Restaurant Business Quarterly | Q3 2025

JULY, 2025

THE TECHNOMIC TOP 500:

In a tough year, consumers played favorites P. 14

&Pizza lowers its prices P . 8 | The Technomic Top 500 P . 18 | Look out for Bubba’s 33 P . 48

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CONTENTS JULY 2025

EMERGING BRANDS FOR SNARF’S SANDWICHES FOUNDER JIMMY ‘SNARF’ SEIDEL, THE HARD WORK PAYS OFF.................................................................44 LOOK OUT FOR BUBBA’S 33, TEXAS ROADHOUSE’S FAST-GROWING, FREE- WHEELING SIBLING.......................................48

COVER STORY THE TECHNOMIC TOP 500: IN A TOUGH YEAR, CONSUMERS PLAYED FAVORITES......................................................14 SPECIAL REPORT THE TECHNOMIC TOP 500.............................18 THIS SOUP DUMPLING CHAIN HAS THE INDUSTRY’S HIGHEST AUVS, AND IT’S NOT EVEN CLOSE....................................................34

FINANCE THE FAST-CASUAL BURGER BUSINESS LOST STEAM LAST YEAR...........................................4 5 REASONS THE MCDONALD’S-KRISPY KREME PARTNERSHIP FAILED.....................................6 OPERATIONS CONSUMERS SAID &PIZZA’S MENU PRICES WERE TOO HIGH. THE CEO AGREED...........................................................8 WHY DAVE’S HOT CHICKEN WANTS TO BE THE NEXT WINGSTOP...................................10 MENU TOUS LES JOURS TAPS INTO TREAT CULTURE TO THRIVE IN A COMPETITIVE SEGMENT......................................................12

SOME INTERESTING RESTAURANT CHAINS DROPPED OFF THE TOP 500 THIS YEAR.......36

FAST-CASUAL WAS THE HAPPY PLACE IN 2024................................................................40

IN 2024, CASUAL DINING HIT THE RESET BUTTON..........................................................42

FROM OUR COLUMNISTS

THE BOTTOM LINE: IN THE FAST-FOOD WORLD, GROWTH IS COMING FROM DRINKS AND DESSERTS..............52 TECH CHECK: FOR THE RESTAURANT POS, SIGNS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH...............................................................54 BEHIND THE MENU: HOW RESTAURANTS ARE WINNING OVER GEN Z WINE DRINKERS WITH TASTINGS, TAP SYSTEMS AND TECH-FREE STORYTELLING..........................................................................................................56

Photo Courtesy of &Pizza Cover Photo Courtesy of Bartaco

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

FINANCE

THE FAST- CASUAL BURGER BUSINESS LOST STEAM LAST YEAR The Bottom Line: Sales at fast-casual burger chains were weak in 2024, particularly when compared with fast-casual chicken or Mexican brands. Have consumers moved on?

FIVE GUYS’ STRUGGLES LAST YEAR LIKELY KEPT DOWN THE FAST-CASUAL BURGER SECTOR. | PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.

F ifteen years ago, the restaurant world could not get enough of higher-end burgers. Investors poured money into fast- casual burger chains. Franchisees signed up as quickly as they could to open Smashburger restaurants or Five Guys locations. By late 2014 and early 2015, two of these companies, Habit Burger and Shake Shack, went public, with both IPOs outdoing the famous 2006 in- itial public offering of Chipotle Mexican Grill. They appeared to hit a wall, at least last year. Total sales by fast-casual burger chains grew 2.76% last year, lower than the 3% sales growth for the entire Technomic Top 1,500. And yet that probably doesn’t quite tell the full story. By comparison, total fast-casual sales grew 8.4%. Restaurant chains that get the fast-casual label generally performed far bet- ter. Fast-casual Mexican sales grew 11%. Fast-

casual “other” sales grew 8.5%. Fast-casual chicken sales grew 24%, a number so ridicu- lous we keep rechecking it. Most of the growth in the fast-casual burg- er sector came from smaller emerging and regional chains. Among fast-casual burger chains that generated more than $50 million in system sales last year, median sales growth was just 0.58%. To be sure, plenty of chains did perfectly fine, and based on the growth of some emerg - ing chains there appears to be at least some appetite for the product. Yet for every Shake Shack (sales growth 15%) there was a Burger- Fi, which filed for bankruptcy, closed a bunch of stores and watched sales fall 30%. Several of the biggest fast-casual chains lost ground last year, including Five Guys (sales down 0.7%), Farmer Boys (down 5.9%) and Smashburger (down 4.6%). Here’s a look as to why.

JONATHAN MAZE

JONATHAN.MAZE@INFORMA.COM

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

TOO MANY BURGER CHAINS

grew 9% apiece. “Other,” a catch-all category that includes Mediterranean and bowl chains, grew 7%. While many of these sectors are smaller, their performance still represents a shift away from more traditional fast-food menu items toward other, newer items. So in some respects, consumers just opted for something other than a burger a few more times than usual last year. MENU PRICES Another big issue is prices. While McDonald’s and the fast-food burger sector was hit with a lot of consumer frustration over prices, Five Guys in particular was hit hard by anger on social media over high menu prices. As the largest fast-casual burger chain,

Five Guys has an outsized impact on the sec- tor’s overall performance, much like McDon- ald’s weakness is helping bring down the en- tire fast-food sector. If Five Guys had, say, a Culver’s-like 2024 and grew sales 15% rather than being slightly down, the fast-casual burg- er sector would have grown 8% last year and we would not be writing this piece. It’s also likely that this frustration spread to other chains in the sector. Many brands might have been able to offset this with unit growth. Regardless, consumers were frustrated by high prices. They have a lot of burger choices. And they were shifting more toward chicken and Mexican and other items. All that hurt the fast-casual burger sector.

