McAlister's Deli

Operators are taking advantage of falling meat prices when adding new sandwiches to the lineup.

More than half of the restaurant industry’s $491 billion in sales come from the Top 500 chains. And these giants grew at a modestly stronger rate, both in terms of sales and store counts, than the industry overall. Restaurant Business focused on the leading 250 performers to identify trends for our first-ever special report delivering lessons from Technomic’s annual Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. This special package includes lessons for all operators from the largest chains by segment, menu category and more.

The past year reaffirmed that tough times bring many changes in restaurant leadership. Here are four of the most dramatic shifts.