Top 100
Independents

The restaurants in this year’s Top 100 Independents ranking had total food and beverage revenues of roughly $1.8 billion in 2015. It’s a number in focus, especially amid chain restaurants’ current state of slumping sales. Yet independents aren’t without their own challenges—labor top among them. Those that endure are an example to all operators that being nimble, resilient and thoughtful about guests and employees is a formula fit for the times.

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Top 100 Independents: The Ranking

Click each concept to see more data.

Rank	Restaurant	Sales	Average Check	City	State	Meals Served
1	Tao Las Vegas	$42,470,345	$90	Las Vegas	Nev.	226,146
2	Joe’s Stone Crab	$37,243,159	$80	Miami Beach	Fla.	316,000
3	Tao Downtown	$33,401,819	$95	New York	N.Y.	311,945
4	Carmine’s (New York)	$33,147,017	$33	New York	N.Y.	396,871
5	Old Ebbitt Grill	$32,662,051	$39	Washington	D.C.	1,072,293
6	The Boathouse Orlando	$30,814,369	$43	Orlando	Fla.	643,829
7	Lavo New York	$26,822,655	$85	New York	N.Y.	200,000
8	Smith & Wollensky	$25,961,337	$100	New York	N.Y.	296,723
9	Bryant Park Grill & Cafe	$25,400,000	$50*	New York	N.Y.	420,000
10	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Chicago)	$24,700,825	$75	Chicago	Ill.	363,301
11	Junior’s (Times Square)	$23,972,978	$24	New York	N.Y.	950,000
12	Vandal	$23,680,917	$80	New York	N.Y.	215,483
13	Prime 112	$23,100,000	$120	Miami Beach	Fla.	193,000
14	Tao Uptown	$23,089,638	$85	New York	N.Y.	282,827
15	Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab	$23,000,000*	$80*	Washington	D.C.	288,000
16	The Hamilton	$21,978,322	$34	Washington	D.C.	759,970
17	Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab	$21,800,000*	$85*	Las Vegas	Nev.	260,000
18	Bottega Louie	$21,720,463	$35	Los Angeles	Calif.	729,612
19	St. Elmo Steak House	$21,308,565	$90	Indianapolis	Ind.	239,725
20	Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab	$21,200,000*	$80*	Chicago	Ill.	265,000
21	Buddakan	$20,555,460	$84	New York	N.Y.	250,416
22	Angus Barn	$20,402,068	$68	Raleigh	N.C.	298,960
23	Carnevino Italian Steakhouse	$20,400,000*	$182*	Las Vegas	Nev.	112,000
24	Bazaar Meat by Jose Andres	$20,200,000*	$105*	Las Vegas	Nev.	192,000
25	SW Steakhouse	$19,900,000*	$130*	Las Vegas	Nev.	151,000
26	Primehouse	$19,200,000*	$98*	Chicago	Ill.	200,000
27	The Smith (Lincoln Square)	$18,950,000	$43	New York	N.Y.	530,802
28	Sparks Steak House	$18,150,000*	$90*	New York	N.Y.	210,000
29	Quality Meats	$18,003,504	$100	New York	N.Y.	178,297
30	Bob Chinn’s Crab House	$17,990,990	$37	Wheeling	Ill.	483,111
31	Acme Feed & Seed	$17,954,879	$16	Nashville	Tenn.	611,454
32	Del Posto	$17,800,000*	$162*	New York	N.Y.	110,000
33	Blue Fin	$17,500,000*	$72*	New York	N.Y.	243,000
34	Abe & Louie’s	$17,463,196	$85	Boston	Mass.	222,599
35	The Smith (Midtown)	$17,450,000	$44	New York	N.Y.	395,911
36	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Rosemont, Ill.)	$17,442,193	$71	Rosemont	Ill.	258,249
37	Founding Farmers (DC)	$17,243,194	$35	Washington	D.C.	571,078
38	Chicago Cut Steakhouse	$17,200,000*	$85*	Chicago	Ill.	210,000
39	Mon Ami Gabi	$17,200,000*	$66*	Las Vegas	Nev.	300,000
40	Tavern on the Green	$17,200,000*	$70*	New York	N.Y.	260,000
41	Shaw’s Crab House	$17,100,000*	$65*	Chicago	Ill.	265,000
42	Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar	$17,000,000*	$43*	New York	N.Y.	406,000
43	Parc	$16,921,459	$56	Philadelphia	Pa.	423,619
44	Aria Cafe	$16,800,000*	$24*	Las Vegas	Nev.	700,000
45	Prime Steakhouse	$16,800,000*	$158*	Las Vegas	Nev.	112,675
46	Taste of Texas	$16,720,966	$55	Houston	Texas	363,715
47	Quality Italian	$16,529,915	$90	New York	N.Y.	171,713
48	Grand Central Oyster Bar	$16,400,000*	$54*	New York	N.Y.	310,000
49	Le Diplomate	$16,377,232	$58	Washington	D.C.	306,708
50	Beauty & Essex	$16,308,810	$85	New York City	N.Y.	191,505
51	Komodo	$16,250,000	$93	Miami	Fla.	180,000
52	La Sirena	$16,200,000*	$80*	New York	N.Y.	225,000
53	‘21’ Club	$16,117,593	$190	New York	N.Y.	112,361
54	Keens Steakhouse	$16,100,000*	$90*	New York	N.Y.	179,000
