This segment adapts as consumer habits change.

The global quick-serve restaurant market size is expected to be worth around $1.8 trillion by 2033, according to market.us, during which time it will grow at 9.4% annually.

But it’s not always easy for restaurant operators in the QSR space, or fast casual or fast food — the variety of service styles can blur for consumers. What is expected across the board: be all things to all people, offer a pleasant experience that’s also efficient, and provide service — but also no-contact ordering and delivery.

“Customers will appreciate the efforts made by operators and see they differentiate from other competitors,” says Darren Tristano, CEO and founder, Foodservice Results, Chicago. “In some cases, with younger consumers, the efforts will bring an emotional connection between the customer and the brand, strengthening their loyalty and patronage.”

Opening dual brands with Capriotti’s and Wing Zone makes sense from a real estate perspective.

Dual Brands

Dual branding appears to be getting a reboot from QSR brands. Multiconcept operator GoTo Foods (formerly known as Focus Brands) owns restaurant chains that include Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s and McAlister’s Deli. GoTo Foods has more than 175 co-branded units with more in development, some in streetside locations and some in tri-branded locations.

In 2023, GoTo launched Cinnabon Swirl, a combo of Cinnabon and Carvel that fully integrates the two concepts. It also continued opening combined Jamba Juice/Auntie Anne’s locations, where the brands remain distinct and separate.

Brand synergy is key when pairing up brands. Buona and The Original Rainbow Cone, two concepts in Berwyn, Ill., currently have 12 dual-branded locations, and another 25 are in development.

They complement each other, explains Joe Buonavolanto, executive vice president at Buona Companies. “It helps grow dayparts, increase check average, and there’s a lot of economies of scale in terms of management, labor costs, food costs. You’re also leveraging your build-out costs.”

Buonavolanto launched his first dual brand in 2018. He retrofitted a Buona store (a chain that specializes in Italian beef and serves entrees like burgers and pizza) that was making $3 million a year and added the Rainbow brand. Sales jumped to $4 million in the first year.

“The brands have to have synergy, and you’re going after the same customers,” says Buonavolanto. “A lot of time and attention goes into the store design to make sure we’re leveraging human capital.”

The two concepts share prep and cooler space but have separate makelines. The front of the house includes different paint colors for each brand, and staff — wearing different uniforms — work separate POS stations. The kitchen is easily delineated. Rainbow only requires about 80 items — mostly frozen — and each brand has different storage and its own sections in the cooler. The only shared space is the walk-in cooler and the prep space.

Las Vegas-based Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop and Atlanta-based Wing Zone (which Capriotti’s acquired in 2021) are launching dual brand locations, too. The brands work well together, says David Bloom, chief development and growth officer for Capriotti’s and Wing Zone.

Capriotti’s business is around 60% off-premises; Wing Zone’s is 90% off-premises. And about 60% of Capriotti’s business occurs at lunchtime, while 60% to 70% of Wing Zone’s sales are for dinner. “It’s a more efficient use of real estate,” says Bloom. “And Wing Zone has a pretty strong late-night component, so it gives us a third daypart.”

A lot of efficiency comes with dual branding in the back of the house in terms of refrigerators, freezers and grease traps, Bloom explains. And although each concept has its own equipment needs, the brands do share fryers. In the front of the house, the POS stations for each brand are separate but may be combined down the road as technology evolves.

“Dual branding allows operators to broaden their menu offering and consumer appeal,” says Tristano. “The broader menu eliminates some veto votes for larger groups but ultimately gives consumers what they are looking for with taste, flavor and price.”

The synergy between Buona and The Original Rainbow Cone allows locations to be busy at multiple dayparts.

Small Format Stores

Small restaurants have become a reality with off-premises orders on the rise. They’re faster and cheaper to open, require fewer staff to operate, and typically see a quicker return on investment.

Mooyah Burgers, Shakes and Fries is moving to smaller stores. “It allows us to do the same sales in a smaller footprint,” says Doug Willmarth, president of the Plano, Texas-based brand.

Before COVID-19, Mooyah’s locations were around 2,400 square feet with a patio and around 75 seats. Now that’s dropped down to 1,800 to 2,000 square feet with 20 to 30 seats, and the concept’s looking into more endcap locations, after its first opened in July. Drive-thrus are a nice addition, Willmarth says, because the format “adds an additional sales channel.”

Smaller locations expand the spaces Mooyah can go into and reduce the cost of real estate by about half. And since sales have switched from around 60% dine-in to closer to 60% off-premises, the design of the smaller unit emphasizes pickup. They have an easy, direct path to the pickup counter, and they feature designated parking spots for carryout customers. Early next year Mooyah will pilot curbside delivery technology as well.

Generally, small format stores are easier to manage, find sites for, maintain and adjust or change, says Maeve Webster, president of Menu Matters, Arlington, Vt. “Additionally, as back-of-house technology — prep and storage equipment — continues to evolve, operators will likely need less back-of-house space to do the same amount of food prep. So, smaller kitchens will increasingly be able to more easily push out a wider selection or higher volume of food making the smaller space even more cost-effective.”

