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5 quick-service restaurants to watch in the independent restaurant space

As dining rooms remain closed or limited capacity due to coronavirus restrictions, many restaurateurs have turned to a quick-service format for new concepts

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

January 13, 2021

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With full-service dining suffering under ongoing pandemic restrictions, independent operators are turning to the quick-service model to meet the needs of guests.

Modeling themselves after chains that saw sales climb during the crisis in 2020, these concepts maintain limited-service elements and have been able to remain open in many cities and states where indoor dining has been closed, under limited capacity or has been in a state of flux as COVID cases (and related restrictions) surge and wane.

Counter service, ordering windows, smaller staff operations plus smaller footprints have allowed these restaurants to fare better at a time when full-service operators are failing.

Unlike chains, however, these independent operators are also creating more inventive menu items, with an emphasis on hand-held items, from fried matzo balls to coffee drinks using goat milk.

Get to know these QSR indies in the newest restaurant niche to trend.

About the Author

Holly Petre

Assistant Digital Editor

Holly Petre is a digital editor for Nation’s Restaurant News as well as the host of NRN’s podcast, Extra Serving, and producer for Informa Restaurant and Food Group’s other three podcasts, One On One by Food Management, Off the Shelf with SN and In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn. Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture, fibers and Material Studies and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native New Yorker, Holly enjoys her place on staff as the resident pop-culture expert and millennial with a sassy attitude and great sense of style.

Holly Petre’s work on Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality often covers marketing and trends, either aimed-at or examined-through the millennial mindset. Holly is responsible for introducing TikTok and Twitch to NRN and RH readers as well as explaining terms like “Karen” to staff and readers alike. She also spends her time on staff trying not to make every headline a pun.

Holly Petre hasn’t spoken at any events or on panels, but she is readily available with a killer shoe wardrobe and several witty quips.

 

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