--- title: GEN Korean BBQ Plans to Sell Its 47 US Restaurants to Chubby Group for $100 Million description: GEN Restaurant Group would keep the GEN brand and its grocery business, while Chubby Group takes over the first 12 restaurants on November 1. author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-10-16T11:28:26.568Z updated: 2026-10-16T11:28:26.574Z canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/gen-korean-bbq-chubby-group-47-restaurants image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/gen-korean-bbq-grill-table-444668.webp categories: Markets content_type: News region: United States publication: Sovereign Magazine schema_type: Article --- GEN Restaurant Group (Nasdaq: GENK), the company behind the GEN Korean BBQ chain, has agreed to sell the operations of its 47 US restaurants to Chubby Group, the privately held owner of Chubby Cattle, Wagyu House and more than 20 other Asian dining brands. GEN plans to keep the GEN brand, a few restaurants and its packaged-food business, and to carry on as a public company that sells Korean barbecue meats through grocery and warehouse stores rather than in its own dining rooms. GEN's board approved a binding letter of intent with Chubby by unanimous consent, the company said on October 14. GEN puts the price at $100 million and says both sides are working to close within 30 days. Chubby co-founder David Zhao said in GEN's announcement that the 47 restaurants give Chubby "an established, high-traffic platform to accelerate our national growth." Chubby, announcing its side of the deal a day later, described the transaction as "valued at up to $100 million" and said it also covers four GEN development sites. Both companies say closing still depends on definitive agreements, license and lease transfers and regulatory approvals. In the same October 15 release, Chubby announced its first institutional round, a $50 million Series A led by Prysm Capital at a $500 million valuation. Before the round, Chubby says, more than $90 million had gone into its restaurants and supply chain from operating cash flow, its founders, local operating partners, supply chain partners and family offices. ## Chubby Cattle Took Over Four GEN Restaurants Earlier This Year On March 24, GEN signed a partnership with Chubby Cattle covering five existing GEN restaurants. GEN contributed the restaurant assets in return for a 49% interest, and Chubby Cattle holds the other 51% and manages the sites under the Chubby Cattle name. In its fourth-quarter 2025 results, GEN described the five as "non-performing" restaurants and said the joint venture led to a $4.5 million write-down. By the end of June it had handed over four of them: San Antonio, Texas; Mountain View, California; Edison, New Jersey; and Jacksonville, Florida. GEN expected to transfer the fifth, in Sacramento, California, in the third quarter. ## Same-Store Sales at GEN Fell 9.3% in the Second Quarter Comparable restaurant sales at GEN fell 9.3% in the second quarter of 2026 and 9.1% in the first half, according to its latest quarterly filing with the SEC, after declines of 7.2% and 4.4% in the same periods a year earlier. Average annual sales per restaurant slipped to about $5.0 million in the 12 months to June 30, from $5.3 million a year before. Revenue for the first half was $109.6 million, down from $112.4 million, while food costs rose 16.9% in the second quarter to $21.8 million. GEN's net loss for the half widened to $11.8 million from $3.7 million. ## GEN Had $164.2 Million in Lease Liabilities and $12.0 Million Drawn on Its Credit Line at June 30 GEN closed six restaurants in the second quarter, two in Korea and the four handed to Chubby Cattle, and had 54 open at June 30, against 57 at the end of 2025. Its operating lease liabilities stood at $164.2 million, and it had drawn $12.0 million on a $20.0 million credit line with PCB Bank due September 25, which GEN said in its second-quarter filing it expected to renew. In a September filing, GEN disclosed an agreement that lets it sell up to $25 million of new Class A shares to Roth Principal Investments over as long as 36 months, at its own discretion. ## GEN Will Keep the Brand, About Three Restaurants and Its Grocery Line GEN says the sale will substantially reduce its roughly $160 million of lease liabilities and add a term note receivable to its balance sheet. It expects to pay off its outstanding debt afterward and says it may put additional capital toward growth, dividends or share repurchases. GEN keeps the operating profits from each restaurant until Chubby takes it over. Once the transaction is complete, GEN can convert any unpaid balance of the note into Chubby Group equity at a $1.5 billion valuation, three times the valuation in Chubby's Series A. Chubby says it receives a perpetual license to the GEN brand. "This transaction monetizes our restaurant operations while shareholders retain full ownership of our rapidly growing CPG business and full participation in its accelerating growth and rising revenue run rate," said David Kim, GEN's chief executive and chairman. GEN will hold on to about three restaurants for training, staffing and product research. Its packaged goods, led by ready-to-cook marinated meats and since expanded into other frozen and non-frozen Korean foods, are sold in nearly 2,000 stores nationwide, including Albertsons and Costco. In its second-quarter filing, GEN said the division had its strongest quarter to date, with revenue up 341% from the first quarter, and that June 2026 was its largest month, with revenue above $2 million. GEN calls the division "our single largest opportunity for near-term growth." After the sale, it plans to restructure its corporate overhead to support only that business, with senior management working on it full time. ## Chubby Plans to Reopen Each Restaurant as GEN X or a Chubby Club Concept Chubby says it has already transformed former GEN sites, "growing unit revenue up to 6x," and plans to apply the same approach across all 47 restaurants. Each one will reopen either as GEN X, which Chubby calls "a wagyu-forward take on the Korean BBQ guests already know," or as one of its Chubby Club concepts, and Chubby will pay for the conversions from its own capital. Chubby has grown from one restaurant in 2016 to more than 70 and reports systemwide revenue of $233 million for 2025. Chubby plans to take over the 47 restaurants in four phases over 12 months, starting with 12 locations on November 1. GEN Restaurant Group's investor information is at [investor.genkoreanbbq.com](https://investor.genkoreanbbq.com/). ## FAQ **Q: Who owns GEN Korean BBQ?** GEN Restaurant Group, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker GENK, owns the brand. Two Korean immigrants founded the company in Los Angeles in 2011. Under the planned sale GEN keeps full ownership of the GEN brand, while Chubby Group would run the 47 US restaurants and, according to Chubby, receive a perpetual license to the GEN name. **Q: How big is Chubby Group?** Chubby says it operates more than 25 restaurant brands and expects to reach about 100 locations by the end of 2026. It projects $400 million in systemwide revenue for 2026 and plans 30 new Mr. Chubby and Chubby Bowls locations in 2027.