1+ day, 19+ hour ago  (210+ words) Why are restaurants having another tough year? This week's episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features RJ Hottovy, the head of analytical research for the traffic tracking firm Placer. ai. This is the last in a series…...

6+ day, 14+ hour ago  (642+ words) Restaurants have been steadily losing customers over the past couple of years, largely wiping out post-pandemic gains. The average location has fewer customers than it did in 2019." That's not going to get fixed anytime soon. According to a Bain survey,…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (564+ words) Nearly two years into an intense value environment and one thing has become clear: Consumers are prioritizing a full experience versus just a low price point. As they manage higher costs at every stop, they want their dine-out meals to…...

2+ mon, 2+ day ago  (633+ words) OK, time for a mid-Q2 restaurant consumer pulse check and, regrettably, things don't seem any clearer than they have been." Actually, they may be even murkier. That's not to say they're necessarily "bad," however." A new consumer insights survey from the…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago  (673+ words) If you only looked at the stock market, you'd think everything was just fine. The S&P 500 Index is up more than 10% so far this year, despite a springtime bout of bearishness brought on by the Iran War." But various…...

2+ week, 6+ day ago  (604+ words) Stock prices continue to soar, thanks to heavy investments in AI and an investor class willing to shrug off the impact of the Iran War, but recent economic data suggests an economy that is very much two-sided." The U. S. economy performed…...

1+ mon, 4+ week ago  (740+ words) While other fast-casual chains have struggled with value perception over the past year or so, Cava did something simple: The fast-casual chain didn't raise menu prices very much. It's a bold strategy. And it's working. Cava's fast-casual peers responded to…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago  (1078+ words) In March of 2025, Wendy's under then-CEO Kirk Tanner revealed a set of aggressive targets that it expected to reach by 2028. They included 1, 000 net new restaurants, 5% to 6% annual system sales growth and 7% to 8% annual growth in adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago  (631+ words) Texas Roadhouse has been one of the best-performing restaurant chains in the industry for years, a reliable producer of same-store sales, traffic and revenue growth every quarter. If there's been any cause for concern with the chain recently, it has…...

1+ mon, 2+ week ago  (746+ words) In early March, the average price for a gallon of gas in the U. S. was below $3. A U. S. attack on Iran, followed by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world's oil supply passes through, led to an energy…...