Special Reports

Special Reports

How We Got Here: 1950s

The industry grappled with government-imposed pricing controls, the result of a nationwide beef shortage and tight supplies of other staples, while vying with other fast-growth industries for new employees.

Special Reports

How We Got Here: 1980s

The decade would be regarded by many as a golden age for the restaurant industry. The business itself grew by leaps and bounds.

The decade brought a pressing need for restaurateurs to revamp their vocabularies.

Without these ground-breakers, the restaurant business may have been much different today.

These families have been part of the restaurant business for generations.

With about one-tenth of the American workforce in the restaurant space, there’s no denying that industry has had a hand in shaping labor in America.

Back-of-house tech has come a long way since crushed ice dispensers were considered innovative.

After relocating from Kansas City, Mo., to the more central location of Chicago, the National Restaurant Association continued to focus on Depression issues.

The restaurant industry faced a critical challenge when President John F. Kennedy posed a hike in the federal minimum wage as a patriotic way of combating poverty and a growing disparity in incomes.

When war broke out with Iraq over its invasion of Kuwait, U.S. restaurants braced for a downturn in traffic.

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