All Special Reports

For this year’s Power 20 list, RB is recognizing restaurant folks who amplified their community outreach efforts during the pandemic. These operators stepped up in a big way to feed the hungry, organize relief programs for unemployed restaurant workers, advance social justice in the industry and raise funds to help those in need. Meet our 20 local heroes.

Flavor exploration slowed down a bit in 2020, as operators streamlined menus and focused on bestsellers and customer favorites.

The editors of Restaurant Business this week explore the Evolving Kitchen and what its change has meant to the foodservice business.

The kitchen has changed. In recent years, as restaurants adapted to changing consumers and looked for new methods of getting food into their hands, the back of house has evolved along with it.

Restaurants in the Top 100 grossed nearly $1.8 billion in a tight labor market amid increased competition, outearning the prior year’s total. But 2020 has presented even greater challenges, and RB takes a look at how indies are weathering those as well.

See the full ranking of the Top 100 concepts, which account for more than $1.8 billion in annual revenue, and learn how they are putting hospitality first.

2020 has been a disruptive year for restaurants, and no part of the industry has been left untouched, including menu development.

Restaurant Business has collected same-store sales data from publicly traded restaurant chains. Look below for a complete list of sales data organized by calendar quarter.

Restaurants are notoriously slow to adopt new technology. But inside the pressure cooker that is the coronavirus pandemic, the industry has undergone years worth of innovation in just a few months.

When the coronavirus took over the U.S. in mid-March, it was like nothing restaurants had experienced before.

This year’s class of America’s up-and-coming chains faces an uncertain future. But as the coronavirus hit, these small and innovative concepts were characteristically quick to adapt, repacking menu items into meal kits, creating pop-up drive-thrus and more. Here’s a look at how they got here, and where they plan to go next.