Fast_Casual

Financing

Rubio's files for bankruptcy again

The fast-casual chain blamed rising costs and the fast-food wage in California as it filed its second Chapter 11 in four years. It plans to use the bankruptcy process to find a buyer.

Operations

The 10 largest fast-casual restaurant chains by sales

The fast-casual segment had a strong 2023 in terms of sales, boosted by unit growth and menu pricing.

Top 500: The fast-casual bakery-cafe concept is the fastest-growing sandwich concept in Technomic’s Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report.

The fast-casual pizza chain, which was “born” in California more than a decade ago, believes the cross-country move will further growth.

The fast-casual taco chain, which declared bankruptcy in 2020, cited the state’s operating environment for the restaurant closures.

The owner of two fast-casual chains cited its liquidity challenges as it replaced its chairman, gave top executives incentives to stick around and sought assistance from its lenders.

The Bottom Line: The salad chain’s stock rose 34% on Friday after sales and profitability were better than expected. The company’s shares are above its IPO price for the first time in two years.

The Bottom Line: Wingstop, Raising Cane’s and Jersey Mike’s have broken free from the pack of well-established growth chains. Here’s why this trio stands out.

Operators have closed or rebranded nearly half of the chain’s locations over the past year and a half. And then as the chain was sold last week, franchisees were told the company lost its distribution contract.

In the last earnings call for outgoing CEO Randy Garutti, the fast-casual chain said traffic was down 2.1% in the first quarter, though trends were improving into Q2.

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