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Popular Articles

The most-read analysis and research across QSR Pro. See what operators, franchisees, and investors are reading right now.

All TimeThis MonthThis Week
Tropical
Industry Analysis•March 2026

Tropical Smoothie Cafe: the health-forward QSR winner

176 new locations in 2024, $2B Blackstone acquisition, and 12 straight years of same-store sales growth. Why smoothies plus wraps is a winning QSR formula.

QSR Pro Staff•
Category:AllFinance & EconomicsIndustry AnalysisMarketing & GrowthOperations & ManagementPeople & CultureTechnology & Innovation
559 articles|645 total published
7 min read
•8
$20
People & Culture•March 2026

California's $20 Fast Food Wage, Two Years Later: Higher Prices, Fewer Jobs, and an Automation Accelerant

Two years after AB 1228 imposed a $20 minimum wage on California fast food workers, new UC Santa Cruz research shows higher prices, reduced employment, and accelerated automation.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•8
Restaurants
Technology & Innovation•March 2026

Restaurants Are Betting Big on AI. Only 5% Say It's Actually Working.

A new benchmark study of 168 restaurant brands and 94,000 locations reveals a stark gap between AI enthusiasm and measurable results. Nearly three-quarters of operators are investing in AI, but fewer than one in ten report meaningful impact on operations or guest experience.

QSR Pro Staff•6 min read•8
Employee
People & Culture•March 2026

QSR Employee Training Programs Ranked

McDonald's Hamburger University, Chick-fil-A's leadership program, Taco Bell's Start with Us. An honest ranking of who actually invests in people and who doesn't.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•8
250
Operations & Management•March 2026

Starbucks Goes South: Inside the 250,000-Square-Foot Nashville Bet Reshaping QSR Corporate Strategy

Starbucks is building its largest corporate outpost outside Seattle in Nashville, hunting for 250,000 square feet to house supply chain operations and up to 2,000 workers. The move follows a $1 billion restructuring, 500 store closures, and 1,100 corporate layoffs. For QSR operators watching the corporate migration south, the playbook is becoming impossible to ignore.

QSR Pro Staff•7 min read•7
Kitchen
Technology & Innovation•March 2026

Kitchen Robotics Hits the Proof-of-Concept Stage: From Bowl Builders to Robot Woks, What's Actually Working

Travis Kalanick's Atoms platform just brought its Lab37 Bowl Builder out of stealth, promising 300 bowls per hour and 30-50% labor cost reductions. Meanwhile, a robot wok in Philadelphia's Chinatown is cooking 5,000-plus dishes without a human chef. A clear-eyed look at which kitchen automation technologies have crossed into commercial viability and which are still proving themselves.

QSR Pro Staff•7 min read•7
2026
Finance & Economics•March 2026

Private Equity's 2026 QSR Playbook: How Buyout Firms Are Reshaping Franchise Ownership

From Blackstone's $8 billion Jersey Mike's deal to a private equity consortium taking Denny's private for $620 million, 2025 was a banner year for restaurant M&A. Here's what the dealmaking tells us about where franchise ownership is headed.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•7
75
Industry Analysis•March 2026

Jack in the Box Enters Survival Mode: A 75-Year-Old Chain's Fight to Stay Relevant

Jack in the Box is closing up to 200 locations, sitting on $1.7 billion in debt, and posting its second straight quarter of 7%-plus sales declines. New CEO Lance Tucker's 'Jack on Track' plan is the chain's last clear shot at a sustainable future.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•7
Wawa
Industry Analysis•March 2026

Wawa vs Sheetz vs QuikTrip: The Convenience Store QSR War

Wawa, Sheetz, and QuikTrip generate B+ combined in annual revenue, with food representing 35-45% of sales. They're stealing breakfast, lunch, and dinner traffic from McDonald's, Subway, and Dunkin' with better food, lower prices, and unbeatable convenience.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•7
70
Operations & Management•March 2026

Off-Premise Dining Hits 70% of QSR Revenue and the Restaurant Is No Longer the Destination

Drive-thru, delivery, and takeaway now account for more than 70% of revenue at leading QSR brands. The implications go far beyond convenience. This shift is fundamentally rewriting how restaurants are designed, where they are built, how they are staffed, and what the economics of a single unit actually look like.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•7
Subway
Finance & Economics•March 2026

Subway Under Roark Capital: Same-Store Sales Rising, but the Footprint Keeps Shrinking

Roark Capital paid $9.6 billion for Subway in 2023 and has since posted 12 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth. Yet the U.S. store count has dropped below 20,000 for the first time in two decades. Understanding that contradiction is the key to understanding Roark's playbook.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•7
Restaurant
Industry Analysis•March 2026

Restaurant Brands International Posts 5.3% System-Wide Sales Growth as Burger King's Royal Reset Gains Traction

RBI delivered 5.3% system-wide sales growth for 2025, with Burger King U.S. comps up 2.6% and Popeyes scaling to a $2B run-rate. The $550M Royal Reset is showing results.

QSR Pro Staff•7 min read•6
000
Industry Analysis•March 2026

Raising Cane's Hits 1,000 Restaurants and Is Not Slowing Down: Inside the Fastest-Growing QSR Story in America

Raising Cane's opened its 1,000th restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard in March 2026. The privately held chain plans 100+ new locations this year as it targets 1,600 total and top-10 QSR status.

QSR Pro Staff•7 min read•6
Open
Finance & Economics•March 2026

How to Open a Taco Bell Franchise

Taco Bell is the dominant player in Mexican-inspired QSR, with over 8,000 locations generating more than $13 billion in annual system sales. The brand has spent the last decade evolving from a late-ni

QSR Pro Staff•7 min read•6
14
Operations & Management•March 2026

McDonald's Best Burger Initiative: A Quality Overhaul Across 14,000 U.S. Locations

McDonald's is rolling out its Best Burger program to every U.S. market by the end of 2026. The initiative overhauls cooking methods, seasoning, and bun preparation across 14,000 locations. It is the most ambitious quality push since the Made for You system two decades ago.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•6
51
Technology & Innovation•March 2026

51% of QSR Brands Are Now Investing in AI, but Most Still Can't Prove ROI

More than half of limited-service restaurant brands are spending on AI, but the gap between investment and measurable return is widening. Here's what's blocking ROI and which use cases are actually delivering results.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read•6
Customer
Marketing & Growth•March 2026

QSR Customer Loyalty: What Actually Drives Repeat Visits

Beyond apps and points. Research-backed insights on convenience, consistency, value perception, and why most loyalty programs miss the mark.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•6
000
Technology & Innovation•March 2026

Sidewalk Delivery Robots Just Hit 2,000 Units Across 20 Cities. The Economics Are Starting to Work.

Serve Robotics reached 2,000 deployed sidewalk delivery robots across 20 cities by the end of 2025, a 20x increase from the prior year. With a 99.8% delivery completion rate, 4,500 merchant partners, and a new White Castle partnership through Uber Eats, autonomous last-mile delivery is shifting from experiment to operational reality for QSR brands.

QSR Pro Staff•8 min read•6
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