Leigh Anne Zinsmeister

Salad and Go is no longer a go. The company announced late Tuesday evening that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and shut down all 70 of its remaining locations. In a statement, the company cited sustained consumer pressures, past growth challenges, and rising costs, adding that the cyclospora outbreak in July compounded these issues even though the chain itself was not implicated. Salad and Go was founded in 2013 and was fully acquired by Volt Investment Holdings in 2021. Following that acquisition, the chain grew at a staggering pace, opening about one location a week with plans to get into the thousands. It ended 2024 with about 150 locations, but by the following year was down to 70, where it remained until Wednesday, when operations ceased across the system.

Guest Check: The drive-thru salad chain closed all remaining locations this week and filed for bankruptcy. Is it because we didn’t love it enough?

Burger King ’s sales took off last quarter. The fast-food chain’s U.S. same-store sales rose 8.5% in the second quarter, parent company Restaurant Brands International said. But Popeyes’ sales were lackluster, declining 5.2% in the U.S. Sales increased 0.7% at Firehouse Subs and 0.1% at Tim Hortons Canada. Burger King’s sales increased through a combination of strong operations and marketing, and the company lured more customers for its Whoppers and its kids’ meals.

Papa Johns is overhauling its marketing strategy amid another quarterly sales decline.

According to Chartwells Higher Education’s 2026 Fall Flavor Forecast, Gen Z is trending toward smaller meals, fiber, and a variety of beverages.

Chili’s hot streak continues as Brinker announced 21 straight quarters of same-store sales growth. The company’s 5% comps growth was driven almost entirely by Chili’s performance as Maggiano’s traffic continued to struggle. Last quarter, the brand successfully launched its big Crispy Chicken sandwich, its latest “dig” at the quick-service sector. The result? A 175% increase in average sandwich sales. Beyond marketing wins, the company also touts its behind the scenes back to basics improvements, like a shift scheduling upgrade for managers, and an update to the tableside Ziosk tablet, which now lets customers add their loyalty account information for automatically applied rewards.

Guest Check: Chicken Tenders seem to be popping up in new and surprising places every day.

Social media creator Salish Matter has teamed up with Chipotle to launch The Salish Matter Order, a kid’s cheese quesadilla with white rice, black beans, and guacamole, alongside kid’s chips, and chocolate milk. The meal is available exclusively on the Chipotle app and website for a limited time. This marks Chipotle’s first meal in tandem with a Gen Alpha influencer. Matter has millions of followers on social media along with her father, and is also the co-founder of Sincerely Yours, a skincare brand created for teenagers and pre-teens. The collaboration was inspired by her loyalty to the Chipotle brand, as she often features her regular kid’s cheese quesadilla order on her channels.

Guest Check: The younger generation is getting an increasing amount of marketing attention. But who is really making the choices here?

Starbucks has laid off more than 200 workers. The coffee shop giant said in a federal worker layoff notice that 104 employees have been laid off as part of a previously announced restructuring. Another 120 workers are being laid off because they’ve opted not to move to Nashville, where the company is opening a support center. The first separations are expected to take place by Oct. 18, with the rest by November 1.