Top 100
Independents

Photograph courtesy of Komodo

The Restaurant Business Top 100 ranking of the largest independent restaurants returns after a one-year, pandemic-related hiatus. Restaurants on this year’s list represent a wide range of menus and price points and come in all shapes and sizes. They served 272 million meals last year and generated $1.8 billion in sales. There were also some notable newcomers. RB looks at how these restaurants adapted and evolved to meet a changing industry.

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	Tao Asian Bistro	$47,000,000	$70	Las Vegas	Nev.	450,000
2	Tao Downtown	$38,000,000	$75	New York City	N.Y.	200,000
3	Joe's Stone Crab	$36,136,486	$85	Miami Beach	Fla.	345,000
4	Lavo New York	$31,000,000	$81	New York City	N.Y.	221,982
5	Carmine's	$30,984,068	$31	New York City	N.Y.	394,190
6	Old Ebbitt Grill	$28,056,008	$37	Washington	D.C.	960,165
7	Smith & Wollensky	$26,057,894	$98	New York City	N.Y.	310,203
8	Tao Uptown	$24,000,000	$67	New York City	N.Y.	203,727
9	Prime 112	$23,500,000	$115	Miami Beach	Fla.	220,000
10	Gibson Bar & Steakhouse	$22,535,918	$73	Chicago	Ill.	339,804
11	Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab (Chicago)	$21,800,000*	$69*	Chicago	Ill.	411,000
12	Buddakan	$21,425,583	$84	New York City	N.Y.	250,848
13	Fulton’s Crab House	$21,200,000*	$45*	Lake Buena Vista	Fla.	423,000
14	Bottega Louie	$21,122,795	$36	Los Angeles	Calif.	467,667
15	Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab (Las Vegas)	$20,900,000*	$75*	Las Vegas	Nev.	405,000
16	Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab (DC)	$20,500,000*	$72*	Washington	D.C.	280,000
17	Carnevino	$19,900,000*	$175*	Las Vegas	Nev.	155,000
18	SW Steakhouse	$19,300,000*	$110*	Las Vegas	Nev.	185,000
19	David Burke Primehouse	$18,480,000*	$92*	Chicago	Ill.	360,000
20	The Hamilton	$18,383,790	$34	Washington	D.C.	637,848
21	Sparks Steak House	$18,100,000*	$89*	New York City	N.Y.	210,000
22	St. Elmo Steakhouse	$17,739,203	$88	Indianapolis	Ind.	196,382
23	Prime Steakhouse	$17,600,000*	$150*	Las Vegas	Nev.	135,000
24	Del Posto	$17,600,000*	$135*	New York City	N.Y.	138,000
25	Bob Chinn's Crab House	$17,553,828	$39	Wheeling	Ill.	481,220
26	The Smith (Lincoln Square)	$17,475,000	$42	New York City	N.Y.	478,000
27	Mon Ami Gabi	$17,200,000*	$65*	Las Vegas	Nev.	305,000
28	'21' Club	$17,082,107	$170	New York City	N.Y.	124,833
29	The Slanted Door	$16,900,000*	$50*	San Francisco	Calif.	360,000
30	Taste of Texas	$16,895,230	$55	Houston	Texas	371,751
31	Chicago Cut Steakhouse	$16,875,000*	$73*	Chicago	Ill.	409,000
32	Balthazar	$16,700,000*	$68*	New York City	N.Y.	240,000
33	The Source	$16,700,000*	$67*	Washington	D.C.	280,000
34	Quality Meats	$16,642,234	$95	New York City	N.Y.	173,916
35	Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar	$16,500,000*	$41*	New York City	N.Y.	460,000
36	Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe	$16,500,000*	$50*	Lake Buena Vista	Fla.	330,000
37	Shaw's Crab House	$16,500,000*	$60*	Chicago	Ill.	275,000
38	Grand Central Oyster Bar	$16,200,000*	$50*	New York City	N.Y.	330,000
39	Top of the World	$16,200,000*	$93*	Las Vegas	Nev.	183,000
40	Abe & Louie's	$16,200,000*	$78*	Boston	Mass.	208,000
41	Le Diplomate	$16,101,034	$53	Washington	D.C.	296,149
42	Lavo Italian Restaurant	$16,000,000	$65	Las Vegas	Nev.	270,000
43	Craftsteak	$16,000,000*	$100*	Las Vegas	Nev.	158,000
44	Angus Barn	$15,923,614	$65	Raleigh	N.C.	245,710
45	Chops Lobster Bar	$15,810,500	$101	Atlanta	Ga.	192,000
46	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse	$15,667,052	$69	Rosemont	Ill.	239,846
47	Sky City at the Needle	$15,500,000*	$56*	Seattle	Wash.	270,000
48	Scoma's	$15,458,387	$52	San Francisco	Calif.	301,988
49	Gladstones	$15,400,000*	$45*	Pacific Palisades	Calif.	330,000
50	Spice Market	$15,400,000*	$65*	New York City	N.Y.	235,000
