SPECIAL REPORT
SOME INTERESTING RESTAURANT CHAINS DROPPED OFF THE TOP 500 THIS YEAR
Some struggling and bankrupt brands, like Au Bon Pain, Macaroni Grill and Fuddruckers are among the most notable concepts that fell off the ranking of the largest restaurant chains in the U.S.
L ast year was a difficult one for restaurant companies, as food and labor inflation conspired with weak sales and excess leverage to put a number of them into bankruptcy. Many that didn’t might as well have. This is reflected in the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restau - rant Report. Several once-hot restaurant companies dropped off the ranking this year, typically following years of weak- ness. That includes some interesting restaurant chains that at one point or another were considered important or innovative brands. Here’s a look at some of the chains that fell off this year’s ranking: AU BON PAIN Few restaurant chains have had quite the freefall that Au Bon Pain has had over the past couple of years. The bakery/café chain, which served as the inspiration for Panera Bread, saw its sales cut in half last year, thanks mostly to unit closures. As such, it fell from No. 313 on the Top 500 ranking to off it entirely. It was the 566th-ranked restaurant chain in 2024, according to Technomic Top 1,500 data. That’s not the worst of it. The 2024 numbers followed a 36% decline in 2023. In just two years, in other words, the company lost more than two-thirds of its sales, from $168.2 million to $52 million. The chain was reacquired by Panera before the pandemic and then sold in 2021 to the Yum Brands franchisee Ampex Brands, which for a bit started opening locations but has ap- parently closed a lot of them more recently. It had more than 200 locations at one point and 135 units before the pandem- ic. It is down to 34. CONTINUE ON PG 39
JONATHAN MAZE
JONATHAN.MAZE@INFORMA.COM
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2025
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