The conference celebrated the industry’s finest with the Golden Chain Awards recognizing the accomplishments and career achievements of multiunit foodservice operators during an industry awards gala.

From left: Mark Garcia of Avocados From Mexico, Julia Stewart of DineEquity Inc. and Sarah Lockyer of NRN

John Gainor of International Dairy Queen accepts his Golden Chain award.

Peggy Cherng of Panda Restaurant Group receives her Golden Chain award.

John Miller of Denny's receives his Golden Chain award.

Cheryl Bachelder of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc., Sarah Lockyer of NRN and Phil Hickey of Miller's Ale House at the awards gala

Golden Chain award winner Charlie Morrison of Wingstop Restaurants Inc., Sarah Lockyer of NRN and Steve Romaniello of Roark Capital Group

The Golden Chain awards gala began with a sit-down dinner.

Laura Viscusi, vice president and market leader of the Food & Restaurant Group at Penton, addresses attendees.

Showgoers at the awards dinner

In a keynote presentation, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. CEO and Norman Award winner Cheryl Bachelder spoke about servant leadership. The Norman Award is given in honor of the late Norman Brinker.

DineEquity Inc.'s Julia Stewart accepts the Operator of the Year award under a shower of confetti.

Stewart celebrates her Operator of the Year win with the DineEquity team.

MUFSO attendees gather between events.

KISS band member and restaurant entrepreneur Gene Simmons talked about the importance of job passion.

Showgoers gather between sessions.

The conference had five education tracks for panels: operations, culinary, marketing, entrepreneur and ideas.

Karim Webb, owner of the Los Angeles-based PCF Restaurant Management LLC, which franchises Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants, speaks on a panel featuring members of the 2015 NRN Power List.

Kimberly Turman, digital marketing manager of Pie Five Pizza Co., speaks on a panel on big data.

Alan J. Liddle of NRN, far left, moderated a session on restaurant design that featured Niccolo Valerio of Valerio, Tim Pulido of Campero USA Corp. and Michael Zislis of Rock & Brews.

Nancy Kruse, president of the Kruse Company, speaks about menu trends.

NRN senior financial editor Jonathan Maze, Doug Branigan of Black Bear Diner and Guillermo Perales of Sun Holdings Inc. speak on the "Franchising Under Attack" education session.

MUFSO attendees get festive.

Chef Patrick Stark of Avocados From Mexico, center, and his team serve hors d'oeuvres at a cocktail reception before the awards gala.

Food Management editor-in-chief Becky Schilling, center, with show attendees

For charity, chefs faced off in the Texas Pete Kitchen Hero Cook-off to see who could create the best recipe on the spot.

Each chef was assigned a different protein and Texas Pete sauce to use.

The winning chef was able to present a $10,000 check in their name to Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry Campaign.

A panel of judges tasted each dish.

Chef Brandon Hudson of Jason's Deli prepares his winning dish. The dish was served at the cocktail reception at the MUFSO Industry Awards gala on the second night of the conference.

The cook-off chefs and judges.

On the last day of the conference, NRN's Sarah Lockyer talks with the Golden Chain honorees during the annual CEO panel.

Attendees enjoyed a dessert reception after the awards gala on the final night of the show.

NRN editor-in-chief Sarah Lockyer, front, with this year's Hot Concepts award winners. The award is given to emerging brands poised for growth.

From left: Brett Schulman of Cava Mezze Grill, Dominik Stein of VertsKebap, NRN's Sarah Lockyer, Michael Heyne of VertsKebap, Euripides Pelekanos of Bareburger, and Paul Frederick of Eureka!

The Hot Concepts award winners shared insights on a panel.

At the Hot Concepts & Best Concepts Awards Celebration & Presentation cocktail reception, the winners were honored. Show attendees sampled food from the Hot Concepts winners.

Daniel Edwards of Tim Hortons, Mike Donahue of LYFE Kitchen and Nikhil Satish of Tim Hortons

Fried chicken sliders by 2015 Hot Concepts award winner Eureka! 

Hot Concepts winner Euripides Pelekanos of Bareburger with Dan Bagan, group president of Penton's Food and Agriculture Group

Attendees celebrated this year's Hot Concepts winners at a festive cocktail party on the first night of the conference.

Stacy Dixon of Tortas Frontera, Anthony Owen of Tortas Frontera, Mario Del Pero of Mendocino Farms and Manny Valdes of Tortas Frontera

Hot Concepts winner VertsKebap specializes in rotisserie meat.

The team from Hot Concepts honoree Cava Mezze Grill

The team from Hot Concept winner Eureka! served up the chain's fried chicken sliders during the Hot Concepts reception.

Showgoers celebrated the Hot Concepts winners — and sampled the chains' signature dishes — at a cocktail party on the first night of the show.

Left to right:  Lee Zucker of Single Platform from Constant Contact, Clay Dover of Pei Wei, Bryan Plofsky of Single Platform from Constant Contact

Showgoers celebrate during the Hot Concepts reception.

Showgoers celebrate during the Hot Concepts cocktail party.

NRN's Sarah Lockyer, Brett Schulman of Hot Concepts winner Cava Mezze Grill and Mitesh Gala of e*Restaurant from Altametrics.

NRN's Sarah Lockyer, Paul Frederick of Hot Concepts winner Eureka! and Mitesh Gala of e*Restaurant from Altametrics.

The VertsKebap team on stage accepting the chain's Hot Concepts award.

NRN sister publication Food Management's Best Concepts awards recognize outstanding on-site operators.

Roberta Edwards of Sodexo and Beaufort (S.C.) County Schools accepts Best Concepts award from Food Management editor-in-chief Becky Schilling and Mitesh Gala of e*Restaurant from Altametrics.

2015 Melman Award winners Michael White and Ahmass Fakahany of Altamarea Group

Iconic multiconcept operator Rich Melman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, for whom the Melman Award is named, participated in a discussion with this year's winners on entrepreneurship, creativity and success.

At the Coca-Cola Shake, Sparkle & Stir showdown, mixologists vied to be the 2015 Grand Champion.

Steve Gaskell of Ruby Tuesday Inc. prepares his drink "The Fresh Fix."

Judges Paul Tuennerman of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers and Annica Kreider of Mellow Mushroom taste and rate the cocktails.

Katie Livezey-Buckholt of TGI Fridays pours her "Thai Tropic Cooler" drink.

NRN senior food and beverage editor Bret Thorn and Cristi Shipley of Food IQ were part of the judging panel.

The judges confer.

The winner was Faith Meyers of Walk-on's Enterprises with a cocktail called "Berries on the Bayou."

Clockwise from left: The Coca-Cola Company VP of trade and communications Megan Tallman, The Coca-Cola Company's director of industry communications Kim Main, and competitors Faith Meyers, Steve Gaskell and Katie Livezey-Buckholt

The show wrapped up with a panel on the importance of corporate social responsibility.

NRN editor-in-chief Sarah Lockyer, center, with, from left, moderator Amanda Hite of Be the Change Revolutions and panelists J.R. Galardi of Wienerschnitzel, Erik Oberholtzer of Tender Greens and Chad Houser of Cafe Momentum