Fried chicken sandwiches are still a top trend, according to the 500 chefs surveyed for the 2023 “What’s Hot” Culinary Forecast released today by the National Restaurant Association.
The crowd favorite took the No. 2 spot in the Association's list of Top 10 overall trends and was No. 1 in the lunch category, but with a qualifier—these are “Chicken Sandwiches 3.0,” enhanced with spicy and sweet-heat fusion flavors. Click here for the full article from Restaurant Business. 

On an October Thursday in Brighton, a dozen chatty patrons sipped Japanese liquor at The Koji Club. Bartenders described the sake — brews with names like Forgotten Fortune or Dragon God — as “ricey and rusty,” and a couple complained about their bosses over a plate of curry empanadas. It wasn’t the weekend, but it might as well have been. Read the full article here. 

Chain restaurants have been reporting growing sales in the third quarter. But more sales don’t mean more customers. In fact, industry watchers are noticing that foot traffic to restaurants has been falling in recent months. That’s because as inflation eats into consumers’ budgets, many have been cutting back on their restaurant visits and eating at home more often. Click here to read the full article from CNN Business. 

Pickles have been around for thousands of years, yet they appear to be as popular as ever. Whether as a side or as a burger topping, pickles have become a true staple at restaurants, especially in 2022.
In fact, 43.9% of restaurant menus mentioned pickled ingredients in the second quarter of this year, according to Technomic data. That represents a rise in popularity for pickles during the last couple years. Click here to read the full article. 

Breakfast was the top meal of the day for the U.S. restaurant industry in August as traffic grew by 4% compared to August 2021, according to a report from The NPD Group.
The traffic growth is now within 1% of recovering pre-pandemic levels. Quick service restaurant breakfast represented 87% of all breakfast traffic and visits increased by 5% in August – 1% above the pre-pandemic level of August 2019, according to a press release. Click here to read the full article. 

Although price matters to older Gen Zs (ages 18-24) in the US, their taste preferences and definition of value dictate the type of restaurants they visit. As a result, Gen Zs skew towards quick service restaurants, particularly fast casual, that balance value and focused menu, according to The NPD Group.
In the 12 months ending July 2022, Gen Zs made 5 billion restaurant visits, 4.3 billion visits to quick service restaurants and 736 million to full service restaurants. Gen Z fast casual visits were up 4 percent in the period compared to a year ago. According to NPD’s recently released Winning Gen Z Consumers study, Gen Zs favor major fast casual chains that provide the menu items they want, value for the money and messaging that reflects their interests, like organics and sustainability. Click here to read the full article. 

Consumers may be dining out less, but breakfast sales are holding steady as people return to offices and grab a quick bite or iced coffee on the way to work.
Overall traffic to restaurants fell 2% in the second quarter from a year ago as inflation drove menu prices up, according to market research firm The NPD Group. The only category that was unchanged: breakfast and morning snacks. Click here to read the full article.

Dressed in a short-sleeved chef’s shirt and black-and-white checkered chef pants, Yadiska van Putten puts a black nitrile glove on each hand as she begins her morning shift as a Level 2 prep and station cook in the kitchen of Gallery Restaurant at the Ballantyne Hotel in Charlotte. The hood vent and convection oven rumble behind her as she chops strawberries for the lunchtime salads.
Van Putten was hired for this $14-an-hour job in April, a month before she graduated from the Charlotte campus of Johnson & Wales University. She started in mid-May, one of about 30 cooks working the kitchen at the upscale restaurant, which bills itself as serving “New American fare in a refined venue.” Click here to read the full article. 

Nothing says summer like ice cream! You're sure to find the perfect summer treat to serve. Find novelty treats, new flavors, cones and more! Click here to view the guide.

The National Restaurant Association Research Group conducted a survey of 4,200 restaurant operators between July 14 and August 5, 2022. This report contains the key findings of the survey.​Click here to read  more.

Macro-economic pressures and a complex consumer landscape continue to afflict the restaurant industry. Sales and traffic growth face difficult laps from 2021’s release of pent-up demand and stimulus.
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Still, a view into three-year sales and traffic growth patterns reveals segment-specific resiliency. Click here to read the full article. 

McDonald’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill say customers squeezed by inflation are choosing cheaper menu items and visiting their restaurants less often, signaling trends that could be hitting the broader restaurant industry.
The two companies were among the first restaurant chains to report their second-quarter results. Wingstop, Starbucks and Taco Bell owner Yum Brands are all scheduled to release their earnings reports within the next week. Click here to read the full article. 

More than a third of the nation’s restaurants are putting their recruitment efforts on hold to protect margins from soaring wage rates, according to a new survey from the Alignable Research Center.
The inflationary pressure is so intense that 4% of establishments are even laying off workers, the researcher found. Click here to read the full article. 

On a quiet, drizzly Monday night in December 2021, Madison Shapiro decided on a whim to review Skirt Steak on @sistersnacking, a TikTok account she shares with her three sisters. She saw that the New York restaurant was drawing buzz for its $28 steak dinners with unlimited fries, and she knew timeliness was key. She quickly pulled together her positive review and sent it to her sisters for editing. They posted it two days later and by nightfall it hit a million views. Click here to read the full article. 

Now that every brand has a chicken sandwich on the menu, the next so-called menu category “war” just may be chicken nuggets.
Sure, the item has long been one of the top sellers at McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A (among others), but now heavyweight chicken chains are vying for nugget market share as the demand for boneless chicken continues to rise, while the demand for chicken overall does the same. Click here to read the full article. 

​Has “pizza fatigue” set in for consumers? BTIG analyst Peter Saleh believes there’s evidence one of the industry’s early COVID stars has begun to dim a bit. The category, as reports suggested, absorbed the pandemic’s disruptions better than peers. Pizza witnessed the largest per-dollar order jump in limited service, according to Sense360, with figures per transaction increasing 11 percent. This was a common theme throughout, but definitely in pizza. Customers made fewer trips, yet ordered more. Click here to read the full article. 

Restaurant portions are getting smaller, and diners aren’t happy. 
“Shrinkflation,” or the paring down of serving sizes to offset higher costs, is a hallmark of inflationary environments such as the one the US is currently experiencing. It’s on the rise, and it has gotten so noticeable that consumers are venting about it online, review website operator Yelp Inc. said in a report on activity during the second quarter. Read the full article here. 

Why should operators care about mastering limited-time offers (LTOs)?

• ½ of consumers ordered an LTO in the past two weeks
• After consumers experience an enjoyable LTO
  • 82% will return to order it again
  • 75% will tell other people about it
  • 65% will return to order something else
• LTOs drove restaurant visits for more than 50% of consumers in the past month

Use this e-book from Simplot for tips on creating the next great LTO for your operation.

Bar and restaurant owners are busy. You have so many things to consider every day: finances, branding, quality control, staffing, labor shortages – the list goes on. And on top of all of that, there’s employee safety. As a bar or restaurant operator, you need to make sure the people who run your business are safe.
Commercial kitchens are hazardous by nature. Danger comes with the territory when you’re surrounded by knives, hot ovens, boiling oil, and slippery floors. Over 93,000 non-fatal injuries were recorded by restaurant workers in 2019. That’s why it's critical to train your teams for optimal commercial kitchen safety. Click here to read the full article.