Romano's Macaroni Grill

Phil Romano has a knack for creating restaurant concepts that set industry standards. His next venture: Sharing that knowledge with the next generation of restaurant entrepreneurs.

Even in the face of rising wages and a slow economic rebound, Top 100 independents thrive by adapting with the times and flexing their survival skills.

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.