Smaller locations allow Mooyah to do the same sales in a condensed footprint.

Designated Pickup Areas

Mooyah also likes to have designated pickup spots in its restaurants so customers can skip the lines. The one complication is that 15% of orders contain milkshakes, so these are stored separately from the rest of the order, in an undercounter freezer, so an employee runs this station. This also ensures customers get the correct meals and everything they ordered.

Since COVID-19, Jersey Mike’s Subs has added a pickup tower at the end of its two makelines so consumers picking up orders can interact with employees on the line if they would like. The pickup tower consists simply of a metal shelving rack with a big vinyl “Pick Up” sign above.

Fast-casual concept Genghis Grill places pickup stations to the left of the front door, featuring warming cabinets and cold holding areas. The brand is considering adding pickup windows designated for third-party pickup to keep in-store traffic down even further. It’s important, says Gregg Majewski, CEO of parent company Craveworthy Brands, Chicago, “to change the layout to serve [off-premises business] so it’s not an afterthought.”

Designated parking spots are a win, says Danny Bendas, managing partner of Synergy Restaurant Consultants, Costa Mesa, Calif. “We also sometimes recommend, based on the layout, the use of pickup cubicles near the designated parking areas so that, in an ideal scenario, the person picking up can quickly park, get to the locker, scan their code and retrieve their product while maintaining sight of their vehicle. Ideally, this could allow for a quick retrieval without having to bring the kids along or worry about pet safety.”

Food Truck Expansion

Grégoire, a fast-casual restaurant, is expanding via food trucks. The company, founded by Grégoire Jacquet, has had one location in Berkeley, Calif., for 21 years. Jacquet designed a flatbed truck for the operation himself and then worked with a company that wrapped it in stretchy stickers and added an awning.

Two employees operate the truck, and there’s room to add two or three more staff members during busy times. It has 18 feet of kitchen space and a receiving area. Jacquet’s goal was to make it as customer friendly as possible.

Grégoire, a one-location fast-casual restaurant, plans to expand via food trucks largely due to the more attractive cost structure for potential franchisees.Typically, trucks have a high window with a fly guard that employees open and close, but he didn’t want staff looking down on customers, so Jacquet designed the truck so the window was lower, separate from the kitchen and without a screen. A wall separates this space from the kitchen so there’s not a food safety issue with insects.

The kitchen is “very compact,” Jacquet says and can operate with one cook and minimal steps. The truck contains the same makeline and equipment (fryer, grill, flattop) as in the streetside Grégoire locations, but the truck’s oven is a little different because it runs on butane. The burners are a mini version of what’s in the restaurant (two instead of four), and the 48-inch grill and griddle has been reduced to 12 inches.

A Grégoire culinary food truck is projected to cost future franchisees 50% less than a brick-and-mortar location, though Jacquet says “there is potential to pull in as much revenue as a traditional brick-and-mortar location.”

The food truck offers the full Grégoire menu. The concept has a central kitchen where all prep, sauces and soups are made. The truck operator will order everything it needs at the end of the day once staff have done their inventory, and it’s delivered the next morning. “We change our menu quarterly, so it would be difficult to train all the franchisees at the same time,” says Jacquet. Instead, the food is simply finished at the location.

Bendas points out that trucks can help restaurants maximize their brand awareness, their profits and the efficiency of their brick-and-mortar locations. “The trucks become another viable sales channel that can improve cost per square foot as well as labor productivity.”

And, Webster points out, food trucks allow operators to get to customers in different venues. She adds that food trucks can also allow an operator to break a bit from stricter brand strategies and experiment with new formats or flavors while still upholding their brand strategy. For example, operators “could use food trucks to focus on only one section of the menu or one format available and really blow that out more than what would be possible on the menu given space and focus for a sit-down meal. Food trucks can also act as incubators for the operators.” 

Concept Trends

Salad and healthful restaurants are growing faster than other chains, according to Datassential’s “2024 Top 500 Restaurant Chain Report.” Between May 2023 and May 2024, they grew at 10.5% — faster than coffee chains, which grew by 5.8%, regional/global concepts (4.7%), dessert/snack restaurants (4.3%) and Mexican concepts (3%).

Healthful brands are growing from a small base, says Huy Do, research and insights manager, Datassential, Chicago, and this group is largely composed of smaller brands like Nautical Bowls and Playa Bowls. “Consumers appreciate both healthful ingredients and speed, convenience and customizability,” he points out.

Drive-thrus are pushing coffee concept growth at the moment, and the regional/global segment is comprised mostly of globally inspired cuisines rather than regional U.S. cuisines, he explains, particularly Korean, Japanese and Mediterranean food. 

The increase in dessert concepts contrasts with the healthy trend, and there’s a “heightened need for indulgence, after years of cabin fever, dramatic life changes, and emotional turmoil,” says Do. “In our recently published Midyear Trends report, we discovered that over a third of consumers, when eating out at restaurants, tend to order a mix of items that sound both healthy and delicious or indulgent. There will always be room for both of these need-states as consumers increasingly want their food choices to help them feel good — in both senses of the word.”