FORMERLY PE OWNED
Bob Evans
Includes Bob Evans Restaurants, Bob Evans Farms
family dining · New Albany, OH
- PE Firm
- Golden Gate Capital
- Year Acquired
- 2017
PE bought the restaurants but not the sausage that made them famous. A hundred closures later, they passed the leftovers to another PE firm.
What Happened
- Golden Gate Capital bought Bob Evans Restaurants for $565 million in 2017 when parent Bob Evans Farms split itself up — the packaged-food side, sausage and all, went to Post Holdings for $1.5 billion in a separate deal
- The restaurant side lost its farm-to-table identity once divorced from the food brand that gave it meaning — Bob Evans restaurants without Bob Evans sausage
- Locations shrank from 522 to roughly 420 as Golden Gate closed underperforming units, with some shuttering abruptly and without notice to communities
- After nearly nine years of ownership, Golden Gate sold what was left to another PE firm — 4x4 Capital — in February 2026, completing the cycle
The Damage Done
- The menu lost its farm identity — the brand that built its reputation on homestyle cooking and its own sausage became just another generic family restaurant
- Over 100 locations closed during Golden Gate's ownership, often with little or no notice to the public or long-time employees
- Sales dropped 2.7% compared to the prior year as the chain struggled to compete with Cracker Barrel and other family dining brands that maintained their identity
- The sale to 4x4 Capital in February 2026 means Bob Evans is now on its second PE owner — the farm restaurant has become a PE hot potato