Entry Details

About the Entry

Category: 
All Content > Original Research Article > Upper Midwest

Title of entry: 
Top 100 Independents

Issue or Publication date:
Dec. 5, 2025

Publication name: 
Restaurant Business

View Website home page:
restaurantbusinessonline.com

Entry URLs

Entry Essay: 
Restaurant Business is one of the most respected business publications in the country, covering every part of the $1 trillion restaurant industry, from hot dog cart to McDonald’s. RB and its award-winning team cover everything from finance to marketing to operations to the broader economy. The publication features in-depth investigations, feature stories and packages, profiles, analysis, opinion and daily news, as well as a healthy selection of podcasts and short-form video. Its team is active on social media channels, including X, LinkedIn and TikTok. It has more than 3,000 subscribers to its paid RB+ subscription, which continues to grow in both subscriber count and revenue every year.

The Top 100 Independents package generates substantial engagement for Restaurant Business around the country, largely from local publications that write about restaurants in their markets. Contributing Editor Liz Barrett Foster painstakingly researches the largest independent restaurants and produces a list of those that generate the most revenue in a single year. The research takes several weeks and the work provides some unique insight into the condition of independent restaurants. We use this to provide fodder for stories all year long.