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16 restaurant segments ranked by systemwide sales growth16 restaurant segments ranked by systemwide sales growth

Leigh Anne Zinsmeister, Managing Editor

August 8, 2023

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Restaurant segments

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Pictured: Miller’s Ale House, with 22.7% growth

Every year, Nation’s Restaurant News and Datassential partner to present The Top 500, the definitive sales ranking of restaurants in America.

Having all this data in one place makes it easier to analyze other aspects of the industry as well — for example, having sales data for every restaurant means we also have it for every segment, from limited-service burgers to full-service seafood and steak.

For the second year in a row, all 16 segments we track experienced systemwide sales growth from 2021 to 2022 — some as much as 17.4% year-over-year, topping last year’s fastest-growing segment (FSR seafood/steak at 16.6%).

Perhaps surprisingly, as full-service restaurants dug themselves out of a pandemic hole, the fastest-growing segment wasn’t full-service at all this time around.

Click through this gallery to see 16 restaurant segments ranked by systemwide sales growth.

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About the Author

Leigh Anne Zinsmeister

Managing Editor

Leigh Anne Zinsmeister is a managing editor for Informa’s Foodservices Vertical, specifically Nation’s Restaurant News, Restaurant Hospitality, and Foodservice Director.  Leigh Anne works on all of the brands’ special reports, including Nation’s Restaurant News’ annual Top 500 report and Restaurant Hospitality’s Best Cocktails and Best Sandwiches contests. She also manages the group’s digital engagement team, and was the managing editor for Supermarket News until December 2024.

Leigh Anne lives in New York City, but also claims Phoenix, Dallas and Cleveland as hometowns. Leigh Anne holds a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, where she also studied European history. 

Email Leigh Anne at [email protected] 

Leigh Anne Zinsmeister’s experience: 

  • Group Managing Editor, Informa’s Foodservices Vertical (Aug. 2021-present)

  • Group Content Manager, Informa Restaurant and Food Group (Feb. 2020-Aug. 2021)

  • Digital Content Manager, Informa Restaurant and Food Group (April 2018-Feb. 2020)

  • Digital Content Producer, Informa Restaurant and Food Group (June 2016-April 2018)

  • Community Moderator, Mail Online (March 2014-June 2016)

  • Wire Editor, Gannett’s Phoenix Design studio (The Arizona Republic, The Reno Gazette-Journal, The Statesman Journal, The Great Falls Tribune, The Visalia Times-Delta, The Tulare Advance Register, The Salinas Californian, The St. George Spectrum, The Desert Sun, The Coloradoan) (Jan. 2012-March 2014)

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