Food halls are on the rise. Burger King aims to reclaim its flame. Unox opens a new manufacturing facility. These stories and more This Week in Foodservice.

Congratulations to the six restaurants that were named the 2026 James Beard America’s Classics Award winners.

Part of the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards, these “institutions reflect local character and cultural traditions and serve as an enduring anchor for their communities by serving delicious food across many years.”

Since the category’s inception in 1998, more than 100 restaurants across the country have earned the distinction of the American Classic Award.

Foodservice News This Week

• Despite economic conditions slightly improving during the month, the restaurant industry remained in contraction mode in January, per the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index. The RPI came in at 99.9% in January, which is 0.6% better than January. Any reading of less than 100%, though, indicates the industry remains in contraction. Looking ahead, 36% of operators anticipate their sales will increase in the next six months compared to only 12% that anticipate a decline.
• Food halls and entertainment venues are the top merging segments for parties of two or more, per data from Technomic. It’s 2026 Emerging Channels Consumer Trend report notes the top reasons consumers visit food hauls are to have a quick meal and the variety of food options. The top reason they visit eatertainment venues is to enjoy social activities with friends, families and co-workers.
• Dual-branded stores may have Dine Brands on a path to positive growth. Because of the company’s dual-branding initiative with its Applebee’s and IHOP concepts, Dine Brands could experience positive unit growth within the next one to two years, per a FSR story. Dine Brands has 32 dual branded stores in the U.S., and they achieve 1.5 to 2.5 times higher revenue than single-brand units and pay for themselves in less than three years, the story adds. Dine Brands expects to open 50 domestic dual-branded units in 2026.
• Burger King as a four-pronged plan that it hopes will help the company “Reclaim the Flame,” so to speak. The plan includes changes to its core menu items, broader operational use of artificial intelligence, extending its higher marketing fee rate and continuing the refranchising of restaurants formerly operated by Carrols, per a Restaurant Dive story.
• Sweetgreen is shaking things up a bit to improve its financial performance. The chain saw same-store sales decline 11.5% in its fourth fiscal quarter for 2025. For the year, the fast-casual chain saw a 7.9% decline in same-store sales. As a result, Sweetgreen is reconsidering its pricing structure, per a Restaurant Business story, The chain also plans to close a handful of units. On a more positive note, the chain began testing a line of wraps, which it says has been warmly received.
• Papa John’s plans to create a tighter-knit family. The chain plans to close what it describes as 300 underperforming units by the end of 2027, per a CNN story. This includes closing 200 locations in 2026. The impacted restaurants are “not meeting brand expectations or lack a clear path to sustainable financial improvement, as well as locations where we can effectively transfer sales to a nearby restaurant,” per a company spokesperson. Papa John’s had 3,500 units systemwide at the end of 2025.
• Unox opened its first U.S. manufacturing facility. The $20 million Denver, N.C., location represents a “key element of a global strategy bringing Unox closer to the customers we serve every day,” said Unox group CEO Nicola Michelon. The company began establishing a presence in the Charlotte, N.C., market back in 2017.

Economic News

• The U.S. remains, in a word, complicated. GDP increased 2.2% for 2025, which is 0.2% less than the previous year. The overall inflation rate declined 0.6% for the 12-months ending January 2026, per a News Nation analysis. But that’s only part of the story. Over that same period the costs of some items are up appreciably (coffee, beef and electricity), while other staples have seen their costs decline (eggs, gasoline and used cars). Unemployment is up 0.3% compared to January of 2025. And the economy did continue to grow, but at a slower rate.
• Initial jobless claims came in at 212,000 for the week ending February 21, 2026, per data from the U.S. Department of Labor. This represents an increase of 4,000 from the previous week. The 4-week moving average was 220,250, an increase of 750 from the previous week.
• A key inflation index rose more than economists had projected last month. The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.5%, per data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is 0.5% more than what Dow Jones economists had forecast and 0.1% more than December, per an analysis from CNBC. Prices for final demand services advanced 0.8% and the index for final demand goods declined 0.3%. For the full year, core wholesale prices accelerated 3.6%, while the headline index posted a 2.9% gain. Both figures are well ahead of the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation goal and suggest that rising prices are still a factor for the U.S. economy.
• Could AI crash the economy in two years? It’s a scenario worth monitoring, according to one market research firm, per a story from The Motley Fool. In its report “The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis,” outlined a scenario – not a prediction – that shows how AI’s displacement of jobs could send unemployment to rate to more than 10% and aggregate demand in the economy declines as people lose their incomes.