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Popular Articles

The most-read analysis and research across QSR Pro. See what operators, franchisees, and investors are reading right now.

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Tropical
Industry Analysis•March 2026

Tropical Smoothie Cafe: the health-forward QSR winner

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.

QSR Pro Staff•
Category:AllFinance & EconomicsIndustry AnalysisMarketing & GrowthOperations & ManagementPeople & CultureTechnology & Innovation
523 articles|645 total published
7 min read
•7
$20
People & Culture•March 2026

California's $20 Fast Food Wage, Two Years Later: Higher Prices, Fewer Jobs, and an Automation Accelerant

Two years after AB 1228 imposed a $20 minimum wage on California fast food workers, new UC Santa Cruz research shows higher prices, reduced employment, and accelerated automation.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•7
Chili's
Industry Analysis•March 2026

Chili's Just Posted Six Straight Quarters of Double-Digit Sales Growth. Fast Food Should Be Worried.

Something unexpected is happening in American dining: a sit-down restaurant chain with table service is beating fast food at its own game. Chili's has posted six consecutive quarters of double-digit same-store sales growth, driven by a $10.99 combo that directly competes with McDonald's and Wendy's value meals. For QSR operators, the implications are serious.

QSR Pro Staff•7 min read•7
2026
Finance & Economics•March 2026

Private Equity's 2026 QSR Playbook: How Buyout Firms Are Reshaping Franchise Ownership

From Blackstone's $8 billion Jersey Mike's deal to a private equity consortium taking Denny's private for $620 million, 2025 was a banner year for restaurant M&A. Here's what the dealmaking tells us about where franchise ownership is headed.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•7
$8
Finance & Economics•March 2026

Jersey Mike's $8 Billion Gamble: Inside Blackstone's Franchise Growth Machine

Blackstone paid $8 billion for a majority stake in Jersey Mike's, making it one of the most expensive QSR acquisitions in history. Now the private equity giant is executing a textbook franchise growth play: 400+ new units in 2026, international expansion into the UK and Ireland, and whispers of an IPO before the decade ends.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•7
Employee
People & Culture•March 2026

QSR Employee Training Programs Ranked

McDonald's Hamburger University, Chick-fil-A's leadership program, Taco Bell's Start with Us. An honest ranking of who actually invests in people and who doesn't.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•7
70
Operations & Management•March 2026

Off-Premise Dining Hits 70% of QSR Revenue and the Restaurant Is No Longer the Destination

Drive-thru, delivery, and takeaway now account for more than 70% of revenue at leading QSR brands. The implications go far beyond convenience. This shift is fundamentally rewriting how restaurants are designed, where they are built, how they are staffed, and what the economics of a single unit actually look like.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•7
Restaurants
Technology & Innovation•March 2026

Restaurants Are Betting Big on AI. Only 5% Say It's Actually Working.

A new benchmark study of 168 restaurant brands and 94,000 locations reveals a stark gap between AI enthusiasm and measurable results. Nearly three-quarters of operators are investing in AI, but fewer than one in ten report meaningful impact on operations or guest experience.

QSR Pro Staff•6 min read•6
2026
Marketing & Growth•March 2026

Chick-fil-A's Spring 2026 Menu Offensive: Seven New Items and the Jalapeño Ranch Gambit

Chick-fil-A launched seven new menu items on March 9, 2026, capping a period in which the chain quietly rolled out six additional sandwiches earlier in the year. The headline move is a Jalapeño Ranch Club sandwich lineup that signals something more than a seasonal refresh.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•6
Customer
Marketing & Growth•March 2026

QSR Customer Loyalty: What Actually Drives Repeat Visits

Beyond apps and points. Research-backed insights on convenience, consistency, value perception, and why most loyalty programs miss the mark.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•6
$184M
Finance & Economics•March 2026

Fat Brands Gets $184M DIP Financing as Court Ousts Wiederhorn Family: What the Management Purge and Bid Timeline Mean for 2,200 Franchise Locations

A bankruptcy court approved $184 million in debtor-in-possession financing for Fat Brands while simultaneously pushing out CEO Andy Wiederhorn and his three sons. With qualified bids due April 24 and an auction set for April 28, more than 2,200 franchise locations across 18 brands now face a compressed ownership transition timeline.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•6
Subway
Finance & Economics•March 2026

Subway Under Roark Capital: Same-Store Sales Rising, but the Footprint Keeps Shrinking

Roark Capital paid $9.6 billion for Subway in 2023 and has since posted 12 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth. Yet the U.S. store count has dropped below 20,000 for the first time in two decades. Understanding that contradiction is the key to understanding Roark's playbook.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•6
2026
People & Culture•March 2026

Starbucks Workers United: Four Years Without a Contract and the March 2026 Proposal That Could Break the Deadlock

Starbucks Workers United filed a comprehensive contract proposal on March 13, 2026, reigniting stalled negotiations that have dragged on for four years without a first contract. For QSR operators watching from the sidelines, the Starbucks labor standoff is the most consequential union story in the industry's modern history.

QSR Pro Staff•7 min read•5
Kitchen
Technology & Innovation•March 2026

Kitchen Robotics Hits the Proof-of-Concept Stage: From Bowl Builders to Robot Woks, What's Actually Working

Travis Kalanick's Atoms platform just brought its Lab37 Bowl Builder out of stealth, promising 300 bowls per hour and 30-50% labor cost reductions. Meanwhile, a robot wok in Philadelphia's Chinatown is cooking 5,000-plus dishes without a human chef. A clear-eyed look at which kitchen automation technologies have crossed into commercial viability and which are still proving themselves.

QSR Pro Staff•7 min read•5
2026
Finance & Economics•March 2026

Tariffs Are Squeezing Restaurant Margins in 2026, and the Playbook Is Running Thin

A new wave of tariff-driven cost pressure is hitting restaurant operators at the worst possible time, with food costs up 40% over five years while menu price increases lag at 30%. With consumer spending softening and supply chains in flux, the traditional tools for protecting margins are losing their edge.

QSR Pro Staff•6 min read•5
Fatigue
Marketing & Growth•March 2026

LTO Fatigue Is Real: Placer.ai Data Shows McDonald's Big Launches Generating Only Modest Traffic Lifts

McDonald's Shamrock Shake and Big Arch Burger generated short-lived, single-digit traffic bumps in early 2026. Placer.ai and AlixPartners data reveal a broader pattern: the industry's go-to traffic weapon is losing its edge as consumers grow more selective.

QSR Pro Staff•5 min read•5
350
Industry Analysis•March 2026

Wendy's Is Closing Up to 350 U.S. Locations. Here's What Went Wrong.

Wendy's posted its worst same-store sales decline since the pandemic and is now closing up to 358 U.S. restaurants in the first half of 2026. A breakdown of what went wrong: breakfast underperformance, value messaging failures, leadership instability, and franchise economics that no longer work.

QSR Pro Staff•10 min read•5
Unit
Finance & Economics•March 2026

QSR Unit Economics Explained: What Every Investor Needs to Know

AUV, four-wall EBITDA, payback period, sales-to-investment ratio - these are the metrics that separate winning QSR concepts from value traps. Here's how to read the numbers that actually matter.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•5
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