-off-the-bone BBQ ribs, but regulars often rave about one of its less protein-packed items — the pillowy bread rolls. Accompanied by a side of sweet honey-butter, there's nothing not to like about these doughy little bites that keep hunger at bay while you're waiting for your main course to arrive at the table. The steakhouse chain eventually realized there was an extra buck to be made selling the rolls to fans who can't get enough of them, and today folks don't have to look any further than their local Walmart to pick up a pack of 12.  

Still, Texas Roadhouse stays busy enough cooking up (mostly) hand-cut steaks to the masses, so taking on manufacturing and distribution of the rolls doesn't make much sense for what amounts to a side hustle for the chain. Instead, it tasked a company already involved in selling popular restaurant items in grocery stores, Marzetti, with getting the store-bought rolls glazed with sweet honey-butter into Walmart. Marzetti also manufactures the chain's steak sauces for supermarkets, so folks can attempt to get the full-on Texas Roadhouse experience without ever leaving the house. 

It's not surprising that Texas Roadhouse chose Marzetti to handle the day-to-day of producing the restaurant's store-bought rolls. The company has long been a trusted solution for businesses attempting to generate similar supermarket crossovers.

As massive as the food manufacturer is today, Marzetti's humble beginnings were as a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio in the late 1800s. After her husband's passing, Teresa Marzetti spent years successfully cultivating a respectable reputation for the establishment among locals. Customers were particularly enamored with the dressings created at the restaurant, prompting Marzetti to mass-produce them in a factory above the eatery and eventually sell them in Ohio grocery stores. The restaurant closed in 1972, but the company had been sold three years before that to "Bernie" Gerlach, who transitioned the business into the Marzetti Company we know today with an approximate $3.13 billion net worth.

Texas Roadhouse rolls and steak sauces are just the tip of the iceberg regarding the iconic products that Marzetti manufactures at the behest of famous brand-name establishments. Store-bought Arby's sauce, Olive Garden dressings, and supermarket renditions of Buffalo Wild Wings' sauces and dips are all produced by the company. It is also responsible for getting BIBIBOP, Subway, and Chick-fil-A sauces into grocery stores.

But Marzetti isn't just a sauce and dressing manufacturer. The company supplies a variety of other store-bought foods for the family of brands under its wing, like frozen bread and croutons for New York Bakery and egg noodles for Amish Kitchens. Marzetti even produces expensive caviar for its Romanoff brand. Texas Roadhouse's buttery store-bought rolls are one of the latest products filling supermarket shelves, but as Marzetti continues to flourish, you can bet your bottom dollar it won't be the last beloved restaurant nosh the company produces for folks to enjoy at home.