Fast-casual salad chain focused on local, organic ingredients
Chipotle opened a record 334 restaurants in 2025 and grew revenue 5.4% to $11.9B, but restaurant-level margins contracted to 23.4%. The fast-casual leader faces a new equation.
March 20, 2026
Kernel is dead. Sweetgreen sold its robotics division. Chipotle's automated makeline is still in testing. The promise of fully automated QSR kitchens has collided with the messy realities of food production at scale.
March 20, 2026
176 new locations in 2024, $2B Blackstone acquisition, and 12 straight years of same-store sales growth. Why smoothies plus wraps is a winning QSR formula.
March 20, 2026
Earnings calls are choreographed performances. CEOs spin, obfuscate, and bury the important information. Here's how to decode the language, spot the red flags, and find the truth underneath.
CloudKitchens closed facilities. Local Kitchens shut half its locations. Ghost kitchen funding dropped 95%. The delivery-only restaurant model collapsed when operators discovered platform commissions and rent costs left no margin. Here's what actually survived and why the $85 billion market looks nothing like the 2020 hype.
Site selection determines success before the first burger gets flipped. Prime locations are finite. Drive-thru capability is non-negotiable. Ground-up builds cost $1-3 million depending on market. Here's what separates profitable stores from money pits and why the best real estate teams score every site against objective criteria.