Burgers are the most popular center-of-plate entrée in the restaurant industry. The fast- casual burger sector itself is relatively small, with $7.2 billion in total sales last year, or less than half the sales of fast-casual chicken or fast-casual Mexican. But the fast-food burger sector generat- ed $105 billion in system sales and includes three of the 10 largest restaurant chains in the U.S., including the biggest. Of course, that sector also didn’t do great—just 1.3% total sales growth—but the simple fact is, consum- ers have plenty of burger choices. Three of the fastest-growing fast-food burger chains, Whataburger, Culver’s and In- N-Out, could all easily be labeled fast-casual and nobody would blink. If we add those three chains to the fast-casual list, then total sales increased 8% and I wouldn’t be writing this. (Side note: This is probably as big an argu- ment to do away with the “fast-casual” sector and just call it all fast food.) Consumers do like themselves a good burger. They just have a lot of choices. SHIFTING CONSUMER DEMANDS Diners grew choosy last year. And at least part of that choosiness had to do with the items being served at the restaurants. Total limited-service burger chain sales grew just 1.4% last year. But that kind of weakness was evident elsewhere. Pizza sales grew just 0.6%. Total sandwich sales actually declined 0.44%. Mexican and chicken, on the other hand,

MOST OF THE GROWTH IN THE FAST-CASUAL BURGER SECTOR CAME FROM SMALLER EMERGING REGIONAL CHAINS.

PHOTO: ENVATO

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

FINANCE

5 REASONS THE MCDONALD’S- KRISPY KREME PARTNERSHIP FAILED The Bottom Line: The relationship between the fast-food giant and the doughnut chain ended before it was even half complete. Here are five reasons why the partnership couldn’t work.

K rispy Kreme and McDonald’s mutually decided to end their partnership late last month, bringing to an end one of the more surprising collaborations the industry has seen in some time long before it was truly complete. Krispy Kreme could not sell enough doughnuts inside McDonald’s locations for it to profit from the venture. CEO Josh Charlesworth called the partnership “unsustainable” in a statement, a surprisingly strong comment in a press release, where such statements typically have any exciting commentary edited out of them. But why couldn’t the partnership work? Why could McDonald’s not sell enough Krispy Kreme doughnuts for that to be profitable, particularly given the attention it received? Here are five reasons. KRISPY KREME’S PROFIT CHALLENGES The biggest reason for the failure, frankly, is the company’s plunging profits. The doughnut chain’s adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, plunged 67% in the first quarter. Profit margins fell 670 basis points. It reported a $33.4 million net loss in the first quarter and an operating loss of $20.3 million. The company has long argued that its customers want more access to its doughnuts. But providing that access has thus far proven too expensive. Krispy Kreme simply can’t afford to continue its McDonald’s partnership—or any such relationship that isn’t working. Both McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme mentioned the doughnut chain’s lack of profitability in their statements. THAT’S NOT WHY PEOPLE GO TO MCDONALD’S People do not visit McDonald’s for doughnuts, or for pastries for that matter.

JONATHAN MAZE

JONATHAN.MAZE@INFORMA.COM

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

IT COSTS A LOT OF MONEY FOR KRISPY KREME TO DELIVER DOUGHNUTS TO

MCDONALD’S LOCATIONS. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MAZE

The fast-food giant has long struggled to effectively sell pastries to go along with its extensive coffee menu, despite repeated attempts. In 2023, for instance, it removed its cinnamon roll, blueberry muffin and apple fritter from the menu. The company has wanted to sell pastries for some time, believing them to be a hole in its breakfast menu. It had hoped the Krispy Kreme partnership would fill that hole—no pun intended—but that’s not what consumers want from McDonald’s. They are going there for breakfast sandwiches. THE DOUGHNUTS ARE NOT AT THEIR BEST Under Krispy Kreme’s current business model, the company makes doughnuts at its shops and then delivers them to kiosks at retailers and other locations, known as DFD doors. It makes sense to improve the economics of those shops and to increase access without a heavy capital investment. But few things are better than a hot glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut. So customers

would be driving to McDonald’s for a product that isn’t quite as good as they could get from the shop itself. Many customers in social comments to me argued that this was a reason this partnership didn’t work. That’s fine in a place like Walmart or Walgreens, but at McDonald’s, customers can get an Egg McMuffin instead that is at its best. MCDONALD’S TRAFFIC HAS BEEN WEAK The fast-food giant hasn’t exactly been rolling in excess customer traffic lately. The Krispy Kreme rollout has coincided with McDonald’s sales and traffic challenges, brought on by consumer price frustration and economic issues. Breakfast has had some of the worst traffic this year. According to Revenue Management Solutions, traffic in the morning was down 8.1% in May at fast- food restaurants. In other words, Krispy Kreme was selling the same doughnuts customers can get in many other places nearby in a restaurant that serves fresher food at a time when there

are fewer customers coming in. That was always difficult. NO MARKETING Krispy Kreme had little choice but to roll out the sale of doughnuts at McDonald’s locations gradually, so it could prepare the logistics and build new locations—as it is doing in Minneapolis. As such, McDonald’s wasn’t really marketing the partnership. Most of its customers couldn’t get the doughnuts. The company could do local marketing. But its real power is in its national marketing capabilities. The lack of marketing meant many customers didn’t know they could get Krispy Kreme doughnuts at their local McDonald’s. But if the company did start marketing too early, many customers would go to their local McDonald’s only to not find doughnuts. One wonders whether the partnership would have been better off as a long-term test in one region while Krispy Kreme developed its locations so it could roll the whole thing out nationwide more quickly.

