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	Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant	$45,298,122	$120	Miami Beach	Fla.	284,799
2	The Boathouse	$43,863,194	$45	Orlando	Fla.	1,001,254
3	Komodo Miami	$37,209,977	$126	Miami Beach	Fla.	295,055
4	Maple & Ash Chicago	$32,011,192	$225	Chicago	Ill.	253,793
5	Mila	$31,246,339	$147	Miami Beach	Fla.	202,715
6	Sierra Mar	$28,978,562*	$200*	Big Sur	Calif.	174,000
7	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Chicago)	$28,837,192	$97	Chicago	Ill.	322,352
8	Gibsons Italia	$28,806,727	$115	Chicago	Ill.	290,631
9	Alexxa's	$28,800,000	$80	Las Vegas	Nev.	600,435
10	Alinea	$28,359,015*	$650*	Chicago	Ill.	45,689
11	Castaway Burbank	$27,812,116	$85	Burbank	Calif.	230,834
12	Tavern on the Green	$26,994,126*	$63*	New York	N.Y.	649,871
13	Paddlefish	$26,745,321*	$56*	Orlando	Fla.	525,000
14	Le Diplomate D.C.	$26,733,921	$84	Washington	D.C.	378,483
15	Taste of Texas Restaurant	$26,697,846	$66	Houston	Texas	401,035
16	Cafe Americano - Caesars Palace	$26,100,838	$32	Las Vegas	Nev.	767,853
17	Top of the World at The STRAT Hotel, Casino & Tower	$26,059,250	$125	Las Vegas	Nev.	200,000
18	Smith & Wollensky	$25,954,130	$119	New York	N.Y.	232,756
19	Rusty Pelican Miami	$25,792,587	$87	Miami	Fla.	208,380
20	Makoto MIAMI	$25,239,426	$85	Miami	Fla.	293,220
21	Arnaud's	$25,196,347*	$85*	New Orleans	La.	319,852
22	Maple & Ash Scottsdale	$24,265,878	$126	Scottsdale	Ariz.	193,339
23	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Oak Brook)	$24,195,029	$95	Oak Brook	Ill.	275,569
24	Prime 112	$24,150,000	$160	Miami Beach	Fla.	200,000
25	Shooters Waterfront Restaurant	$24,107,545	$67	Ft. Lauderdale	Fla.	421,491
26	Pastis NY	$23,458,943	$63	New York	N.Y.	358,352
27	Papi Steak	$23,082,857	$230	Miami Beach	Fla.	99,966
28	Parc	$23,029,465	$68	Philadelphia	Pa.	369,043
29	Harris Ranch Resort	$22,903,357	$43	Coalinga	Calif.	669,818
30	St. Elmo Steak House	$22,693,928	$124	Indianapolis	Ind.	178,144
31	Bazaar Meat by José Andrés	$22,671,698*	$156*	Las Vegas	Nev.	210,000
32	The Oasis	$22,497,269*	$32*	Austin	Texas	700,000
33	Mayami	$22,453,652	$115	Miami	Fla.	250,000
34	Buddakan NY	$21,945,431	$98	New York	N.Y.	217,870
35	Perch LA	$21,541,335*	$105*	Los Angeles	Calif.	227,369
36	Juniors Restaurant (Times Square/ 45th St)	$21,472,825	$25	New York	N.Y.	517,894
37	Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Rosemont)	$21,430,443	$96	Rosemont	Ill.	253,955
38	Original Joe's Westlake	$21,018,080	$53	Daly City	Calif.	387,220
39	Abe & Louie's	$20,794,901	$112	Boston	Mass.	161,774
40	The Hampton Social - Nashville	$20,213,519	$45	Nashville	Tenn.	449,189
41	Quality Meats	$20,121,443	$127	New York	N.Y.	156,351
42	American Social Bar & Kitchen (Tampa)	$19,551,930	$50	Tampa	Fla.	389,005
43	Matt's El Rancho	$19,544,426	$31	Austin	Texas	630,465
44	Quality Italian	$19,537,690	$101	New York	N.Y.	197,831
45	Swan	$19,470,967	$113	Miami	Fla.	171,428
46	Merriman's (Waimea)	$19,369,147*	$105*	Waimea, Big Island	Hawaii	219,587
47	Zehnder's Restaurant	$19,258,113	$19	Frankenmuth	Mich.	970,156
48	Chicago Cut Steakhouse	$18,999,632*	$120*	Chicago	Ill.	224,128
49	Cafe Americano - Paris Las Vegas	$18,946,124	$28	Las Vegas	Nev.	661,611
50	Bryant Park Grill & Cafe	$18,750,236*	$62*	New York	N.Y.	300,000
