McDonald’s gets nostalgic. On-premises dining matters to two chains. A lack of pennies adds up to big problems for some restaurants. These stories and more This Week in Foodservice.

McDonald’s is betting big on a couple of tried-and-true initiatives.

To help boost sales, the Chicago-based burger chain will lean heavily into its Extra Value Meals and Monopoly promotion, per an analysis from The Food Institute. In some respects, it would be easy to simply write this off as McD’s simply rehashing old ideas. In reality, though, all restaurant chains are doing what they can to boost customer traffic, including during non-peak periods, and nostalgia is a playing a key role in doing so, which is why these efforts make some sense in the current operating environment.

Further along those lines, McDonald’s is rolling out its cult favorite McRib sandwich as a limited-time offer to select restaurants, as Axios reports.

In other words, what’s old is new again for many restaurants like McDonald’s.

Foodservice News

• Looking for further proof that the beverage business will continue to boom? Then look no further than Daybright, a beverage-focused concept Chick-fil-A is quietly testing. The company sees it as both a consumer test and a potential proving ground for next-generation operational technology, per a story from Restaurant Technology News. Chick-fil-A opened its first location in Georgia late last month. Its menu centers on specialty coffee and tea drinks. Daybright also offers a small lineup of baked and prepared items made onsite. The unit has a drive-thru and a small dining room.
• On-premises dining still matters. In a digital era where off-premises dining occasions continue to grow, that’s the unspoken message from Outback Steakhouse. The chain plans to invest $75 million over the next three years to improve the on-site dining experience in its restaurants, per multiple published reports, including this one from FSR Magazine. The multifaceted approach includes enhancing the quality of its steaks, adjusting its service by reducing the number of tables servers cover during peak periods to four from six and a greater focus on consistent execution.
• Sales are, well, sizzling at Sizzler thanks to a refreshed design. The 80-unit chain saw sales increase anywhere from 47% to 100% in remodeled locations, per a QSR story. The design features upfront payment, an all-you-can-eat salad bar in the center, digital menu boards, reclaimed wood accents and a fireplace.
• Sweetgreen will sell its robotic-restaurant building business to Wonder for $100 million, per various published reports, including this one from Restaurant Business. Spyce is Sweetgreen’s technology company that the salad chain uses to develop its automated Infinite Kitchen makelines. As part of the deal, Sweetgreen has a license agreement with Wonder that will allow it to continue to open its Infinite Kitchens and take advantage of new technologies. Spyce debuted in 2020 and was acquired by Sweetgreen in 2021.
• Wendy’s may trim its unit count a bit. During its third-quarter earnings call, the chain said it plans to take a strategic review of its store portfolio and will begin closing a number of underperforming units, per a Restaurant Dive story. This will begin later this year and could run into 2026.
• Turns out banning pennies can be a big deal for restaurant operators. In August, the U.S. Mint produced its last pennies as part of a cost-saving measure initiated by the Trump Administration. While billions of pennies remain in circulation, shortages continue to happen because the government has stopped moving them around to ensure a stable supply. So why is this a big deal for restaurants? Well, for starters, a lack of pennies could make it difficult for a restaurant operator to make exact change for cash-paying customers and in some states, that’s a requirement, as this video from The National Restaurant Association explains.
• Restaurants around the country are stepping up to help SNAP participants affected by the federal government shutdown. The Today Show provides an overview of what some restaurants are doing to assist SNAP participants during this time. In addition, plenty of restaurants and other operations are doing their part on the local level, too.

Economic News

• The cost of the federal government shutdown continues to grow. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a six-week shutdown will reduce the fourth quarter GDP by 1.5 percentage points, per an Associated Press story. As a result, fourth quarter GDP growth will be roughly 50% less than the previous quarter. The re-opening should boost first-quarter growth by 2.2 percentage points, the CBO added. A total of $11 billion in economic activity will be lost.
• Despite some macro headwinds, is the U.S. economy still growing? A report from ITR Economics says yes. In doing so, ITR reports to a strong showing from the Redbook Index and the U.S. Weekly Economic Index.
• Private employers added 42,000 jobs in October, per the monthly ADP National Employment Report. This marks the first time since July that private employers added jobs, ADP notes. The leisure and hospitality sector lost 6,000 jobs for the month. The sectors adding jobs include trade/transportation/utilities (47,000) and education/health services (26,000).
• S.-based companies announced 153,074 job cuts during October, per data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement and executive coaching firm. Through the first 10 months of 2025, announced job cuts are 65% more than the same period as last year and 44% more than all of 2024.
• Economic activity in the services sector returned to expansion mode in October. ISM’s Services PMI Report came in at 52.4%, a 2.4% increase from the previous month. Any reading greater than 50 indicates expansion. Eleven industries reported growth in October, which is one more than in September.