Top 100 Independent Restaurants of 2024. | Photograph courtesy of Alla vita
Price inflation and rising labor costs weren’t enough to stop this year’s Top 100 independent restaurants from collectively grossing nearly $2 billion in food and beverage sales in 2023.
It’s no secret that restaurants are facing higher costs and growing competition, and the restaurants on this year’s Top 100 Independents list are not immune to the effects. In fact, 25% of this year’s restaurants experienced a decline in sales from the previous year. However, resilient operators had a plan to help offset extra costs, including hosting private events, increasing operational efficiency, and buckling down on staff training.
“The rapid shift from the post-COVID spending spree to a more cautious consumer environment coupled with rising interest rates, industry-wide strikes, and real estate market challenges have created an extremely complex landscape for business,” said Jill Dukes, VP of marketing for BOA Steakhouse (No. 55) in West Hollywood, California. Despite this complex business environment, the company was able to move forward with opening a new location in Austin, Texas.
Other restaurants are growing and expanding, too. Del Mar (No. 91) will open its third location in 2025; The Spot (No. 73) opened another location in 2023 and its first franchised airport location in 2024; Mi Vida (No. 98) is opening an additional outpost this year with more planned for 2025; Original Joe’s (No. 26 and No. 58) has plans to open a sixth restaurant soon; and Haywire (No. 48) plans to double its number of locations.
Restaurants have been raising prices at a rate higher than inflation for most of the past three years in response to rising costs. In fact, at full-service restaurants like those on the Top 100, prices have risen 3.8% over the past year. And it seems to be paying off. For the first time in history, foodservice industry sales in 2024 are forecast to top $1 trillion, according to the 2024 State of the Restaurant Industry report published by the National Restaurant Association.
When attempting to compare the restaurants featured on this annual list, the biggest similarities continue to be the operations’ laser focus on hospitality and guest experiences more than viral food trends or new technologies.
“People have been eating the same stuff for thousands of years; it’s just recombining it in new and interesting ways. It’s giving the customer what they want at a value point, not a price point,” said Stephen Lombardo III, CEO of Chicago-based Gibsons Restaurant Group, which has seven of its 10 restaurant concepts on the Top 100, including Gibsons Italia at No. 7. “Value point includes the hospitality, the quality of the food, the service, the experience, the atmosphere, the ambience. It all has to be worth the price they’re paying.”
Kevin Boehm, co-owner of Chicago-based Boka Restaurant Group, with five of its 23 restaurants on the Top 100 list, admitted that restaurant concepts rarely present something entirely new. “We’re all doing cover songs,” said Boehm. When Boka was creating Swift & Sons (No. 53) the owners made a list of what they must have in a steak house, then asked how they could be more interesting. “At Swift & Sons, there’s a magician on the menu who will do magic at your table for $60,” Boehm said. “There’s also a chocolate trolley and carts that pull up tableside to create cocktails or slice beef wellingtons.”
Adapting to changing consumer tastes
Beyond stellar service, restaurants are watching and adapting to changing consumer tastes such as providing healthier options, revamping menus, and transforming spaces.
Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, based in Columbus, Ohio, manages 65 restaurants under 20 unique concepts, and focuses on evolving the company’s concepts to meet changing consumer preferences, such as with its Mediterranean-style Del Mar in Naples, Florida. “Guests today try to eat healthier, and the Mediterranean style of cuisine leans into that,” said David Miller, president and COO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. “We’ve found that both ladies and men really enjoy the Del Mar concept, so it’s great from a market analysis.”
In 2023, Tampa’s American Social Bar & Kitchen (No. 39) evolved its brand with an upgraded look and feel, introducing new menus and an enhanced beverage program, according to director of operations Mike Herchuck.
In Chicago, Prime & Provisions (No. 56) recently renovated its private dining spaces and main dining room, made changes to the menu, and began incorporating more tableside service such as the ice cream sundae cart.
“We underwent a $6 million renovation in 2022,” said Marc Falsetto, managing partner of Anthony’s Runway 84 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (No. 79). “We completely transformed the space into a 1960’s style supper club with live music nightly, tableside service and a high-end steak and wine program.”
