This study examines the effect of geographic dispersion on the short-run and long-run initial public offering (IPO) performance of restaurant firms. Sample of the study consists of 103 restaurant IPOs conducted between 1981 and 2011. The study finds that being geographically dispersed or concentrated in a small area does not lead to a significant difference in the initial returns of restaurant IPOs. Yet the analysis shows that restaurant firms with geographically dispersed operations have significantly higher long-run returns in the post-IPO period compared with their local counterparts. This is evidenced by the significantly larger cumulative abnormal returns for geographically dispersed restaurant firms in the post-IPO period.