51	Quality Bistro	$18,449,068	$108	New York	N.Y.	188,577
52	Haywire	$18,242,998	$47	Plano	Texas	386,122
53	Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn	$18,234,733	$23	Frankenmuth	Mich.	790,392
54	Barry's Downtown Prime	$18,000,000	$140	Las Vegas	Nev.	240,900
55	Anaheim White House	$17,998,742*	$136*	Anaheim	Calif.	199,657
56	BOA Steakhouse	$17,809,000	$125	West Hollywood	Calif.	143,000
57	Delmonico Steakhouse (Las Vegas)	$17,121,354*	$137*	Las Vegas	Nev.	135,231
58	Junior's Restaurant (Times Square/49th St.)	$16,969,913	$26	New York	N.Y.	425,227
59	Old Mill Restaurant	$16,900,000	$18	Pigeon Forge	Tenn.	915,039
60	China Live	$16,833,917	$54	San Francisco	Calif.	350,700
61	Bob Chinn's Crab House	$16,754,823*	$59*	Wheeling	Ill.	352,000
62	Harry Caray's	$16,541,287*	$69*	Chicago	Ill.	289,231
63	Las Brisas	$16,288,737	$161	Laguna Beach	Calif.	321,253
64	Orange Hill	$15,810,523	$62	Orange	Calif.	179,108
65	Original Joe's North Beach	$14,975,136	$51	San Francisco	Calif.	262,907
66	Quartino Ristorante	$14,941,625	$34	Chicago	Ill.	417,888
67	Prime & Provisions	$14,900,000	$125	Chicago	Ill.	119,200
68	LYRA	$14,750,000	$95	Chicago	Ill.	155,263
69	Beauty & Essex (Las Vegas)	$14,692,417*	$154*	Las Vegas	Nev.	163,628
70	Le Coucou NY	$14,428,386	$207	New York	N.Y.	59,051
71	Paradise Cove Beach Cafe	$14,258,926	$59	Malibu	Calif.	241,677
72	Whiskey Joe's Bar & Grill Tampa	$13,818,858	$40	Tampa	Fla.	224,564
73	Zou Zou's	$13,761,794	$77	New York	N.Y.	122,054
74	Bestia	$13,752,421*	$95*	Los Angeles	Calif.	145,169
75	Atlanta Fish Market	$13,603,566	$59	Atlanta	Ga.	195,333
76	Girl & the Goat	$13,599,487*	$97*	Chicago	Ill.	176,000
77	15th Street Fisheries	$13,459,696	$53	Fort Lauderdale	Fla.	305,225
78	Harry & Izzy's	$13,353,893	$80	Indianapolis	Ind.	160,821
79	CHICA Las Vegas	$13,147,642	$104	Las Vegas	Nev.	74,730
80	Bistro 31	$12,986,512*	$89*	Dallas	Texas	144,890
81	Cabo Wabo Cantina	$12,858,269*	$55*	Las Vegas	Nev.	230,000
82	Tony's Pizza Napoletana	$12,713,556	$32	San Francisco	Calif.	397,299
83	Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House	$12,695,383	$64	Chicago	Ill.	153,586
84	Carte Blanche	$12,655,451*	$325*	Dallas	Texas	32,786
85	The Spot	$12,350,000	$18	Galveston	Texas	686,000
86	Atlantic Fish Company	$12,277,555	$71	Boston	Mass.	145,023
87	Junior's Restaurant (Brooklyn)	$12,268,300	$25	Brooklyn	N.Y.	159,903
88	Ida Claire	$12,242,375	$38	San Antonio	Texas	322,167
89	Francie	$12,138,974*	$195*	Brooklyn	N.Y.	49,987
90	Brindille Chicago	$11,998,753*	$200*	Chicago	Ill.	48,651
91	Siena Tavern	$11,900,000	$57	Chicago	Ill.	206,957
92	Fleet Landing Restaurant & Bar	$11,784,512	$44	Charleston	S.C.	312,019
93	Electric Lemon NY	$11,747,367	$90	New York	N.Y.	143,955
94	Bar Siena	$11,500,000	$39	Chicago	Ill.	294,872
95	El Vez	$11,434,983	$55	Philadelphia	Pa.	255,826
96	Mi Vida	$11,337,995	$51	Washington	D.C.	226,981
97	Scoma's Restaurant	$11,300,000	$67	San Francisco	Calif.	167,577
98	Mexican Sugar	$11,262,743	$33	Las Colinas	Texas	318,579
99	The Shed Barbecue & Blues Joint	$11,235,658*	$35*	Ocean Springs	Miss.	321,000
100	Chef Adrianne's Vineyard Restaurant and Bar	$11,155,420	$91	Miami	Fla.	122,587

*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