Fast-Casual Chains Continue to Outperform Other Restaurants, Says Technomic

Fast-casual restaurants provide fast service and fresh, high-quality food in upscale settings. The Top 100 chains totaled $14.8 billion in sales, accounting for most of the $16 to $17 billion the entire fast-casual industry grossed in 2007, an industry that demonstrates solid performance and diversity across several menu categories.

Fast-casual restaurants occupy a niche that gives casual-dining consumers an opportunity to “trade down” to lower-priced yet high-quality fresh food, and allow quick-service customers a way to “trade up” to a more upscale “third place” environment that offers affordable food quickly at a cost that is usually only about $2 to $4 more than typical quick-service venues. However, their success has attracted the attention of both full-service restaurants and quick-service chains.