4 Things That Changed at Bob Evans Since the Ohio Company Split in Two

A federal court approved a $5 million settlement for Bob Evans restaurant workers in September 2023, split among roughly 5,000 current and former employees.

That case outlasted the company that started it.

Bob Evans has changed hands three times since 2017, and the name on the sign stayed the same through all of it.

These are the things that changed at Bob Evans since the Ohio company split in two.

The Split Into Two Companies

Bob Evans spent nearly seventy years as one company before it broke into two.

An activist investor pushed for that breakup starting in 2013, arguing the restaurant chain and the packaged-foods business were worth more as separate companies than as one.

Golden Gate Capital bought the sit-down restaurants for $565 million, a sale that closed on April 28, 2017.

Bob Evans Farms kept its packaged-foods business, the sausage, mashed potatoes, and side dishes sold in grocery aisles under the Bob Evans name.

Nine months later, it sold that business too.

Post Holdings paid $77 a share, a deal worth roughly $1.53 billion, and the sale closed on January 12, 2018.

One Ohio company became two.

The Foods Side’s Same-Week Growth

Bob Evans Farms didn’t just sell off a business that same week.

It also bought one.

The company picked up Pineland Farms Potato Company, a Maine-based potato processor, closing that deal three days after the restaurant sale closed.

Pineland Farms grows and processes the potatoes that go straight into Bob Evans’ mashed potatoes and other refrigerated side dishes.

The grocery lineup carrying the Bob Evans name has grown well past sausage and mashed potatoes over the years.

Macaroni and cheese and other refrigerated sides now share shelf space with the products that started it all.

Restaurants left the portfolio the same week potato-processing capacity joined it.

The Multistate Wage Settlement

A multistate wage lawsuit against Bob Evans Restaurants, filed in 2018, ended in a settlement under Golden Gate Capital’s ownership.

Servers across Ohio and several other states said managers paid them a sub-minimum, tip-credit wage while assigning non-tipped side work, like cleaning and stocking, off the clock.

A federal court in Pennsylvania approved a $5 million settlement in September 2023.

Roughly 5,000 current and former employees shared in the payout.

More than $3.2 million of the settlement was split among those workers based on hours worked and each state’s minimum wage.

Fifteen employees who put their names on the lawsuit received an extra $2,000 apiece, and about a third of the total went to attorney fees.

Bob Evans settled without admitting wrongdoing, and the payout went out anyway.

A Drop of More Than 100 Locations

About 522 Bob Evans Restaurants locations dotted 18 states when Golden Gate Capital bought the chain in 2017.

Nine years of ownership later, that number had fallen to around 420 locations, still spread across the same 18 states.

More than 100 restaurants closed somewhere in between.

The chain didn’t expand into new territory during that stretch.

It’s the same map with fewer dots on it.

Another Change of Hands in 2026

Bob Evans Restaurants got a new owner for the second time since the 2017 split.

4×4 Capital bought the chain from Golden Gate Capital on February 5, 2026.

The current leadership team stayed in place, including the chain’s chief executive.

4×4 Capital says it plans to invest in operations and the guest experience going forward.

That’s nine years and three sales.

One Ohio name is still on every sign.

The Mashed Potatoes Label Lawsuit

Bob Evans' mashed potatoes landed in federal court less than a year after Post Holdings took over.

A shopper filed a federal lawsuit against the Post Holdings subsidiary that makes Bob Evans-brand packaged foods, in November 2018.

The suit argued the mashed potatoes' promise of butter implied there was no vegetable oil in the recipe.

The ingredient list already disclosed both butter and vegetable oil, printed in plain view on every tub.

The suit also challenged the word fresh on the packaging, arguing shoppers would read it as meaning the potatoes were freshly made with no preservatives.

It sought nationwide class-action treatment on behalf of shoppers, citing New York's consumer-protection law.

A federal judge in New York dismissed the case in February 2020, ruling the label never claimed the potatoes contained butter alone.

The fresh claim failed for a similar reason. Mashed potatoes need some amount of processing just to reach a store shelf.

The dismissal left the ingredient list unchanged, and Bob Evans never had to alter the label.

The Original Farm, Still a Draw

Rio Grande, Ohio, is still home to Bob Evans' original farm, and it still welcomes visitors today.

The Homestead where Bob Evans and his family once lived is now a museum, and it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A restaurant still operates on the same property, serving the same style of farmhouse breakfast that started the whole company.

Bob Evans died in 2007, at age 89, decades after he started the sausage business that grew into the company carrying his name.

The grounds include reconstructed pioneer cabins and an old schoolhouse.