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

OPERATIONS

CONSUMERS SAID &PIZZA’S

MENU PRICES

WERE TOO HIGH. THE CEO AGREED.

The fast-casual chain dropped prices and simplified the menu in an overhaul designed to drive traffic. CEO Mike Burns said it was time to stop nickel and diming guests.

BY LISA JENNINGS

PHOTOS COURTESY OF &PIZZA.

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

C onsumers told &Pizza CEO Mike Burns that the fast-casual chain’s “sh*t” was too expensive. And Burns agreed. So in May, the Washington, D.C.-based chain lowered its pricing and simplified the menu structure to position the brand as a more affordable option. For &Pizza, which has been working to reclaim its counterculture mojo in recent years, it was a move designed to go against the menu-price-hiking crowd. “I feel like, over COVID, everybody took this chance to raise prices, they had to for different reasons. It’s always something,” said Burns. “We’re just choosing not to participate anymore.” Company locations reduced the price of specialty and limited-time pizzas to $12, with unlimited toppings, under a category called The Hits. That’s down from prior pricing of $12.99 for crafted pies, and the addition of $1.50 per topping, or a create-your-own option that was $13.99 with free toppings only up to a certain point. “We just felt we were nickel and diming people,” Burns said. &Pizza is also maintaining a $10 “entry

point” pizza under a category called The Basics, with cheese and white pies available with a one-topping, one-drizzle option. The chain also launched a $7 half cheese pie and a drink combo meal, designed to boost lunch traffic. The side option of knots are now all $6. Previously, knots were offered at various prices, like $5.99 for lemon knots and $6.49 for garlic knots. “It was all over the place, and I couldn’t really tell you why,” said Burns. “So now they’re all just $6.” And the curated, house-made cookies are now $1. “We were selling them for $3.49, and ‘selling’ was a loose term, because nobody’s buying a cookie for $3.49,” he said. The price on canned sodas was brought down to $2, though Coca Cola products remain at $3.49. So, where guests previously were walking out the door with a pizza that cost $17, now they’re walking out with a pizza, a drink and a cookie for $15, Burns said. “We want to get food in people’s mouths, and we want them to eat it more often,” he added. “It’s super streamlined and super simple.” &Pizza earlier this year launched a push

into franchising. Burns hopes to refranchise most of the 39 company units, and the goal is to grow to 300 units by 2030 as a 90% franchised brand. (Another seven &Pizza units are licensed, and the chain shuttered 13 restaurants last year in a right-sizing of the portfolio.) But Burns said he has also been hearing from potential franchisees that prices were too high. “The franchisees we’ve been meeting with were like, ‘hey, do I have to sell it for this?’ Or ‘can I reduce the price?’ Or ‘do I have to have the third tier?’ ‘Can I include free toppings?’ The answer is yes,” he said. Of course, franchisees can set their own pricing. But Burns said food costs for the brand are low, and there was room to bring prices down. “We want them to make as much money as possible, and we figure driving in more traffic with a better, attractive price point will help that,” he said. Burns said the franchisee pipeline is filling up, though the chain is not ready yet to reveal growth plans and who has signed on. “We’re at the finish line with a handful of groups from all over the country,” he said.

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

OPERATIONS

WHY DAVE’S HOT CHICKEN WANTS TO BE THE NEXT WINGSTOP As the fast-casual Dave’s moves to its next level of growth with a $1 billion private-equity deal, some see an IPO in its future. But can the chain maintain the magic that brought it this far?

BY LISA JENNINGS

E very night, in parking lots across Los Angeles, there are probably countless entrepre- neurs attempting to follow the Dave’s Hot Chicken path to success. The fast-casual chain got its start in 2017, when three friends decided to try making Nashville-style hot chick- en as a popup. They scraped together $900 and a couple of portable fryers and coolers. People seemed to like it, so, just a few days in, they invited a writer from Eater Los Angeles out for a taste. That editor, Farley Elliott, came, and it apparently blew his mind, as told in the video below. Cut to: Early June. It was announced that Dave’s Hot Chicken was acquired by private-equity firm Roark Capital Partners in a deal valued at about $1 billion. While terms were not disclosed, it seems likely those partners would have no trouble scraping up $900 now. But the eight-year journey since Ar- man Oganesyan, Dave Kopushyan and Tommy Rubenyan created the brand is not easily replicable. And now, as Dave’s Hot Chicken moves into a next level of growth, it remains to be seen whether the brand can maintain that certain magic that has propelled the brand so far. The social media world in which Dave’s has thrived is deeply suspicious of private-equity-owned brands. But Oganesyan, Dave’s lively chief branding officer—and a high-school dropout who CEO Bill Phelps calls a marketing genius—doesn’t think much

about Dave’s will change. In fact, the leadership team will remain in place. What Roark brings to the table, in addition to capital, is a portfolio of es- tablished franchise operators, particu- larly international franchisees. Dave’s president Jim Bitticks sees a huge op- portunity for the brand globally, first in Europe, and later in Asia, where KFC has been embraced. In addition, Dave’s has only a handful of nontraditional locations domestically. But the simple menu of chicken tenders, sandwiches and sliders at various spice levels seem ideal for airports, college campuses and malls. Dave’s has 315 units open and an- other 155 expected to open this year at least—potentially up to 175, Bitticks said. About 1,170 franchise commit- ments have been sold, mostly domestic. Dave’s has been one of the fastest growing brands for several years. And that speed has been necessary, in part, because so many other (very similar) hot chicken chains are also racing to plant their flags in various regions, in - cluding brands like Angry Chickz, Hot Chicken Takeover, Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken and many others. Phelps, the co-founder of Wetzel’s Pretzels who also grew Blaze Pizza with many of the same investors now in Dave’s, got in early (2019) to launch franchising. At the time, people said Dave’s founders had “sold out,” Oga- nesyan said. But, in fact, the result was a potent

