Erika Adams

The launch of the Innovation Kitchen is like everything else the brand has done up until this point: relentlessly slow to roll out and completely worth the wait.

In an industry where surviving for five years is cause for celebration, 104-year-old institution Russ & Daughters is legendary for its staying power. It takes a powerful mix of delicious food, loyal customers, and the right leadership to get to this point.

It's a big win for Impossible Foods, positioning it as one of the startups to beat when it comes to plant-based proteins in the industry.

Maintaining core brand identity, and being able to communicate the same level of hospitality and food quality to customers no matter which ThinkFoodGroup restaurant they are stepping into, is crucial as the company moves through a rapid pace of growth.

What does a successful restaurant team look like? How is it built? What are its values? These are the questions that restaurateurs are grappling with now more than ever. The ones who devote significant time and effort to seeking answers are the ones who will succeed in an constantly-changing industry.

Scaling up is great for the service, but it's not immune to growing pains along the way.

Later operating hours, cheap tacos, more bacon. CEO Brian Niccol is taking what worked at Taco Bell and plugging it into Chipotle's playbook.

Papa John's was already having sales troubles earlier this year, before the fallout with the company's founder. Now, however, the situation is exponentially worse: the company is expecting an unspecified number of store closures and potentially double-digit sales declines by the end of the year.

Nobody says it's easy. All three say it's worth it.

This decision comes as no surprise. Unlike Seamless, Eat24 didn't have the same brand identity with its core customers. If there's no potential customer blowback, it makes more sense to convert those users over to Grubhub.