Culver's

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.

We asked six chain veterans what are the significant milestones in the growth of a restaurant company and what lessons they learned while expanding.

Until recently, consumers considered Chipotle one of the most trusted limited-service restaurant brands. After its food safety incidents, Chipotle now scores in the bottom six for brand trust.