DAVE’S HOT CHICKEN TENDERS AND SANDW | PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVE’S HOT CHICKE

mix of investors (Phelps et al.) who knew how to scale brands, and innova- tors (Oganesyan et al.) who knew how to reach a young audience. “What has made Dave’s successful is that the management team didn’t change what the founders created,” said Bitticks. “What we actually did was we leaned into what they cre- ated.” to satiate investors’ appetites. Thus, chains like Dunkin’ or the Cana- dian brand Tim Hortons devote a lot of their attention to coffee, because a con- sumer will come in a lot more often for a beverage than for a glazed doughnut. Krispy Kreme was never able to make that pivot. And it has a second- ary problem in that its doughnuts taste best when they’re fresh out of the fry- er, meaning the company cannot easily shift to an offsite doughnut production model like the others. The company cannot quite gener- ate enough sales to make a tradition- al doughnut shop chain work, at least enough to justify a big national chain, so it must sell its doughnuts off-site. Thus, it became the logistics company. It had long justified that model by arguing its top problem was a lack of access to its doughnuts. Yet now it’s cutting DFD doors because they don’t generate enough sales to make a prof- it. Access is only so much of a problem,

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

WICHES. EN.

drops in quality. That’s the number one thing everybody’s been worried about.” Adds Kopushyan: “We know quali- ty is what got us here, so, we can never change that.” The three founders, who were joined early on by Gary Rubenyan (Tommy’s brother), are all franchisees of the brand, with several units in Los Angeles. So is Bitticks. They see the brand’s future through the lens of be- ing operators, as well as franchisors. Bitticks would love to see Dave’s Hot Chicken follow the path of Wing- stop, a more than 2,200-unit chain that Roark took public with an initial public offering in 2015, when it had roughly 800 units. Wingstop has had double-digit sales increases in recent years, in part the result of a shift to boneless chicken sandwiches and, of course, chicken ten- ders. The Dallas-based chicken brand is also known for strong returns on in- vestment for franchise operators, but Dave’s $3.1 million average unit vol- ume in 2024 was already well ahead of Wingstop’s $2.1 million. Still, said Bitticks, “We hope we’re the next Wingstop. We hope we’re that story. They sold it when it was at its peak, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger—and better.”

https://vimeo.com/1089367753/4c866d72b9

apparently. The McDonald’s partnership was supposed to represent a glorious return of the brand to a full national stage. In- stead, it has only generated more ques- tions. Of course, It didn’t hurt that the in- vestor group included high-caliber ce- lebrities, like Drake, Samuel L. Jackson and Usher. The restaurants themselves are literal pieces of art, with murals that demand social media posting. And, perhaps most importantly, franchisees are seeing a return on their investment. “I think we proved that the inves- tors and the founders can work really

harmoniously together, and actually, I feel, in some ways improved the brand over time,” Oganesyan said in the vid- eo. Now, Oganesyan, Kopushyan and Rubenyan say they have gotten to know the folks at Roark over the years, he added, not only as a business but as people. “We have that same feeling that, the chemistry between us and them is going to help Dave’s get to that next level. They kind of understand that this brand is special because of the way it’s been run by the people that are behind it. And there certainly won’t be any

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

Top 500: The Korean-born bakery-café chain is growing its presence in the U.S., with sales and unit count increasing significantly year over year. TOUS LES JOURS TAPS INTO TREAT CULTURE TO THRIVE IN A COMPETITIVE SEGMENT

BY PATRICIA COBE

PATRICIA.COBE@INFORMA.COM

T ous les Jours describes itself as a Korean-French fusion bakery, originating in South Korea like its closest rival, Paris Baguette (No. 112 in Technomic’s Top 500 ranking of the largest U.S. restaurant chains.) But Regina Schneider, CMO of the chain’s North American operations, doesn’t see that rivalry as a roadblock to growth. “We’re both niche players and it’s almost like a race, to try to see who can expand fastest in the U.S.,” she said. “But I think it just increases the awareness of the category. There still is a huge opportunity for consumers to really understand this Korean- French fusion pastry lineup.” Los Angeles-based Tous les Jours offers an extensive selection of baked goods, all made fresh daily in each of its more than 160 U.S. cafes, which Schneider estimates will number 200 by year’s end. The signature is the brand’s Cloud Cake, which comes in flavors including strawberry, mango, green tea and mocha, all artistically decorated with fresh fruit and other edible garnishes. “There’s a lot of attention to detail and ‘wow’ factor in the cakes, but the actual flavor, the level of sweetness and the texture are also very differentiated,” said Schneider. All the cakes can be purchased whole or by the slice, the latter to motivate customers to sit in the cafes for a treat break. The average location has 20 seats. “We’re really striving to create a beautiful, warm

