Restaurant Megatrends 2018: A New Kind of Big Money Can Remake Independent Restaurants

[caption id="attachment_212320" align="alignright" width="240"] Download your copy of Skift Megatrends 2018[/caption] We've just released our first annual restaurant industry trends forecast, Skift Megatrends 2018. You can read about each of the trends on Skift Table as well as download a copy of our magazine here. As competition in restaurants heats up, it takes a lot more than an idea, talent, experience, and a business plan to open and operate a successful business. It also takes a lot of money, especially in cities where real estate has exploded and left a mess in its wake. Private equity and big dollar investors have rapidly changed the restaurant industry as restaurateurs and chefs look to people and institutions to back their ideas and concepts, both new and growing. In one way, this is why restaurateur Danny Meyer started his New York City-based private equity fund: to help young restaurants with good ideas grow and thrive where they may have otherwise see