The Latest
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Tracking the same-store sales of 21 major restaurant chains
Major publicly traded restaurant chains had a strange Q2 for comps growth, from Chili’s 23% jump to Sweetgreen’s 7.6% shortfall.
Updated Aug. 18, 2025 -
Fireside Market launches food-focused c-store design
The 9,700-square-foot store in Slinger, Wisconsin, features a drive-thru and will serve as a model for future locations, a spokesperson said.
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Panera Bread tests 4 premium drinks
As QSRs eat into beverage occasions with refreshers, menu innovation could become an important defensive move for fast casual and coffee brands.
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Domino’s posts biggest US comparable sales growth in 6 quarters
The chain has had two consecutive quarters of growth driven by deal promotions and the popularity of Parmesan Stuffed Crust.
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Papa Murphy’s shutters underperforming stores
The take-and-bake pizza chain has faced significant competition from other pizza brands that have invested heavily in aggressive marketing campaigns.
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7 Brew hits 500 store mark
The brand has grown its storebase by more than 50% in 2025, and its dramatic expansion could put pressure on legacy chains at the top of the coffee sector.
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Instacart, Uber, DoorDash bringing food delivery to ChatGPT
The three e-commerce providers are among several apps set to join the AI-powered chatbot.
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Wendy’s to invest at least $20M to boost AUV
After same-store sales dropped two quarters in a row, the burger brand shifted money from development funds to in-store labor and equipment.
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Cava adds tiers, status matching to rewards program
Consumers who can prove elite status in some other brands’ loyalty programs will be able to slot into the higher tiers of Cava’s system.
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Restaurants battered by inflation, turnover: report
Improving profits and traffic are the main strategic goals for restaurant leaders in 2025, according to a Toast survey.
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Grocers continue to gain ground on restaurants, FMI survey finds
Twenty-eight percent of shoppers said they buy deli-prepared foods from grocers as a replacement for going to a restaurant, up from 12% in 2017.
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Serve Robotics partners with DoorDash
The companies will initially deploy bots in Los Angeles, where DoorDash is already offering bot delivery with Coco, and where Serve works with Uber Eats.
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Sun Holdings buys Bar Louie
The multi-brand company acquired the distressed chain out of bankruptcy less than a year after it bought Uncle Julio’s in a foreclosure auction.
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Potbelly adds wraps to core menu
The chain will offer two signature wraps and allow guests to make any sandwich into a wrap in its latest menu innovation.
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Square debuts voice ordering, boosts AI assistant
As tech firms compete to build up an all-in-one restaurant management platform, features like back-office AI and phone ordering could become important points of competition.
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Inside Domino’s first refresh in a decade — including its ‘cravemark’
With younger consumers in mind, the pizza chain has a new look and sound, including an audio-visual expression voiced by singer Shaboozey.
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Cracker Barrel traffic nosedived after logo backlash
Visits dropped by 10% in the weeks following the chain’s logo reversal, only improving to a 7% dip in the last week of September, according to Placer.ai.
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Dunkin’ hits 10K stores in the US
The coffee chain is the latest brand to pass this milestone, joining Starbucks, McDonald’s and Subway in an elite — but sometimes troubled — cohort.
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Swig plots aggressive growth with new president, franchise chief
The dirty soda brand promoted Todd Smith from chief commercial officer to president and hired Shannon Swenson as chief of franchise partnerships.
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Why mobile-order and pickup-only restaurants fail, according to experts
Starbucks learned the hard way that customers care more about experience than efficiency.
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Dunkin’ changes its rewards redemptions, again
A Restaurant Dive analysis of new discount rates shows the coffee chain has largely made it more expensive to redeem items.
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Starbucks ties in-store experiences, rewards to new Taylor Swift album
The chain has outfitted a Nashville store with a pop-up vinyl shop, photo booth and more, and claims it is throwing “the largest global listening party.”
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Cracker Barrel sacks brand consultancy, shuffles leadership
The chain fired the firm that advised it on its recent logo and restaurant refresh after significant consumer pushback led to a strategy reversal.
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Razzoo’s Cajun Cafe goes bankrupt citing competitive pressures
Aggressive marketing and value-oriented promotions from Applebee’s and Chili’s contributed to the decline in sales, according to court filings.
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Jack in the Box launches AI-powered in-app game to deliver value
DealQuest: Revenge of the Munchies offers bigger rewards the deeper players get into the game, potentially attracting cash-crunched consumers.