environment that encourages people to sit and stay,” she added. Tous les Jours also offers a large assortment of French-Korean-inspired pastries, such as guava Danish, strawberry croissants and yuzu pie, along with more familiar almond croissants and pain au chocolat. “We have 300 menu items in our assortment, and every store carries at least 100, so there’s a broad range,” said Schneider. “Additionally, we differentiate by serving a number of items that are a traditional Korean format, like the coffee bun and milk bread. People go out of their way for these.” There are also savory pastries and sandwiches and an expanding beverage menu. A number of drinks are Asian-influenced, with choices like ube latte and honey lavender matcha latte, along with more mainstream espresso drinks and teas. “We’re seeing a

huge increase in sales of beverages, and in iced beverages in particular,” she added. The all-day menu and ambiance feed into the burgeoning “treat culture” trend. “Today’s consumers are really looking for those small, affordable, everyday indulgences that provide moments of joy and don’t necessarily require a special occasion,” said Schneider. She believes that for Millennials and Gen Z in particular, the aesthetics of products are often as important, if not more important, than the flavor. “So we really strive to deliver these beautiful treats that aren’t just treats from a flavor standpoint, but that make you feel special, just because they’re so beautifully made and packaged,” she added. “You can walk away feeling like you had a really special moment.” The aesthetics have also turned the menu items into Instagram darlings, and that, in turn, reinforces their treat culture cred.

LOS ANGELES-BASED TOUS LES JOURS OFFERS AN EXTENSIVE SELECTION OF BAKED GOODS, ALL MADE FRESH DAILY IN EACH OF ITS MORE THAN 160 U.S. CAFES.

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

EACH LOCATION CARRIES ABOUT 100 MENU ITEMS, INCLUDING PASTRIES, CAKES, SANDWICHES AND BEVERAGES. | ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOUS LES JOURS.

A LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE

ahead, growing close to 31%. Both concepts not only compete with each other for the treat customer, they also go up against coffee chains such as Caribou and dessert destinations like Nothing Bundt Cakes (No. 64 in the Technomic ranking.) Historically, Tous les Jours locations had smaller footprints and relied more heavily on kiosk formats in malls and retail food outlets like H-Mart. But going forward, “they’re much more of that ‘sit and stay’ cafe format … creating an environment that’s inviting and draws people together, encouraging them to sit and stay for a while,” said Schneider. The uncertainty around the economy may be a factor affecting growth, but she still sees a total of 200 cafes by the end of 2025. That said, Tous les Jours relies on some equipment and other imports coming from Korea, so tariffs would certainly have a slight impact, she noted, but the company is building production facilities stateside and opening another corporate office on the east

coast. “We’ve been doing things to set up an infrastructure that supports growth in the U.S.” On the menu side, Tous les Jours is positioning itself as a “flavor thought leader,” Schneider added. “I look at brands like Jeni’s Ice Cream or Salt & Straw as inspiration.” She cites Tous les Jours’ new ube and matcha collections as leading with flavor. “They’re both very vibrant, colorful and have a depth of flavor and authenticity that sets us apart,” Schneider said. “How do we take what’s always been a foundation of the brand, and then layer on flavors throughout the year that fit the moment? Some may be traditional American flavors, some may be Asian-inspired flavors, but we want to get ahead with doing some flavors that larger brands might not have the ability to explore.” And who is the brand’s high potential customer of the future? The culturally curious foodie, she believes. It’s sure to be one who also embraces treat culture and Instagram.

Tous les Jours has actually operated as a franchise-led brand in the U.S. for 20 years, but only in the past few has the company put a big push behind expansion. The leadership team has been beefed up with a chief development officer and is making an effort to sign multi-unit franchise owners. “The brand grew with Korean-American franchisees who opened stores in their neighborhoods. That’s the foundation of the brand, with a lot of our franchisees operating one, two or three stores,” said Schneider. “But as we grow, we are opening up in neighborhoods and in communities that are certainly more diverse and with more diverse franchisees.” In 2024, the number of U.S. locations grew by 39% to 150, according to Technomic’s Top 500 Chain Restaurant report, with sales increasing 27% year-over-year. Paris Baguette’s sales were just a few points

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

COVER STORY

THE TECHNOMIC TOP 500: IN A TOUGH YEAR, CONSUMERS PLAYED FAVORITES Chain restaurant sales increased just 3% last year, the worst year since the pandemic and well below menu-price inflation. Big-name chains like McDonald’s, Starbucks and Chick- fil-A underperformed while chicken and Mexican thrived.

CEO KEVIN HOCHMAN HAS LED A REMARKABLE TUR PHOTO BY TERRI GLANGER

C hain restaurant sales grew just 3% in 2024, according to the 2025 Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, as a consumer frustrated by high fast-food prices shifted spending from traditional, big-name players to smaller, up-and-coming names or they stayed home altogether. The 500 largest chains in the U.S. generated $437.1 billion in 2024. But the 3.1% increase did not come close to the 4.1% menu-price inflation last year, meaning the group as a whole lost a percentage point of customer traffic. Given the 1.6% unit growth during the year, traffic on a same-store basis was worse. Forty percent of chains on the Top 500 reported sales declines last year. And more than half of chains generated sales growth lower than the rate of menu-price inflation. Some of those disappointing numbers came from the chains at the very top. McDonald’s, Starbucks and Chick-fil-A, which cumulatively account for a quarter of the Top 500 chain sales, each had

JONATHAN MAZE

JONATHAN.MAZE@INFORMA.COM

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

RNAROUND AT CHILI’S.

