How Covid helped Olive Garden and Chipotle dominate the restaurant business
CNN
Restaurants of all sizes have had a difficult few years — but chains are coming out on top.
Several new challenges have made running restaurants and (working in them) even harder than usual, including pandemic restrictions, staffing challenges, supply chain disruptions and increasing costs. About 90,000 US restaurants have temporarily or permanently closed their doors because of the pandemic, according to The National Restaurant Association.
Big chains, even vulnerable ones like casual dining establishments, have fared a lot better than small restaurants and independents, thanks in large part to easier access to cash and the ability to lean on parent companies to lead the way on strategic shifts. In 2021, the top 500 restaurant chains accounted for 63% of total US restaurant sales, up from 58% in 2019, according to restaurant consulting firm Technomic.
In his early days in Congress, Markwayne Mullin tried pairing his suit jacket and tie with a pair of jeans on the House floor. Then-House Speaker John Boehner reprimanded the young Republican for breaking the dress code.
As President Donald Trump rachets up the pressure on Cuba’s communist-run government and threatens a US “takeover” of the island, he frequently repeats a central promise: that decades after they left, Cuban exiles will soon be able to return to their homeland.
The first two weeks of the Iran crisis have demonstrated military dominance by the US and Israel, with asymmetrical responses from Iran. How this plays out over the coming weeks will determine the outcome.
Utah mother Kouri Richins was found guilty of murder and all other charges in the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins, who died of a lethal dose of fentanyl.
The Virginia man accused of planting two pipe bombs in Washington, DC, the night before the 2021 US Capitol riot asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss his case, arguing that President Donald Trump’s expansive pardon of January 6 rioters applies to him.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Democratic rival and possible 2028 presidential candidate Gavin Newsom. But lately, he’s become fixated on saying the California governor cannot be president due to his “learning disability.”
Cuba’s electrical grid suffered a total collapse on Monday, the country’s power operator said, marking the latest nationwide blackout in recent years, and the first since the US effectively shut off the flow of oil to the island of roughly 10 million people.
Top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who led controversial immigration sweeps in Democratic-led cities, has told people he plans to retire at the end of the month, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
President Donald Trump’s handpicked Kennedy Center board of trustees voted Monday to close the storied performing arts institution for two years for renovations.
Florida GOP congressman Rep. Neal Dunn was thrust into the spotlight after Trump said he had a heart problem and underwent surgery
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, President Donald Trump announced Monday.
An Afghan man who served alongside US special forces and fled his native country after its takeover by the Taliban died over the weekend shortly after being detained by immigration authorities, according to his family and an advocacy group.
5 things to know for March 16: War with Iran, Oscar winners, Travel chaos, Severe weather, US airmen
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