Café Rouge was founded by Roger Myers and Karen Jones, in Richmond, London as a small restaurant chain in 1989.

In July 1996, Whitbread purchased Pelican Group – comprising 110 restaurants under the Dôme, Mamma Amalfi and, primarily, Café Rouge brands – for £133m.

In 2012, it was reported that Café Rouge intended investing in excess of £20m[7] refurbishing its restaurants over the next few years, starting with the Hampstead branch, designed by Afroditi Krassa.

[10] In light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in May 2020 Café Rouge's owner Casual Dining Group announced that it was working with advisors on next steps for the overall business as a prudent measure to protect the company whilst planning for the future and as part of that process had filed a Notice of Intention to appoint administrators.

[16] In 2013, Café Rouge were official partners of Comic Relief, the British charity founded in 1985 that aims to "bring about positive and lasting change in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people."

[17] In 2009 the company was found to be threatening to dismiss waiting staff who do not get customers to pay tips on credit cards rather than in cash.