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Fast Casual, News, Start to Finish: What Inspires Execs, Story, Women in Restaurant Leadership

6 Questions with Farmside CEO and Cofounder Meg Schiffman

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been the friend or family member unwilling to settle for a sub-par meal. I was lucky to grow up during a period when restaurants were evolving, sourcing better ingredients, getting more creative, and becoming something closer to art than just sustenance. Looking back, my personal journey with […]

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Fast Casual, Franchising, Growth, News, Story

Dave’s Hot Chicken Architect Bill Phelps Sets Sights on Birria Tacos

After helping scale Dave’s Hot Chicken from an early stage concept into a global franchising force, Bill Phelps is placing his next big bet on birria. Phelps and partner Andrew Feghali, through their franchising investment firm Four Wall Partners, have made an early stage investment in San Diego-based Mike’s Red Tacos and are backing a […]

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Consumer Trends, Fast Casual, Fast Food, Finance, News, Outside Insights, Story

What Top Restaurant Performers Did Differently in Q3 

The Q3 2025 earnings season has offered a look into how restaurant brands are navigating value-seeking guests, sticky wage and commodity pressure, and channel mix shifts. In this analysis, we look at how brands performed on two critical metrics: quarter-over-quarter revenue growth and operating margin change to understand who’s pulling ahead and how.  Analyzing Growth Performance  Evaluating restaurant growth performance through a four-quadrant framework helps clarify how effectively […]

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Fast Casual, Fast Food, News, Outside Insights, Story, Technology

Is Your Restaurant AI Vendor Selling You a Mirage?

AI has become the new dot.com. We are seeing a digital gold rush where companies are rebranding products, services, and even their corporate identities to cash in on the hype. For those who remember the late 1990s when slapping dot.com onto a company name could instantly inflate a valuation, this era feels eerily, even frighteningly, […]

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Fast Casual, Fast Food, Marketing & Promotions, News, Outside Insights, Story

How QSRs are Turning Limited-Time Offers into Long-Term Strategy 

Limited-timed offers began with very simple goals: drive urgency and test new ideas without permanently altering a menu. The concept also helps fight menu fatigue, because even the most loyal customers eventually crave something new. That’s how the world met icons like the Shamrock Shake and the McRib from McDonald’s, proving that novelty, when timed right, can become tradition. For decades, LTOs followed a predictable […]

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Fast Food, Finance, News, Restaurant Operations, Story

Popeyes Isn’t Meeting its Potential, and it Starts with Operations

Naturally, a lot has happened since Popeyes’ August 2019 chicken sandwich splash. Through COVID, the brand found itself balancing AUVs $400,000 higher than pre-launch and, more recently, unveiled advertising and design changes with an “Easy to Love” revamp that had 85 percent commitment from restaurants last February. But the reality is, Popeyes’ surge has sloped […]

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Fast Food, Finance, News, Story

Wendy’s Calls 2026 a Rebuilding Year as Sales Slide and Closures Accelerate

Wendy’s interim CEO Ken Cook made it clear to investors Friday that 2026 will be a rebuilding year for the burger giant. U.S. same-store sales fell 11.3 percent in Q4, driven by a decrease in traffic, partially offset by a higher average check. The brand attributed downward sales to significantly less marketing spend, a tough […]

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Fast Casual, Fast Food, News, Story

Restaurant Industry to Hit $1.55 Trillion in 2026, But Guest Caution Remains

The U.S. restaurant industry is expected to reach $1.55 trillion in sales in 2026, a 4.8 percent increase year-over-year, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report. The increase comes amid a complex operating environment. Adjusted for inflation, real sales growth is projected to be 1.3 percent, indicating that much […]

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Burgers, Fast Food, Finance, News, Story

Beef Costs Bite into Burger King’s Profits, but Turnaround Plan Presses On

Burger King’s “Reclaim the Flame” turnaround plan ran into some roadblocks last year because of the macroeconomic environment. Average profitability per unit was about $185,000 last year, down from $205,000 in 2024. The chain attributed the dip to higher beef costs—the brand’s largest commodity—which increased more than 20 percent year-over-year. CEO Josh Kobza said that […]

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Fast Casual, Fast Food, News, Story

CEO to CEO: A&W Restaurants’ Betsy Schmandt and Kilwins’ Brian Britton

In this episode of CEO to CEO: Behind the Counter, we hand the mic over to A&W Restaurants’ CEO Betsy Schmandt and Kilwins’ CEO Brian Britton. They discuss life overseeing two of the country’s most-iconic foodservice brands, what it’s taking to win over customers with experience and service, and how restaurant leaders can inspire growth […]

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