2016 Top 500: Family-dining chains
Family-dining chains from the 2016 Top 500 ranking grew sales by 3.2% to about $15 billion, buoyed by gains from leaders IHOP, Denny’s and Cracker Barrel.
Sliders
Inventive kitchens are now going beyond burgers, sandwiching everything from pulled pork to ahi tuna between tiny buns to create specialty sliders.
The limitless possibilities of making a meal between two slices of bread have catapulted the sandwich into new menu territory. Breakfast and lunch sandwiches still dominate, but these days, bars and late night menus are featuring mini ethnic sandwiches and full-service restaurants tout overstuffed dinner-size versions.
It’s been done with hamburgers, with cocktails, with Mexican QSR. Take a familiar concept, one with a degree of built-in familiarity and consumer acceptance, and differentiate it—around the ingredients, the menu, the presentation, the service model. Make it unique and craveable, make it stand out from the competition; just don’t make it so strange that customers don’t know what to make of it.