UPDATE 1-Texas Roadhouse quarterly profit falls as costs rise

* Q4 EPS of 9 cents beats est by 1 cent

* Net income falls 15 percent

* Q4 rev up nearly 26 pct to $234.2 mln

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Bar-and-grill restaurant Texas Roadhouse Inc (TXRH.O) posted a 15 percent fall in quarterly net income, as costs rose and customers continued to shy away from eating out.

"The unprecedented economic environment affected our fourth quarter performance and has continued into early 2009," Chief Executive G.J. Hart said in a statement.

The Louisville, Kentucky-based restaurant chain owner posted net income of $6.14 million, for the fourth quarter, against a net income of $7.22 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose to $234.2 million from $186.3 million.

Texas Roadhouse, which saw a 30 percent hike in total costs for the quarter, also saw a fall in same-store sales of 4.7 percent at company restaurants and 5.5 percent at franchise restaurants. The restaurant chain owner, which competes with larger rivals DineEquity Inc (DIN.N) and Darden Restaurants (DRI.N), reaffirmed its earnings expectations for 2009 to be approximately flat.

Share of Texas Roadhouse, which acquired one franchise restaurant in Florida and opened 6 company restaurants in the quarter, closed at $8.45 Monday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore)