Top 100
Independents

While the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the restaurant world, especially for independents, 2019 was a good year for many, and still worth recognizing. Restaurants in the Top 100 grossed nearly $1.8 billion in a tight labor market amid increased competition, outearning the prior year’s total. But 2020 has presented even greater challenges, and RB takes a look at how indies are weathering those as well.

Meet the Leaders

Top 100 Independents: The Ranking

Click each concept to see more data.

Rank	Restaurant	Sales	Average Check	City	State	Meals Served
1	Komodo	$41,000,000	$115	Miami	Fla.	285,000
2	The Boathouse Orlando	$39,863,628	$44	Orlando	Fla.	921,785
3	Swan	$31,000,000	$85	Miami	Fla.	185,000
4	Maple & Ash (Chicago)	$30,285,684	$106	Chicago	Ill.	285,714
5	Mila	$27,350,000	$134	Miami Beach	Fla.	203,990
6	Alinea	$27,072,500*	$650*	Chicago	Ill.	41,650
7	Top of the World	$25,672,308	$133	Las Vegas	Nev.	218,586
8	Shooters Waterfront	$25,025,370	$68	Fort Lauderdale	Fla.	419,972
9	Prime 112	$24,750,000	$155	Miami Beach	Fla.	210,000
10	Paddlefish	$23,795,000*	$52*	Orlando	Fla.	485,000
11	Capa	$23,547,000*	$121*	Orlando	Fla.	197,000
12	Maple & Ash (Scottsdale)	$23,487,122	$95	Scottsdale	Ariz.	247,232
13	Commander's Palace	$23,184,000*	$89*	New Orleans	La.	264,000
14	Taste of Texas	$23,180,522	$64	Houston	Texas	356,894
15	Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab (Washington, D.C.)	$22,477,000*	$94*	Washington	N/A	255,000
16	Gibsons Italia	$22,342,704	$116	Chicago	Ill.	209,788
17	Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab (Chicago)	$22,292,000*	$99*	Chicago	Ill.	210,000
18	Papi Steak	$22,000,000	$240	Miami Beach	Fla.	91,667
19	Marion	$21,989,000*	$85*	Miami	Fla.	255,000
20	Buddakan (NYC)	$21,800,593	$91	New York	N.Y.	177,000
21	LAVO Italian Restaurant & Nightclub	$21,532,000*	$95*	New York	N.Y.	175,000
22	Parc	$21,528,659	$74	Philadelphia	Pa.	383,392
23	Le Diplomate	$21,477,955	$75	Washington	D.C.	347,263
24	Gibsons Bar Steakhouse (Oak Brook)	$20,774,202	$89	Oak Brook	Ill.	252,326
25	Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab (Las Vegas)	$20,573,000*	$99*	Las Vegas	Nev.	242,632
26	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Chicago)	$20,493,301	$77	Chicago	Ill.	269,777
27	RPM Steak	$20,227,000*	$105*	Chicago	Ill.	193,000
28	Rusty Pelican Miami	$20,130,324	$84	Miami	Fla.	185,222
29	Bazaar Meat by Jose Andres	$19,963,000*	$139*	Las Vegas	Nev.	160,528
30	Pastis	$19,735,732	$75	New York	N.Y.	268,216
31	Balthazar	$19,638,000*	$98*	New York	N.Y.	389,250
32	SW Steakhouse	$19,371,000*	$163*	Las Vegas	Nev.	110,000
33	Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant	$18,848,657	$29	Coalinga	Calif.	641,337
34	Makoto	$18,572,987	$78	Miami Beach	Fla.	233,039
35	Castaway Burbank	$18,387,832	$135	Burbank	Calif.	174,183
36	Morimoto Asia	$18,159,000*	$76*	Orlando (Disney Springs)	Fla.	520,000
37	Sharky's on the Pier	$18,159,000*	$45*	Venice	Fla.	450,000
38	Original Joe's Westlake	$18,123,824	$48	San Francisco	Calif.	334,604
39	Rustic Inn	$17,900,000	$58	Fort Lauderdale	Fla.	315,000
40	BOA Steakhouse	$17,670,519	$135	West Hollywood	Calif.	142,000
41	Abe & Louie's	$17,549,249	$83	Boston	Mass.	210,000
42	Shaw's Crab House	$17,426,000*	$82*	Chicago	Ill.	221,520
43	St. Elmo Steak House	$17,335,304	$109	Indianapolis	Ind.	154,575
44	Chicago Cut Steakhouse	$17,211,000*	$102*	Chicago	Ill.	198,564
45	Swift & Sons	$17,108,000*	$123*	Chicago	Ill.	184,000
46	Zehnder's of Frankenmuth	$17,027,211	$19	Frankenmuth	Mich.	908,951
47	Hell's Kitchen (Las Vegas)	$16,899,000*	$135*	Las Vegas	Nev.	120,000
48	Old Mill Restaurant	$16,702,024	$17	Pigeon Forge	Tenn.	966,849
49	LAVO Italian Restaurant & Lounge	$16,547,000*	$111*	Las Vegas	Nev.	110,231
50	Prime Steakhouse	$16,423,000*	$195*	Las Vegas	Nev.	101,145
51	Mike's "American"	$16,380,000*	$42*	Springfield	Va.	390,000
52	Mon Ami Gabi	$16,297,000*	$96*	Las Vegas	Nev.	296,324
53	Big Texan Steak Ranch	$16,256,000*	$32*	Amarillo	Texas	451,265