sales by 14.7% to $11.2 billion. It also moved up past both Burger King and Subway. Sales at the sandwich giant, the largest chain in the U.S. by unit count with 19,770 restaurants, declined 3.8% to $9.5 billion. Further down is No. 18 Raising Cane’s. The fast-casual chicken chain’s system sales grew 32% in 2024, to nearly $5 billion. The company did this with a combination of unit growth (up 14%) and higher average unit volumes, which are now $6.6 million. The fast-casual chain not only debuted on the Top 20, it surpassed the quick-service chain KFC, which is now the fourth largest chicken chain in the country after its sales declined 5.2% to $4.9 billion. “Raising Cane’s, you didn’t think about them five, 10 years ago,” said Kevin Schimpf, senior director of research and insights at Technomic. “Raising Cane’s is fun, it’s cool, I like it, it’s new. I’ll spend whatever because it’s tasty and it’s got a great sauce. So it certainly does help.”

substandard years in 2024, at least for them. McDonald’s, the largest chain in the world, grew sales by just 0.6% amid consumer frustration over prices and then an end-of- year e. coli outbreak in Colorado. Starbucks’ sales fell 0.5% in 2024—its worst year since the Great Recession—following strikes, a social media backlash and concern over the company’s service. “The biggest reason is the relatively meager performance of our two biggest operators,” Lizzy Freier, senior director, menu research and insights with Technomic, said at the Restaurant Leadership Conference on Monday. Chick-fil-A’s sales grew 5.4%, which was comparatively stronger than the other two. But that was also the weakest year in at least 20 years for the chicken-sandwich chain. But general weakness was pervasive among the largest chains. Of the 20 biggest concepts, 12 generated sales growth that

was weaker than menu prices. And six of the 20 largest chains generated sales declines, including Subway (down 3.8%), Panera Bread (down 5.1%), Pizza Hut (down 0.5%), Sonic (down 2.7%) and KFC (down 5.2%), along with Starbucks. Among industry sectors on the Top 500, fast-casual chains grew the most, with sales up 9%. No other sector generated sales growth matching menu-price inflation. Quick-service chains, beset by frustration over high prices and weakness by the largest chains, grew sales just 2.3% last year. Casual-dining chains, which faced numerous bankruptcies of large chains like Red Lobster and TGI Friday’s, grew just 1.3%. The performance of fast-casual chains was accentuated by the strong performance of brands like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Raising Cane’s. Chipotle was by far the best performer among the 10 largest chains, growing system

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

10 LARGEST RESTAURANT CHAINS IN THE U.S.

McDonald’s remained the largest restaurant chain in the U.S. by sales and there were no changes in the Top 5. But Chipotle Mexican Grill moved up two spots, overtaking Burger King and Subway.

Source: Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report

McDonald’s, the largest chain in the world, grew sales by just 0.6% amid consumer frustration over prices and then an end-of- year e. coli outbreak in Colorado. Starbucks’ sales fell 0.5% in 2024—its worst year since the Great Recession—following strikes, a social media backlash and concern over the company’s service. “The biggest reason is the relatively meager performance of our two biggest operators,” Lizzy Freier, senior director, menu research and insights with Technomic, said at the Restaurant Leadership Conference on Monday. Chick-fil-A’s sales grew 5.4%, which was comparatively stronger than the other two. But that was also the weakest year in at least 20 years for the chicken-sandwich chain. But general weakness was pervasive among the largest chains. Of the 20 biggest concepts, 12 generated sales growth that was weaker than menu prices. And six of the 20 largest chains generated sales declines, including Subway (down 3.8%), Panera Bread (down 5.1%), Pizza Hut (down 0.5%), Sonic (down 2.7%) and KFC (down 5.2%), along with Starbucks. Among industry sectors on the Top 500, fast-casual chains grew the most, with sales up 9%. No other sector generated sales growth matching menu-price inflation. Quick-service chains, beset by frustration over high prices

and weakness by the largest chains, grew sales just 2.3% last year. Casual-dining chains, which faced numerous bankruptcies of large chains like Red Lobster and TGI Friday’s, grew just 1.3%. The performance of fast-casual chains was accentuated by the strong performance of brands like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Raising Cane’s. Chipotle was by far the best performer among the 10 largest chains, growing system sales by 14.7% to $11.2 billion. It also moved up past both Burger King and Subway. Sales at the sandwich giant, the largest chain in the U.S. by unit count with 19,770 restaurants, declined 3.8% to $9.5 billion. Further down is No. 18 Raising Cane’s. The fast-casual chicken chain’s system sales grew 32% in 2024, to nearly $5 billion. The company did this with a combination of unit growth (up 14%) and higher average unit volumes, which are now $6.6 million. The fast-casual chain not only debuted on the Top 20, it surpassed the quick-service chain KFC, which is now the fourth largest chicken chain in the country after its sales declined 5.2% to $4.9 billion. “Raising Cane’s, you didn’t think about them five, 10 years ago,” said Kevin Schimpf, senior director of research and insights at Technomic. “Raising Cane’s is fun, it’s cool, I like it, it’s new. I’ll spend whatever because

it’s tasty and it’s got a great sauce. So it certainly does help.” KFC by the end of this year will likely fall to the fifth spot on that list, Wingstop is also surging. The chicken-wing chain’s system sales grew 37% to $4.4 billion. It is now No. 24 on the ranking, having surpassed Arby’s, which struggled to a 6.3% sales decline last year. The performance of Chipotle, Raising Cane’s and Wingstop highlights a key theme in 2024: Consumers dramatically shifted their visits away from more traditional restaurant concepts to newer, up-and-coming brands with more focused menus around specific items or service styles. Limited-service chicken chains thrived last year, for instance. Among those brands in the broader Top 1,500 list, sales grew nearly 9% in 2024. At limited-service Mexican chains, sales grew 8.6%. In addition to Chipotle, strong performance by Taco Bell—which grew sales by 8.1% last year to $16.2 billion. The “other” category, including everything from quick-service bowl chains to fast-casual Mediterranean brands like the surging Cava (No. 63, with sales at just under $1 billion, up 33%) generated 7.4% sales growth. On the other hand, limited-service burger, pizza and sandwich chains on the Top 1,500— more traditional fast-food—grew sales less than 1% last year.

