Photographs courtesy of the brands
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Taste Tracker: Holiday catering takes off with feasts from Carrabba’s, Cotton Patch and Dickeys and breakfast packages at Einstein Bros.
Metro Diner’s heat-and-serve dinners; Velvet Taco wraps chicken pot pie in a tortilla; peppermint keeps trending, and more top menu news of the week.Multimedia
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Financing
Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle
The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.
Operations
Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining
Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.
Financing
The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues
The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.