NRN surveyed over 400 restaurant operators for our latest market leader report. Discover how these industry leaders are leveraging data to shape their strategies and drive success.
HARRISON N.Y. —At a time when many operators are pinching pennies just to break even, 30-unit Applebee’s franchisee Apple-Metro is spending millions to upgrade kitchen ordering systems and dining...
Even as soaring commodity prices, especially for wheat and oil, exert unprecedented pressures on the industry’s top and bottom lines, operators in the bakery-cafe segment are fighting back by adding new products and portion sizes, strengthening...
Slammed with rising costs, on-site feeders in the Second 100 are looking for inconspicuous ways to streamline their operations. From cutting back-office labor to seeking out alternative products and buying more locally, contract operators say...
LAKE GROVE N.Y. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s...
As the enforcement deadline loomed for New York City’s menu-labeling mandate, officials of chains already displaying the required calorie data said the disclosures had little effect on ordering habits. But front-of-the-house staff were telling a...
I’ve just returned from the National Association of College and University Food Services, or NACUFS, 50th Anniversary national conference, themed “Monumental Times,” in Washington, D.C. The event attracted some 800 school attendees and 800...
The 35 casual-dining chains in the 2008 Second 100 saw their aggregate annual systemwide-sales growth rate virtually cut in half in their latest full fiscal years, to 2.81 percent from 5.59 percent, but many are already nostalgic for such results...
DENVER —Being a regular at a Qdoda Mexican Grill restaurant gave middle school Spanish teacher Lacey Smith a chance to practice the language with native speakers. Now she’s giving Qdoba...
If a restaurant is judged by the company it keeps, then Tru in Chicago has won a food-and-wine-savvy clientele over the past nine years that would make any fine-dining spot proud. But in the last year and a half, the...
Jeff Levine founded Margate, Fla.-based Salad Creations in 2003. The 50-unit franchise company is a “create your own salad” fast-casual concept and also offers more than 10 featured salads and a variety of daily soup specials and...