Boosting efficiency with technology
The technology found in most Top 100 restaurants is located in the back-of-house, not customer-facing, with human contact and connection remaining a top priority.
“I like technology when there’s still an analog element to it,” Boehm said. “With OpenTable for instance, when a guest walks through the door and you go to the information screen about John Smith, the reservation notes tell you that John likes a window table, likes Sarah to wait on him, and is allergic to cilantro. We’ve got that extra information in an analog way; we’re using the digital to enhance his experience.”
At Miami’s Mila (No. 2), the restaurant utilizes technology for managing assets and monitoring restaurant standards, guest satisfaction and quality checks. “We do tons of quality checks throughout the day, especially prior to service, to make sure that we’re calibrating recipes from one day to another,” Greg Galy, founder and CEO of Riviera Dining Group, said.
“We’re looking at technology that tracks inventory, controls labor expense, answers the phones or takes reservations,” said Lombardo. “We’re also looking at technology in general for gaining more efficiency in the prep process, like a French fry-cutting machine that can do it in one-tenth the time as the old ones.”
Cameron Mitchell Restaurants have adopted kitchen display systems for accepting orders into the kitchen, and servers use handheld devices for order taking and payment processing. “All of our kitchens are a lot quieter, and you don’t have chefs yelling anymore,” Miller said. “It enables you to time your food much better, so the quality and freshness is better because of the computer assist.”
Engaging customers with experiences and events
In a recent Gallup survey, consumer sentiment toward restaurants was on the decline, hitting the lowest point since 2008, signaling operators to pay close attention to the customer experience.
At Mila, the customer experience and journey begin with the server explaining the restaurant concept to the guests, according to Marine Giron-Galy, partner and chief brand officer. The restaurant offers a multi-sensory and multi-venue culinary and lifestyle experience grounded in the mantra ‘Eudaimonia (a Greek word expressing the contented, happy state you feel when you travel and connect). Thanks to its unique guest experience and the addition of three distinct rooms that invite guests to explore those venues, Mila was able to increase its sales almost $18 million over the previous year.
Mila’s menu is a blend of Japanese and Mediterranean cuisines, something that restaurant founder Greg Galy said may seem misaligned but is very connected. “You can combine a technique with spice from the different cultures and really create something unique,” Galy said.
A new focus on event sales and execution resulted in private event sales of $2.6 million (a 7.9% increase above 2022) for American Social, according to Herchuck. The continued sales initiatives have the company projecting $3 million in private event sales for 2024.
The Plano, Texas, location of Haywire continues to thrive, especially in private dining, which reached nearly $3 million in 2023. This past summer, the company launched Camp Haywire, a weekly adult camp featuring live music, spirit tastings and unique activities designed to promote its rooftop bar.
Making team building a priority
According to the National Restaurant Association, the foodservice industry is on track to employ an estimated 15.7 million people despite 98% of operators citing increased labor costs as an issue. Operators of historic restaurants on this list proudly talk about staff members who have been a part of their team for over a decade, a testament to strong company culture. Newer restaurants are eager to build systems that can achieve the same type of longevity.
No matter where a restaurant is located, how long it’s been open, or the price point of its menu, consumers rate a good experience based on how the staff makes them feel. Or, as Boehm said, “Hot food hot, cold food cold, keep the bathrooms clean and be nice to people.” This philosophy extends into how Boka Restaurant Group nurtures its own team, with many of its staff advancing into new roles. “Our COO started as a bartender, our CFO started as a consultant and our chief culture officer started as a cocktail server,” Boehm said. “When people look at them, they think that could be them, too.”
Nick & Sam’s in Dallas (No. 17) has a six-week training program for its new servers, designed to help them become an expert in nearly every aspect of the restaurant. The company’s Three Golden Rules—Never say no to a guest, never lie to a guest, and protect the guests—are at the core of employee training.
At Mi Vida in Washington, D.C., KNEAD Life + Style launched in 2022 to enhance employees’ lives outside of work, adding a childcare component earlier this year.
The goal at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants is to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone is valued, welcome, heard and supported. The company’s guiding principle, and one that Miller said has driven growth over the years, is a simple daily challenge: Be better today than we were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than we are today.
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