54	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Rosemont)	$16,089,179	$89	Rosemont	Ill.	196,231
55	Matt's El Rancho	$15,835,297	$29	Austin	Texas	546,044
56	15th Street Fisheries	$15,826,203	$72	Fort Lauderdale	Fla.	385,000
57	Knife & Fork Inn	$15,800,000*	$75*	Atlantic City	N.J.	225,000
58	Bottega Louie	$15,742,000*	$43*	Los Angeles	Calif.	302,574
59	Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn	$15,738,122	$25	Frankenmuth	Mich.	636,526
60	Franklin Barbecue	$15,599,000*	$54*	Austin	Texas.	300,000
61	Tavern on Rush	$15,432,000	$77	Chicago	Ill.	240,000
62	The Precinct by Jeff Ruby	$15,341,000*	$92*	Cincinnati	Ohio	189,000
63	Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse	$15,209,000*	$64*	Chicago	Ill.	279,000
64	Lambert's Cafe (Sikeston)	$14,941,000*	$18*	Sikeston	Mo.	832,000
65	Bob Chinn's Crab House	$14,869,222	$56	Wheeling	Ill.	265,522
66	Chops Lobster Bar	$14,715,614	$120	Atlanta	Ga.	109,866
67	The Lobster House	$14,677,000*	$55*	Cape May	N.J.	298,000
68	Bryant Park Grill & Cafe	$14,600,000	$60	New York	N.Y.	250,000
69	Delmonico Steakhouse	$14,538,000*	$126*	Las Vegas	Nev.	112,453
70	Sparks Steak House	$14,015,000*	$105*	New York	N.Y.	176,327
71	Paradise Cove Beach Cafe	$13,987,695	$54	Malibu	Calif.	259,031
72	Prime & Provisions	$13,900,000	$125	Chicago	Ill.	111,200
73	Tavern on the Green	$13,770,000*	$87*	New York	N.Y.	236,124
74	Bar Siena	$13,750,000	$68	Chicago	Ill.	202,200
75	The Hampton Social (Nashville)	$13,430,746	$42	Nashville	Tenn.	319,779
76	Whiskey Joe's Tampa	$13,143,520	$34	Tampa	Fla.	267,988
77	Beauty & Essex (New York City)	$13,091,000*	$97*	New York	N.Y.	175,648
78	Grand Central Oyster Bar	$13,043,000*	$71*	New York	N.Y.	264,328
79	Casa Tua Miami	$13,009,000*	$55*	Miami Beach	Fla.	235,000
80	Beauty & Essex (Las Vegas)	$12,717,000*	$124*	Las Vegas	Nev.	124,321
81	Girl & the Goat	$12,507,000*	$95*	Chicago	Ill.	175,623
82	China Live	$12,504,518	$54	San Francisco	Calif.	87,882
83	Keens Steakhouse	$12,503,000*	$105*	New York	N.Y.	143,698
84	On Swann	$12,483,000*	$76*	Tampa	Fla.	164,250
85	Pancake Pantry	$12,350,000*	$16*	Gatlinburg	Tenn.	745,000
86	Bistro 31	$12,315,724	$85	Dallas	Texas	123,854
87	Atlanta Fish Market	$12,193,856	$56	Atlanta	Ga.	193,439
88	Original Joe's North Beach	$11,976,922	$53	San Francisco	Calif.	215,492
89	Mickey Mantle's Steakhouse	$11,894,000*	$104*	Oklahoma City	Okla.	110,000
90	Gladstones	$11,784,000*	$50*	Pacific Palisades	Calif.	240,000
91	Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House	$11,704,132	$79	Chicago	Ill.	146,319
92	The Spot	$11,695,800	$20	Galveston	Texas	585,000
93	Steak 954	$11,545,321	$108	Fort Lauderdale	Fla.	134,741
94	Siena Tavern	$11,500,000	$65	Chicago	Ill.	176,900
95	El Vez Philadelphia	$11,472,765	$49	Philadelphia	Pa.	257,639
96	George's at the Cove	$11,218,000*	$93*	La Jolla	Calif.	221,671
97	Stubborn Seed	$11,158,000*	$124*	Miami Beach	Fla.	89,986
98	Toulouse Cafe & Bar Houston	$11,074,759	$78	Houston	Texas	113,609
99	L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon Miami	$11,063,000*	$195*	Miami	Fla.	54,215
100	Mélisse	$11,050,000*	$425*	Santa Monica	Calif.	26,000

*RB estimate

Methodology

RB’s Top 100 Independents ranking is a measure of the highest-grossing independent restaurants. Only restaurant concepts with no more than five locations are considered “independents” for the purpose of this list (although it’s possible a restaurant that shares a name with a chain but is owned and operated separately would qualify, such as Smith & Wollensky in New York City). Rankings are based on gross 2019 food and beverage sales. Information was gathered through surveys. When data wasn’t provided, sales were estimated based on public information, similar concepts and other factors.

They've outlasted hurricanes, floods, forest fires, earthquakes, 9/11 and the Great Recession. But nothing prepared the country's most successful independents for COVID-19. See how they're handling a year from hell.

Top 100
Independents