Waffle House

Top 500 Chains

Waffle House

The concept added gift cards for the first time at the end of 2016

Food

Inside the Future 50 menus

The 2012 Future 50 has distinguished itself as being one of the most varied collections of menus we’ve ever featured in our annual ranking of the fastest growing small chains in the country. The largest menu category represented—“varied menu”—typifies this.

The quick-service chain is also planning a permanent memorial at the unit where the shooting occurred.

Chefs in foodservice operations of all stripes are bringing distinct culinary experiences to their catering customers, offering everything from farm-to-fork menus to boxed lunches to deluxe sit-downs.

You might have guessed it but Technomic research confirms the trend: Sandwiches are the most menued entrée items across all segments and cuisine types. From 2010 through September, 2012, sandwiches beat out the next popular items, main salads and pizza, by a large margin.

Operators find ways to straddle the line of restaurant and retail to bring more business in-house.

No longer are restaurant mission statements all about the menu. Today, they’re more likely to focus on the overall experience an operation is hoping to provide, conveyed in a short, compact statement rather than a lengthy, clunky paragraph. Experts say the modern mission statement should be just broad enough to allow for expansion and fundamental changes to a concept without any growth-hindering contradictions.

Waffle House, a coffee-counter concept that hasn’t generated gasps with its tech innovations to date, is pairing up with the latest in app-based sharing, a new service that’s equal parts eBay and Uber.

It just may be the most under-exploited category on morning menus.

With steep competition, getting customers in the door—and keeping them coming back—means understanding what they value and delivering on those needs.

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