Meet the 2017 Golden Chain Award winnersMeet the 2017 Golden Chain Award winners

Every year, Nation’s Restaurant News recognizes the best in industry leadership with the Golden Chain Awards, honoring five exceptional executives. The winners will be celebrated at an awards gala at the MUFSO conference in Dallas on Oct. 2.

This year’s winners represent a diverse set of concepts that are finding success in a challenging environment.

The winners lead very different companies, but they all have key qualities in common: a commitment to excellence, the ability to thoughtfully compromise and build strong teams, and the foresight to recognize where the industry is headed.

Discover below how these executives rose to the top, and what they envision next for the futures of their companies. 

Jack Butorac, chairman and CEO of Marco's Pizza

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Randy Garutti, CEO of Shake Shack Inc.

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Lisa Ingram, president and CEO of White Castle

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Steve King, CEO of Dave & Buster's

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David Overton, CEO of The Cheesecake Factory

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Illustrations by James Carey