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

PHOTO: ENVATO

Coffee chains saw a substantial amount of share shift last year. Sales at coffee chains on the Top 1,500 grew 3.3%, which was under menu price inflation, the likely result of surprising weakness at Starbucks. But that sector also included some of the fastest- growing chains in the U.S., notably 7 Brew, which has been the fastest-growing chain in the country the past three years. 7 Brew’s sales grew 163% last year, including 78% unit growth and strong volume growth. It now generates more than $500

million in system sales. But there are also brands like No. 44 Dutch Bros (26%) and No. 77 Scooter’s (29%). “Those drive-thru chains are just proliferating at a rate I’ve never seen before,” Schimpf said. “They can expand so rapidly because they’ve got a small footprint. They don’t have a ton of equipment needs. They don’t need that many employees. They just kind-of popped up everywhere.” Sales at full-service chains grew last year despite bankruptcies and large-scale closures

at several brands. Full-service sales on the Top 500 grew 1.1% last year to $88.3 billion. But they also closed 1% of their restaurants last year. Strength in the full-service chain sector largely depended on the concepts’ price point. Among lower-priced family dining or “midscale” concepts, sales last year were flat at $17.4 billion. Casual-dining chain sales grew 1.3% to $66.2 billion. Fine-dining chains grew 2.4% to $4.7 billion.

2024 SALES GROWTH BY SECTOR Once again, fast-casual chains on the Top 500 grew sales the most last year.

Source: Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

SPECIAL REPORT

TOP

THE TECHNOMIC TOP 500 The 2025 Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report is out. Check out the annual ranking of the 500 largest restaurant chains

in the U.S. by annual system sales. CHECK OUT THE REPORT HERE.

Source: Technomic’s Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

McDonald’s

Whataburger

Starbucks

Applebee’s

Chick-fil-A

Buffalo Wild Wings

Taco Bell

Culver’s

Wendy’s

Jersey Mike’s Subs

Dunkin’

Papa Johns

Chipotle Mexican Grill

IHOP

Burger King

LongHorn Steakhouse

Subway

Cracker Barrel

Domino’s

Outback Steakhouse

Panda Express

The Cheesecake Factory

Panera Bread

Denny’s

Popeyes

Jimmy John’s

Pizza Hut

Zaxby’s

Texas Roadhouse

In-N-Out Burger

Sonic Drive-In

Five Guys

Olive Garden

Bojangles

Raising Cane’s

Hardee’s

Dairy Queen

Dutch Bros Coffee

KFC

Red Lobster

Chili’s Grill & Bar

Golden Corral

Little Caesars

Carl’s Jr.

