At a time of softening traffic, consumers say the old draws may not be what pulls them into one restaurant versus another. Here are the features they cite as actually turning their heads today.
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The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.
Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.
The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.