Track the brands gaining momentum, understand what consumers truly value and identify growth opportunities across more than 23,000 emerging restaurant concepts.
AI Leaves the Pilot Lane
Restaurant AI just crossed from pilot to standard. Taco Bell runs voice AI in more than 890 U.S. drive-thrus, Bojangles is taking its AI lane to every unit, and Burger King plans an AI assistant in all U.S. restaurants by year-end. The bigger shift is quieter: AI is moving off the speaker and into hiring, prep, cross-sells and invoices, where the payback is easier to prove. Kitchen robots, meanwhile, are still mostly tests. Read the full operator playbook and this week's Savor AI Signal Watch, ahead of the Savor AI 50 winners on Dec. 1.
The Cheap Chicken Era Ends in 2027
Wings and eggs are set to lead next year's food inflation, Washington is taking aim at unauthorized delivery listings, and AI is finally doing the paperwork. Here's how operators protect margin before January pricing.
The cheap-chicken era has an end date. ArrowStream now expects the items that got cheaper in 2026 to lead food inflation in 2027, with wings up about 42% and liquid eggs up about 45%. At the same time, Congress has a bipartisan bill that would stop delivery apps from listing restaurants without permission, and AI tools are starting to do back-office work like invoices, purchasing and prep instead of just reporting on it. The operators who win next year will lock in costs now and steer guests to channels they control. Members get the full playbook, plus this week's Savor Brand Price Watch.
Convenience Is the New Discount
Guests aren't just spending less. They're showing up less, and the reason surprised us: in William Blair's latest survey, "inconvenient" beat "too expensive." That changes the playbook. Fast food's discount war is winding down in favor of better food, bankrupt operators are turning into bargain deal flow, and Olo's new app, systemwide drive-thru voice AI and loyalty programs are all fighting over the same thing: who owns the guest's next order. Members get the full breakdown.