A look into the Top 500 chain restaurants

How did restaurants do in 2024?

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive is all about the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report.

Kevin Schimpf, senior director of industry research at Restaurant Business sister company Technomic, joins the episode to talk about the ranking. 

The restaurant industry did not have a great year in 2024 if you look at the overall numbers. Kevin and I talk about that and why restaurants didn’t do as well.

We also talk about what sectors did well and what did not. Hint: It’s more menu based than anything else. We talk about the shift from some concepts to others and from some menu types to others and what it means for the future of the industry. We talk about Texas Roadhouse, McDonald’s, Starbucks, KFC, Raising Cane’s, Chick-fil-A and others. 

And also what sector should not exist.

We’re talking Top 500 on A Deeper Dive, so please check it out.