The Bottom Line

Jonathan Maze The Bottom Line

Restaurant Business Executive Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Maze is a longtime industry journalist who writes about restaurant finance, mergers and acquisitions and the economy, with a particular focus on quick-service restaurants. He writes daily about the factors influencing the operating environment, including labor and food costs and various industry trends such as technology and delivery.

Jonathan has been widely quoted in media publications such as the New York Times and the Washington Post and has appeared on CNBC, Yahoo Finance and NPR. He writes a weekly finance-focused newsletter for Restaurant Business, The Bottom Line, and is the host of the weekly podcast “A Deeper Dive.”

Financing

Luckin Coffee makes a play for the premium market

The Bottom Line: The fast-growing Chinese chain, known for its low prices, is reportedly acquiring the higher-end brand Blue Bottle Coffee from Nestle for $400 million.

Financing

Winners and losers from a strange end to 2025

The Bottom Line: Performance varied greatly among chains that have reported their end-of-year earnings thus far, with some big winners and big losers.

The Bottom Line: The executive chairman of the owner of Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs made the case to investors as the company gets back to franchising.

The Bottom Line: This week’s edition of the weekly restaurant finance newsletter examines the weakness of the fast-food pizza market, as both Papa Johns and Pizza Hut have challenges.

The Bottom Line: The fast-food chain has been improving per-store profitability in recent years as it works to solidify its performance. But beef prices had something to say about that.

The Bottom Line: On earnings calls, industry chief executives expressed caution about the state of the economy this year, even as they were bullish about their own plans.

The Bottom Line: The country’s largest pizza chain argued that its competitors’ weakness is not a reflection of the sector’s demand. But data suggest the sector is indeed losing customers.

The Bottom Line: This week’s edition of the restaurant finance newsletter looks at the change in Subway’s Sub Club and why its dependence on discounts keeps creating problems.

The Bottom Line: An anniversary offer from Five Guys proved far more popular than the company expected. Surprisingly strong marketing promotions have been a common issue in recent years.

The Bottom Line: The fast-food chain’s former chairman is again toying with buying the company, adding more uncertainty to a company that hardly needs it right now.

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