The 11 Top 100 restaurants in California are almost evenly split between San Francisco and Los Angeles/Orange County. Here are the top-grossing independents in the Golden State.
The Buzz: A popular 2016 menu addition was Tartufo Pizza: mozzarella, fontina, truffle pecorino, creme fraiche, black truffle mushroom pate and soft cooked egg.
The pizza giant believes it has good products. It just needs to do a better job of telling customers about it. The company is also promising a lot more menu innovation.
The 570-unit seafood chain already closed nearly 100 locations before filing for bankruptcy in May. But it may have to close others if it can't get better terms on lease payments.
The industry veteran with a knack for scaling full-service brands is bringing his expertise to three Southeastern mainstays and is on the hunt for more.