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An entrepreneur’s passion can fuel growth, or get in the way.

Read on to see which award-winning dishes made this year’s distinguished panel literally clean their plates in 2016.

Despite some smaller cities growing their presence, New York City dominates the Top 100 Independents. Here are the 30 highest-grossing independent restaurants in the Big Apple.

These 10 groundbreakers all pushed the envelope during the last 12 months in terms of both design and operation, bending traditions and blurring lines within their typical space to set new directions.

Ten of the Top 100 Independents operate in the windy city, and another three are located in Chicago's suburbs. This list of restaurants is heavy on steakhouses, with some seafood and Italian for good measure.

The segment may be maturing, but these growing fast-casual concepts have found plenty of opportunity.

These are the independent steakhouses bringing in the big bucks.

The top-performing independent steak restaurants of the year

The leading independent restaurants lured diners with new seafood riffs as well as limited-time or seasonal menu offerings showcasing fresh ingredients.

The top-performing independent restaurants specializing in Italian cuisine of 2017.

A dozen new restaurants made their way onto the Top 100 Independents ranking. Some weren't open long enough to make the sales minimum on last year's list. Others' incremental growth did the trick. And in a few cases, owners asked to be considered, and they were spot on.

Five of the highest-grossing independent restaurants in the U.S. are in the nation’s capital, from one of America’s oldest places to talk politics to a newcomer owned by a consortium of family farms.