25. Exclusive: Chipotle closing ShopHouse chain
24. Applebee’s to close up to 135 locations
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar
23. The sad decline of Macaroni Grill
Problems have plagued the chain's many owners in a decade-long flameout that ended up in bankruptcy court.
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22. My Fit Foods closes all locations
Ron Ruggless
21. Restaurants put the brakes on growth
Chains were slowing growth and cutting units in 2017 amid weak sales and traffic.
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20. 5 chains facing a tough year in 2017
Pie Five
Weak traffic and limited pricing power made things difficult for several concepts.
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19. Why Subway is shrinking
18. Cheryl Bachelder to step down at Popeyes
The CEO left after the sale to Restaurant Brands International was complete.
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17. The re-colonelization of KFC
Read the inside story of how the return of Colonel Sanders’ values brought KFC back to life.
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16. Golden Corral rolls out brunch systemwide
Golden Corral
15. Pie Five closes 9 restaurants amid lawsuit
14. Goodbye Ruby Tuesday?
13. The 3 chains for sale, and 4 that could be next
With five big restaurant deals already in the books for 2017, here’s who could have been next.
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12. Papa John’s sales sacked by NFL ratings plunge
Ildar Sagdejev
Published reports listed the pizza chain among NFL sponsors complaining to the league about viewership decline.
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11. 15 food and beverage trends to expect in 2018
Liz Clayman
Andrew Freeman & Company says to expect more regional Mexican and Chinese and less waste.
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10. Private-equity group buys Bob Evans Restaurants for $565M
9. McDonald’s bets on fresh beef to order
The chain believed it could improve its reputation and sales with better burgers.
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8. JAB Holding to buy Panera Bread for $7.5B
Panera Bread
The acquisition continued the investment fund’s restaurant chain stockpile.
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7. Applebee’s sales decline pushes out Julia Stewart
The long-tenured executive was undone by persistent woes at the casual-dining chain.
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6. Fertitta wins Ignite bankruptcy auction
5. Dunkin’ Donuts takes shorter name for test drive
Getty Images
The company said the Dunkin’ only branding would reinforce a beverage-led image.
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4. Teen ignites Twitter storm with Wendy’s chicken nugget request
Wendy’s
The chain and celebrities Ellen DeGeneres, Bradley Cooper and more got in on the #NuggsForCarter retweet challenge.
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3. Bloomin’ Brands closes 43 restaurants
2. 2017 Top 100: Top 10 fastest-growing chains
This is part of the Nation’s Restaurant News annual Top 100 report, a proprietary ranking of the foodservice industry’s largest restaurant chains and parent companies.
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1. McDonald’s introduces fry-fork utensil with new sandwiches
McDonald's
The marketing for the Signature Crafted Recipes line included an infomercial starring the “frork.”
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