51	Quality Italian	$15,337,858	$88	New York City	N.Y.	170,103
52	Hugo’s Frog Bar & Fish House	$15,317,781	$64	Chicago	Ill.	223,697
53	Sequoia	$15,200,000*	$47*	Washington	D.C.	310,000
54	The Manor	$15,175,000*	$75*	West Orange	N.J.	210,000
55	Blue Fin	$15,100,000*	$65*	New York City	N.Y.	255,000
56	Rustic Inn Crabhouse	$15,000,000*	$26*	Dania Beach	Fla.	580,000
57	Junior's (Brooklyn)	$14,900,000*	$27*	New York City	N.Y.	600,000
58	The Lobster House	$14,750,000*	$36*	Cape May	N.J.	306,000
59	The Sea Grill	$14,650,000*	$76*	New York City	N.Y.	183,000
60	Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant	$14,599,151	$27	Coalinga	Calif.	542,825
61	Parc	$14,569,655	$51	Philadelphia	Pa.	400,892
62	The Smith (Midtown)	$14,452,000	$43	New York City	N.Y.	332,075
63	Blue Water Grill	$14,400,000*	$70*	New York City	N.Y.	205,000
64	Coffee Shop	$14,300,000*	$26*	New York City	N.Y.	555,000
65	Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse	$14,300,000*	$46*	Chicago	Ill.	306,000
66	Portland City Grill	$14,276,415	$72	Portland	Ore.	208,000
67	The Four Seasons	$14,150,000*	$152*	New York City	N.Y.	106,000
68	Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth	$14,102,093	$14	Frankenmuth	Mich.	987,364
69	Jean-Georges Steakhouse	$14,100,000*	$110*	Las Vegas	Nev.	130,000
70	Bryant Park Grill	$14,000,000*	$50*	New York City	N.Y.	268,000
71	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse	$13,930,512	$70	Oak Brook	Ill.	219,669
72	The Milleridge Inn	$13,900,000*	$43*	Jericho	N.Y.	320,000
73	The Bazaar by José Andrés	$13,900,000*	$100*	Beverly Hills	Calif.	138,000
74	Delmonico Steakhouse	$13,800,000*	$85*	Las Vegas	Nev.	160,000
75	Rock Center Cafe	$13,800,000*	$56*	New York City	N.Y.	246,000
76	N9NE Steakhouse	$13,660,000*	$80*	Las Vegas	Nev.	167,000
77	Atlanta Fish Market	$13,544,500	$48	Atlanta	Ga.	266,000
78	Virgil's Real Barbecue	$13,526,645	$26	New York City	N.Y.	994,594
79	Cliff House	$13,479,570	$43	San Francisco	Calif.	256,380
80	Mike's "American"	$13,400,000*	$27*	Springfield	Va.	458,000
81	Quartino Ristorante	$13,199,196	$28	Chicago	Ill.	435,888
82	Boulevard	$13,100,000*	$75*	San Francisco	Calif.	173,000
83	Carmine's	$13,065,111	$31	Atlantic City	N.J.	101,907
84	Bavarian Inn of Frankenmuth	$12,993,605	$16	Frankenmuth	Mich.	814,426
85	Cafe Fiorello	$12,900,000*	$56*	New York City	N.Y.	230,000
86	Junior's (Times Square)	$12,800,000*	$19*	New York City	N.Y.	700,000
87	Keens Steakhouse	$12,700,000*	$78*	New York City	N.Y.	158,000
88	Daniel	$12,700,000*	$170*	New York City	N.Y.	85,000
89	Tavern on Rush	$12,687,644	$71	Chicago	Ill.	338,338
90	George's at the Cove	$12,650,000*	$85*	La Jolla	Calif.	150,000
91	Spago	$12,600,000*	$56*	Las Vegas	Nev.	230,000
92	Makoto	$12,437,096	$60	Bal Harbour	Fla.	221,096
93	Tavern on the Green	$12,300,000*	$50*	New York City	N.Y.	240,000
94	Bartolotta Ristorante	$12,300,000*	$101*	Las Vegas	Nev.	140,000
95	The Southern Steak & Oyster	$12,289,167	$61	Nashville	Tenn.	396,000
96	Morimoto	$12,118,053	$100	New York City	N.Y.	116,137
97	Phillips Seafood	$12,095,816	$29	Baltimore	Md.	417,968
98	Fix	$12,050,000*	$75*	Las Vegas	Nev.	203,000
99	Alioto's Restaurant	$12,039,092	$45*	San Francisco	Calif.	270,000
100	Oceana	$12,000,000	$85	New York City	N.Y.	140,000

*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. Rankings are based on gross 2021 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.

Want your restaurant to be considered for next year’s Top 100 Independents list? Contact us at jmaze@winsightmedia.com.

“Over the past year we’ve added a ‘text for reservation’ option that not only cut down our call volume but gave our guests another way to interact with us directly. Adding this technology has made our team much more efficient and enables us to capture more reservations in real time.”MOLLY CURREY, CMO, WHAT IF...SYNDICATE (NOS. 4, 12)

Top 100
Independents