55	Lavo Las Vegas	$16,015,498	$85	Las Vegas	Nev.	134,783
56	Chops Lobster Bar	$16,000,000*	$103*	Atlanta	Ga.	193,000
57	Top of the World	$16,000,000*	$96*	Las Vegas	Nev.	173,000
58	Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe	$15,900,000*	$48*	Orlando	Fla.	345,000
59	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Oak Brook, Ill.)	$15,773,912	$73	Oak Brook	Ill.	239,403
60	Blue Water Grill	$15,700,000*	$74*	New York	N.Y.	218,000
61	Morimoto Asia	$15,640,000*	$65*	Orlando	Fla.	490,000
62	The Southern Steak & Oyster	$15,602,342	$74	Nashville	Tenn.	383,950
63	SkyCity at the Needle	$15,600,000*	$61*	Seattle	Wash.	258,000
64	Scoma’s	$15,498,854	$52*	San Francisco	Calif.	330,000
65	The Smith (NoMad)	$15,350,000	$44	New York	N.Y.	365,811
66	Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth	$15,083,189	$16	Frankenmuth	Mich.	945,364
67	Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant	$15,000,303	$29	Coalinga	Calif.	518,664
68	Portland City Grill	$14,918,871	$73	Portland	Ore.	313,033
69	The Lobster House	$14,900,000*	$38*	Cape May	N.J.	310,000
70	Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse	$14,800,000*	$52*	Chicago	Ill.	290,000
71	Franciscan Crab Restaurant	$14,784,499	$53	San Francisco	Calif.	285,000
72	Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn	$14,677,690	$17	Frankenmuth	Mich.	847,585
73	The Rustic Inn	$14,625,000*	$28*	Dania Beach	Fla.	520,000
74	Junior’s (Brooklyn)	$14,511,308	$23	New York	N.Y.	620,000
75	Spago	$14,500,000*	$75*	Las Vegas	Nev.	180,000
76	The Bazaar by Jose Andres	$14,500,000*	$95*	Beverly Hills	Calif.	152,000
77	Jean-Georges Steakhouse	$14,400,000*	$110*	Las Vegas	Nev.	125,000
78	Boa Steakhouse	$14,347,346	$105	West Hollywood	Calif.	133,604
79	Coffee Shop	$14,300,000*	$47*	New York	N.Y.	314,000
80	Hugo’s Frog Bar & Fish House	$14,269,812	$74	Chicago	Ill.	182,161
81	15th Street Fisheries	$14,200,000*	$60*	Fort Lauderdale	Fla.	350,000
82	Cliff House	$14,091,992	$46	San Francisco	Calif.	283,658
83	Gladstones	$14,000,000*	$50*	Pacific Palisades	Calif.	300,000
84	Carmine’s (Atlantic City)	$13,978,014	$33	Atlantic City	N.J.	101,914
85	Paradise Cove Beach Cafe	$13,926,000	$31	Malibu	Calif.	454,000
86	Atlanta Fish Market	$13,800,000*	$49*	Atlanta	Ga.	268,000
87	Delmonico Steakhouse	$13,800,000*	$92*	Las Vegas	Nev.	150,000
88	Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar	$13,790,000	$29	Chicago	Ill.	438,677
89	Virgil’s Real Barbecue	$13,755,053	$26	New York	N.Y.	396,871
90	N9NE Steakhouse	$13,700,000*	$80*	Las Vegas	Nev.	170,000
91	Mike’s “American”	$13,500,000*	$30*	Springfield	Va.	460,000
92	Founding Farmers (Tysons, Va.)	$13,425,130	$39	Tysons	Va.	400,904
93	Tavern on Rush	$13,409,416	$74	Chicago	Ill.	350,000
94	Timberline Steaks & Grille	$13,358,746	$16	Denver	Colo.	1,055,679
96	Balthazar	$13,300,000*	$70*	New York	N.Y.	230,000
96	George’s at the Cove	$13,200,000*	$85*	La Jolla	Calif.	265,000
97	Makoto	$13,190,879	$61	Bal Harbour	Fla.	223,121
98	Boulevard	$13,000,000*	$100*	San Francisco	Calif.	124,000
99	Carpaccio	$13,000,000*	$54*	Bal Harbour	Fla.	237,000
100	Cafe Fiorello	$12,950,000*	$56*	New York	N.Y.	235,000

*RB estimate

Methodology

RB’s Top 100 Independents ranking is a measure of the highest-grossing independent restaurants. Only restaurant concepts with no more than five locations are considered “independents” for the purpose of this list (although it’s possible a restaurant that shares a name with a chain but is owned and operated separately would qualify, as with Smith & Wollensky in New York City). Rankings are based on gross 2015 food and beverage sales. Information was gathered through surveys. When data wasn’t provided, sales were estimated based on public information, similar concepts and other factors.

Did we miss your restaurant? If your operation had food and beverage sales above $10 million, we want to know about it. Please contact Sara Rush Wirth at swirth@winsightmedia.com to be included in the next Top 100 Independents survey.

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Top 100
Independents