Types of Restaurant Ordering Technology
Explore the main types of ordering technology restaurants use to improve accuracy, speed, payments, customer convenience, and operational efficiency daily.
Aug 17, 2026
Explore the main types of ordering technology restaurants use to improve accuracy, speed, payments, customer convenience, and operational efficiency daily.
Aug 17, 2026
Learn the eight essential steps of the restaurant payroll process, from tracking hours and calculating wages to payments and recordkeeping.
Aug 17, 2026
Panera Bread welcomes Andrew Rebhun as its new CMO to spearhead strategic brand growth and transformation, bolstering its vision for 2028.
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Discover how restaurant SMS marketing works, from building subscriber lists and creating campaigns to improving engagement and measuring marketing performance.
Aug 14, 2026
The transition of Pizza Hut's CEO, Aaron Powell, marks a pivotal moment for the chain and offers valuable leadership lessons for restaurant owners. Here’s what this executive change could mean for your business.
Aug 17, 2026
Learn how to manage cash flow in your restaurant by tracking finances, controlling costs, forecasting needs, and building cash reserves.
Aug 14, 2026
Increase online orders by simplifying checkout, optimizing menus, improving Google visibility, promoting ordering channels, and encouraging customers to order again.
Aug 12, 2026
Streamline restaurant back office operations by standardizing workflows, automating repetitive tasks, integrating systems, centralizing data, and improving accountability and efficiency.
Aug 12, 2026
McDonald’s USA has appointed Patrick Gerber as chief restaurant officer, leveraging his decades of global experience to boost operations, food quality, and customer satisfaction in the U.S. market.
Aug 11, 2026
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers promotes Rick Petralia to Executive Chef & VP of Training & Innovation, signaling a strategic focus on culinary excellence and franchisee support.
Aug 12, 2026
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Salad and Go's bankruptcy and closure offer key lessons on growth, risk management, and market dynamics for restaurant leaders. See what every operator can learn.

Salad and Go, once a fast-growing drive-thru salad concept, has shuttered all locations after filing for bankruptcy. The 13-year-old chain, which at its peak operated 140+ stores across multiple states, cited relentless inflation, wavering consumer demand, and expansion missteps as contributing factors in its decision to close. Its final 70 stores in Arizona and Nevada served their last guests this week.This dramatic reversal is a reminder that even brands with strong consumer appeal and innovative models are not insulated from the broader volatility of the restaurant industry, especially amid rapid scale-ups and shifting market forces.
The timeline of Salad and Go’s closure reveals classic pitfalls of unsustainable growth. In just two years, the chain nearly doubled its footprint before abruptly reversing course and closing half its stores in less than 12 months. Expansion into Texas and Oklahoma led to costly investments, including a commissary kitchen built to support extensive regional growth - investments that outpaced demand.As markets shifted, attempts at consolidation came too late to stabilize the business, despite efforts to innovate menu offerings and bolster local operations. For modern restauranteurs, this is a warning - agility and data-driven market testing must precede infrastructure spend, and scaling should always be coupled with contingency planning.
Salad and Go’s demise was further hastened by factors outside its control, like heightened consumer anxiety after a foodborne illness outbreak that hurt the entire fresh-food sector. Even though the brand was not the source, the ripple effect underscores the necessity for all restaurant leaders to develop comprehensive crisis plans and transparent communication strategies. Investing in strong food safety protocols and training can help insulate brands from reputational harm when industrywide events occur.
Salad and Go’s leadership sought to reinvigorate the brand with product launches, pricing strategies, and operational streamlining right up to the end. However, once trust erodes and market position dwindles, even the strongest teams face uphill battles to recover. Restaurant operators should foster a culture of continuous adaptation - where menu development, customer experience, and operational excellence are revisited regularly instead of only during tough times.
Every operator stands to learn from Salad and Go’s journey. To future-proof your concept, adopt the following -
The Cyclospora outbreak illustrates a risk every food-service brand faces - reputational damage that has nothing to do with your own kitchen. Fresh-food and salad concepts were especially exposed, since consumers don't always distinguish between brands during a health scare — they just get more cautious about the entire category. Strong food safety protocols and clear crisis communication won't guarantee immunity from that kind of ripple effect, but they help a brand hold onto customer trust when the broader narrative turns negative.