**Exhibit 31.1**

 

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERPURSUANT TOSECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT RULES 13A-14 AND 15D-14

 

I, Robert J. Stetson, ChiefExecutive Officer of the registrant, certify that:

 

1.                                       I havereviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of U.S. Restaurant Properties, Inc.

 

2.                                       Basedon my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue statement ofa material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make thestatements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements weremade, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterlyreport;

 

3.                                       Basedon my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial informationincluded in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects thefinancial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant asof, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;

 

4.                                       Theregistrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishingand maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange ActRules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

 

a)                                      Designedsuch disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls andprocedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that materialinformation relating to the registrant, including its consolidatedsubsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularlyduring the period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

 

b)                                     Evaluatedthe effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures andpresented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of thedisclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by thisreport based on such evaluation; and

 

c)                                      Disclosedin this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financialreporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter thathas materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’sinternal control over financial reporting.

 

5.                                       Theregistrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our mostrecent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to theregistrant’s auditors and the audit committee of registrant’s board ofdirectors (or persons fulfilling the equivalent function):

 

a)                                      Allsignificant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal controls overfinancial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect theregistrant’s ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial dataand have identified for the registrant’s auditors any material weaknesses ininternal controls; and

 

b)                                     Anyfraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees whohave a significant role in the registrant’s internal controls.

 

6.                                       Theregistrant’s other certifying officers and I have indicated in this quarterlyreport whether or not there were significant changes in internal controls or inother factors that could significantly affect internal controls subsequent tothe date of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective actions withregard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

 
| /s/ Robert J. Stetson    |   |   |
|--------------------------|--------|--------|
| Robert J.  Stetson       |   |
| Chief  Executive Officer |   |
|                     |   |
|                     |   |
| Dated:  August 14, 2003  |   |

 

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