Colton's Steak House

What Colton's Steak House does

Colton's Steak House & Grill, operated under the legal entity Colton's Restaurant Group Inc. (CRG), is a privately held franchise restaurant chain founded in 1996 and headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. The company develops and franchises a casual steakhouse concept featuring USDA Choice hand-cut steaks, hickory-smoked ribs, and mesquite wood grilling served in a Western-themed atmosphere. CRG operates as franchisor with the current owners maintaining ownership interests in over half of the system's 40+ locations across seven U.S. states (Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Illinois, Mississippi, and Tennessee), while the remaining units are operated by independent franchisees.

The company monetizes through a combination of franchise fees and royalties from its franchisee base and transaction-based food and beverage sales at individual restaurant locations. Customer access channels include dine-in service at all locations, call-ahead take-out, curbside pickup at participating locations, and a dedicated web-based online ordering platform (order.coltonssteakhouse.com) for pickup orders. Supporting consumer-facing infrastructure includes the E-Club email loyalty program, physical and digital gift cards processed through a third-party provider (CardFoundry), and digital nutritional tools (Nutrition Calculator and dietitian-prepared Nutrition Analysis PDFs). The Kid's Menu with themed entertainment and ADA compliance initiatives extend the addressable customer base toward families and accessibility-conscious consumers.

The underlying technology stack is conventional for the casual-dining segment: standard restaurant point-of-sale systems, a proprietary online ordering storefront, basic email marketing via the E-Club, and gift card fulfillment through CardFoundry. There is no disclosed proprietary AI/ML capability, no mobile application, no API platform, and no integration marketplace in the public record. Marketing relies on the corporate website, organic Facebook and Instagram presence, email newsletters, and in-restaurant experience rather than paid performance channels or data-driven personalization at scale. The franchise model enables capital-efficient unit growth funded primarily by franchisee investment rather than corporate balance sheet expansion.

Name

Colton's Steak House

Legal name

Colton's Restaurant Group

Website

https://coltonssteakhouse.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Colton's Steak House & Grill is a privately held franchise steakhouse chain founded in 1996, operating 40+ locations across seven U.S. states under Colton's Restaurant Group Inc. It serves casual-dining consumers and families with USDA Choice hand-cut steaks, hickory-smoked ribs, and mesquite-grilled fare in a Western-themed atmosphere.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Steakhouse Restaurants

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Steakhouses & Seafood Restaurants (THAFACAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family-Style Restaurants (THAFACAC)

Keywords

• Casual steakhouse dining
• Franchise restaurant chain
• American grill fare
• Mesquite wood grilling
• Hand-cut steakhouse

Headquarters

HQ city

Springfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices35 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Food and beverage sales at franchise locations: Colton's Restaurant Group (CRG) operates as a franchisor. All CSHG restaurants operate as franchises with locations in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Revenue is generated through franchise fees and potentially royalties from franchise operations.
2. Dine-in, take-out, and curbside sales: Individual franchise locations generate revenue through on-premises dining, take-out orders, and curbside pickup services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Colton's Steak House & Grill is a franchise steakhouse restaurant concept serving USDA Choice hand-cut steaks, ribs slow-smoked over hickory, grilled and mesquite-fired entrees, plus burgers, sandwiches, seafood, and chicken in a casual Western-themed atmosphere. The franchisor, Colton's Restaurant Group Inc., supports 40+ franchise locations across seven U.S. states with dine-in service, take-out, curbside pickup, and direct online ordering for pickup.

Product overview

Colton's Steak House & Grill is a franchise restaurant chain operating as a single unified restaurant service concept. The core offering is full-service dine-in dining featuring USDA Choice hand-cut steaks and hickory-smoked ribs, complemented by online ordering, take-out, and curbside services. Supporting products include the E-Club email loyalty program, gift cards, and digital nutritional tools (Nutrition Calculator and Nutrition Analysis PDFs). The Kid's Menu with themed entertainment targets family dining. All locations operate as franchises under Colton's Restaurant Group Inc., with locations across seven U.S. states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dine-In Restaurant Service Full-service dine-in restaurant experience at franchise locations offering USDA Choice hand-cut steaks, ribs slow-smoked over hickory, seafood, chicken, burgers, sandwiches, salads, soups, and desserts in a casual Western-themed atmosphere for individual consumers, families, and groups.
• Take-out and Curbside Service Call-ahead take-out ordering available at all Colton's locations with curbside pickup at participating locations, allowing full menu items to be ordered to go and collected without leaving the vehicle.
• Gift Cards Physical and digital Colton's gift cards valid across all Colton's locations, available for purchase and balance checking online through the CardFoundry platform.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CardFoundry (Gift Card Provider)supportOthersCardFoundry provides gift card processing services for Colton's, handling gift card purchases, balance checks, and order status tracking through a dedicated portal at coltons.cardfoundry.com.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Outback Steakhouse: Large national casual steakhouse brand owned by Bloomin' Brands. Targets similar middle-market steakhouse occasions as Colton's, with broader menu, stronger digital ordering infrastructure, and significantly larger system-wide scale.
• LongHorn Steakhouse: Darden-owned casual steakhouse chain with 500+ locations. Directly competes with Colton's in the mid-price steakhouse segment and operates with substantially greater capital, marketing reach, and digital infrastructure.
• Applebee's: Mass-market casual dining chain with broad menu including steaks. Overlaps with Colton's on casual family occasions and value-priced dining, with significantly larger scale and a more developed digital/off-premise platform.
• Golden Corral: Large family-style buffet and grill chain. Competes with Colton's for family dining occasions in similar secondary and tertiary markets, though via a buffet model rather than table-service steakhouse.
• Texas Roadhouse: National casual steakhouse chain with ~600+ company and franchised locations. Competes with Colton's for value-positioned steakhouse occasions but operates at far greater scale, with a stronger loyalty app and broader geographic footprint.

Direct peers

• Black Angus Steakhouse: Regional casual steakhouse chain with Western-themed branding and a hand-cut steak menu. Closely comparable to Colton's in concept, price tier, and casual Western positioning, though primarily West/Mountain-region focused.
• Logan's Roadhouse: Casual steakhouse chain with a similar mesquite-grilled, value-positioned menu targeting middle-American markets. Direct competitor for the same casual steakhouse occasion, with comparable price point and family-friendly positioning.
• Sizzler: Long-running casual steakhouse chain with a heavy franchise mix. Closely comparable to Colton's in value-positioned steakhouse offerings, salad bar-driven model, and franchise-based growth strategy, though more geographically dispersed.
• Ryan's: Family-style grill and buffet chain with strong historical presence in the South and Midwest. Targets the same value-conscious family dining occasions as Colton's, though with a buffet model rather than a la carte steakhouse service.
• Steak 'n Shake: Midwestern-rooted franchise chain with a steak-forward value menu. Comparable to Colton's in regional Midwest/South presence, franchise structure, and affordable steakburger/steak positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ColtonsStkHouse
• Instagraminstagram.com/ColtonsStkHouse

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Colton's Steak House