Jack in the Box

Red Robin

Wingstop

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Arby’s

Waffle House

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse

Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Shake Shack

Papa Murphy’s Pizza

Crumbl

Scooter’s Coffee

Qdoba Mexican Eats

Moe’s Southwest Grill

First Watch

Habit Burger & Grill

Firehouse Subs

Portillo’s

El Pollo Loco

Baskin-Robbins

Marco’s Pizza

Hooters

McAlister’s Deli

Sweetgreen

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Jason’s Deli

P.F. Chang’s

Fogo de Chao

Del Taco

White Castle

Cava

Einstein Bros. Bagels

Nothing Bundt Cakes

Dave’s Hot Chicken

Yard House

Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants

Church’s Texas Chicken

Noodles & Company

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

Dave & Buster’s

Auntie Anne’s

Miller’s Ale House

Tim Hortons

Jack’s Family Restaurants

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen

MOD Pizza

Smoothie King

The Capital Grille

Bob Evans

Twin Peaks

Steak ‘n Shake

Cold Stone Creamery

Krispy Kreme

Potbelly Sandwich Shop

Charleys Cheesesteaks

100 Jet’s Pizza

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

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101 Checkers

126 Chicken Salad Chick

102 Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen

127 KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot

103 Bonefish Grill

128 Caribou Coffee

104 Torchy’s Tacos

129 Cafe Rio Mexican Grill

105 Benihana

130 Mellow Mushroom

106 Maggiano’s Little Italy

131 Logan’s Roadhouse

107 Perkins American Food Co.

132 Firebirds Wood Fired Grill

108 7 Brew Drive Thru Coffee

133 Cook Out

109 Saltgrass Steak House

134 Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

110 Chuy’s

135 Pizza Ranch

111 Jamba

136 Mountain Mike’s Pizza

112 Paris Baguette

137 Blaze Pizza

113 Slim Chickens

138 Wienerschnitzel

114 Topgolf

139 Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux

115 Black Bear Diner

140 Schlotzsky’s

116 Hungry Howie’s Pizza

141 Pollo Tropical

117 Round Table Pizza

142 Pollo Campero

118 Taco John’s

143 Jollibee

119 Din Tai Fung

144 Mastro’s Restaurants

120 Chuck E. Cheese

145 True Food Kitchen

121 TGI Fridays

146 Biggby Coffee

122 Texas de Brazil

147 Shipley Do-Nuts

123 California Pizza Kitchen

148 Rally’s

124 Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar

149 Golden Chick

125 Honey Baked Ham Co.

150 Seasons 52

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

151 Peet’s Coffee

176 Cicis

152 North Italia

177 Bahama Breeze Island Grille

153 Bubba’s 33

178 Insomnia Cookies

154 Playa Bowls

179 Ono Hawaiian BBQ

155 Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub

180 bb.q Chicken

156 Krystal Company

181 Farmer Boys

157 Famous Dave’s

182 Kura Sushi

158 Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille

183 L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

159 Ruby Tuesday

184 Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse

160 Wetzel’s Pretzels

185 Smashburger

161 Cinnabon

186 City Barbeque

162 Braum’s Ice Cream & Dairy Stores

187 Nobu Restaurants

163 Eddie V’s Prime Seafood

188 Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken

164 Long John Silver’s

189 Ocean Prime

165 Fazoli’s

190 Donatos Pizza

166 J. Alexander’s

191 On The Border

167 Mendocino Farms

192 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

168 Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

193 Hook & Reel

169 85C Bakery Cafe

194 Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen

170 Godfather’s Pizza

195 Tous Les Jours

171 Penn Station East Coast Subs

196 STK

172 A&W All American Food

197 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s

173 Morton’s The Steakhouse

198 Newk’s Eatery

174 Sbarro

199 Taco Cabana

175 Salad and Go

200 Pei Wei

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

201 Kung Fu Tea

226 Legal Sea Foods

202 Huddle House

227 WaBa Grill

203 Corner Bakery

228 Mission BBQ

204 Gen Korean BBQ

229 Condado Tacos

205 Andy’s Frozen Custard

230 Bill Miller Bar-B-Q

206 Bonchon

231 Jinya Ramen Bar

207 Sizzler

232 Bar Louie

208 Snooze, an A.M. Eatery

233 Rubio’s

209 Another Broken Egg Cafe

234 Village Inn

210 Original Pancake House

235 Boiling Crab

211 Rita’s Ice

236 LaRosa’s Pizzeria

212 Melting Pot

237 Black Rock Coffee Bar

213 La Madeleine

238 Pret A Manger

214 Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill

239 Nekter Juice Bar

215 Lupe Tortilla

240 Metro Diner

216 Fuzzy’s Taco Shop

241 Carvel Ice Cream

217 Panini Kabob Grill

242 Roosters Wings

218 Just Salad

243 Teriyaki Madness

219 Wayback Burgers

244 Great American Cookies

220 Bruegger’s Bagels

245 Smokey Bones

221 54th Street Restaurant & Drafthouse

246 Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom

222 Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe

247 Runza

223 Sonny’s BBQ

248 The Human Bean

224 Chopt

249 Golden Krust

225 Bartaco

250 O’Charley’s

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

251 Gyu-Kaku

276 Primanti Bros.

252 Cheba Hut

277 Rosati’s Pizza

253 Ford’s Garage

278 Wings and Rings

254 Velvet Taco

279 Grimaldi’s Pizzeria

255 110 Grill

280 Eat’n Park

256 Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream

281 Glory Days Grill

257 Kilwins

282 Wings Etc. Grill & Pub

258 Flower Child

283 Haagen-Dazs

259 Flanigan’s

284 Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop

260 Uncle Julio’s

285 Hopdoddy Burger Bar

261 Sarku Japan

286 Pappasito’s Cantina

262 Main Event

287 Piada Italian Street Food

263 Giordano’s

288 Kona Grill

264 Bruster’s Real Ice Cream

289 Postino WineCafe

265 Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

290 Burtons Grill & Bar

266 Great Harvest Bakery Cafe

291 PDQ Chicken

267 California Fish Grill

292 Buca di Beppo

268 Ledo Pizza

293 Honeygrow

269 P.J. Whelihan’s Pub & Restaurant

294 Imo’s Pizza

270 Old Spaghetti Factory, The

295 Salata

271 Mr. Gatti’s Pizza

296 American Deli

272 Hawaiian Bros Island Grill

297 Duffy’s Sports Grill

273 Johnny Rockets

298 Barcelona Wine Bar

274 Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q

299 Pancheros Mexican Grill

275 Taco Bueno

300 Huey Magoo’s

RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025

301 Halal Guys, The

326 Cotton Patch Cafe

302 Hard Rock Cafe

327 Aroma Joe’s Limited Service

303 Uno Pizzeria & Grill

328 Ike’s Love & Sandwiches

304 Plaza Azteca

329 Ted’s Montana Grill

305 Brio Italian Grille

330 Eureka! Restaurants

306 Skyline Chili

331 Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

307 Black Angus Steakhouse

332 BurgerFi

308 Anthony’s Restaurants

333 Mo’Bettahs

309 Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar

334 Nando’s

310 Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks

335 Pieology Pizzeria

311 Tijuana Flats

336 Gong Cha

312 Keke’s Breakfast Cafe

337 Lou Malnati’s

313 Bubbakoo’s Burritos

338 Broken Yolk Cafe

314 Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza

339 Smith & Wollensky

315 Togo’s Sandwiches

340 Pinstripes

316 Dion’s Pizza

341 Eggs Up Grill

317 Rudy’s Texas Bar-B-Q

342 Chicken Express

318 Nick the Greek

343 Mimi’s Bistro & Bakery

319 Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt

344 Clean Eatz

320 Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill

345 Il Fornaio

321 Friendly’s

346 Gloria’s Latin Cuisine

322 Rosa’s Cafe Tortilla Factory

347 Rainforest Cafe

323 Pizza Inn

348 Fatburger

324 Tommy Bahama Restaurants

349 Mazzio’s Italian Eatery

325 Serafina

350 Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken

JULY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS

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