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Restaurant Grapevine

Patrick Moore

• 6 min read
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Restaurant Grapevine
The Grapevine is where restaurant suppliers discover what's next!

Week of October 23-29, 2026

The Pipeline: What's Opening Next

Our research desk is tracking 517 new pre-opening restaurant leads published since October 20. Here are six openings suppliers should have on their radar:

  • Bourbon Steak — Charlotte, NC (January 2027). Chef Michael Mina's MINA Group, nearly three decades old, has built more than 25 chef-driven concepts across eight states and Washington, D.C., plus Dubai and Riyadh, and this will be its first Charlotte restaurant. The steakhouse centers on premium beef, seafood and peak-season produce, backed by a deep wine and cocktail program, and it is going into a luxury hotel setting. Earlier coverage pointed to a 2026 debut, so the date has already slid once. Expect demand for prime beef and seafood, seasonal produce, wine and spirits, tabletop and POS.
  • Smoque BBQ — Glenview, IL (January 2027). The Chicago barbecue favorite has run its original Irving Park restaurant since 2006, and its menu leans on Texas-style brisket, pulled pork and St. Louis and baby back ribs. This second location in the northern suburbs was reported to include a bar, and earlier coverage described delays with no firm date. Brisket, pork and rib suppliers, smoker and fuel vendors, bar and beverage distributors and takeout packaging companies should all pay attention.
  • Max & Louie's New York Diner — Port St. Lucie, FL (March 2027). The brand opened in San Antonio in 2016 as a tribute to the founder's meat-business family and has grown into an all-day diner serving burgers, deli sandwiches, pizzas, calzones and steaks, with an ice cream shop added next door in 2024. This is its first Florida restaurant, a notable step beyond its Texas roots. Deli meats, breads, eggs and dairy, griddle and oven equipment, ice cream supplies and POS are the natural categories.
  • Din Tai Fung — Chandler, AZ (March 2027). The dumpling house began in Taipei in 1958 and is best known for soup-filled xiao long bao, fluffy buns and hand-pulled noodles. Its U.S. restaurants have so far been in California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and New York, and this will be its second Arizona location, following a first Valley restaurant that earlier reports slated for 2026. Flour, pork, shrimp and produce suppliers, steamer and kitchen equipment vendors, tea and beverage distributors and reservation and POS technology providers have the most to gain.
  • Bikanervala — Frisco, TX (April 2027). This Delhi-based sweets-and-snacks brand traces its roots to 1905, now counts about 150 outlets in India and abroad, and runs an entirely vegetarian menu. It had five U.S. locations as of fall 2024, including one in Irving, so Frisco deepens its Dallas-area footprint. Details such as the final menu are not yet confirmed. Look for demand in dairy, paneer, lentils, flours and spices, dessert and fryer equipment, display cases and takeout packaging.
  • Hopdoddy Burger Bar — Schertz, TX (June 2027). The Austin-born burger chain, founded in 2010, was sold by private equity firm L Catterton to Founders Table Restaurant Group in June 2026 and now has 47 locations, more than 30 of them in Texas. Its menu pairs Angus and Kobe beef burgers with chicken, turkey and ahi tuna, hand-cut fries, boozy milkshakes and a margarita program. Targeting spring or summer 2027, this is the brand's first Schertz restaurant. Beef, buns, produce, dairy, bar and beverage suppliers, fryer and packaging vendors and POS providers should get in early.
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Why it matters for suppliers: A steakhouse, a dumpling house, a burger bar and a diner each need a full vendor roster, from POS and kitchen equipment to signage, insurance and food and beverage, and most of it is placed before opening day, often with whoever called first. RAR tracks these openings and holds verified decision-maker contact information behind them, so subscribers know exactly who to call while the buying is still open. Email Patrick@RestaurantActivityReport.com to talk about getting access.

Sales Playbook: Selling to Restaurants

Skip "Did I catch you at a bad time?" when you call a restaurant. Gong's analysis of more than 90,000 B2B cold calls found that opener succeeded 0.9% of the time against a 1.5% baseline, while "How have you been?" reached 10.01%, about 6.6 times baseline. Stating a reason for the call lifted success roughly 2.1 times. Chris Orlob, Gong's content author, calls the friendly question "a pattern interrupt." The data spans industries and comes from a software vendor, but the lesson travels: owners and chefs often answer mid-prep, so open warm and brief, say who you are and one specific reason for calling, then ask a single question. Never hand them an easy exit. (Gong Labs)

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Why it matters for suppliers: A restaurant owner answering between prep and service decides in seconds whether you are worth hearing out. Lead with a specific reason for calling and one clear question, and you will keep more conversations alive than any opener that asks permission to speak.

Fast casual is still outgrowing the rest of the restaurant industry, according to the 2026 Fast Casual State of the Industry Report. FastCasual.com and Datassential project the segment to grow 1.4% in real terms in 2027, against 0.9% for restaurants overall, and 76% of fast casual operators expect more foot traffic next month, the most optimism of any segment. Food costs are the top challenge for 85% of operators, and median item prices are up 5% to $9.99. Nonalcoholic drinks led first-half menu launches, and off-premise orders made up 58% of segment revenue. FastCasual.com produced the report itself with its research partner. (FastCasual.com)

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Why it matters for suppliers: Fast casual operators are optimistic about traffic but squeezed by food costs, so the strongest pitch is cost control: steady pricing on proteins and produce, and beverage programs for the iced coffee and refresher boom. With off-premise at 58% of sales, packaging that survives the trip is an easy conversation.

Market Signals

Chubby Cattle Group is buying 47 Gen Korean BBQ restaurants in a $100 million deal. The New York-based parent of Chubby Cattle, Wagyu House and The X Pot will also take four development sites, while Gen keeps three restaurants for training and its packaged-goods line. Each location becomes either a Gen X version of the concept or a Chubby brand, with Chubby funding the conversions, the first 12 targeted for Nov. 1 and the full takeover spread over 12 months. Chubby operates more than 70 locations, recently raised $50 million in Series A funding and plans to reach 100 restaurants in 2026. (Los Angeles Business Journal)

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Why it matters for suppliers: A change in ownership and branding resets menus, vendor lists and purchasing contracts. Suppliers to Gen's locations should confirm who now controls purchasing, and anyone with conversion-ready products should reach Chubby before the transfers wrap up.

Labor & Costs

Three former Chili's workers allege sex and race discrimination tied to tipped-wage pay. Reuters reports that the proposed class action, filed in federal court in Brooklyn against Chili's operator Brinker International, argues New York's lower minimum wage for tipped workers makes servers rely on tips and tolerate harassment and customer bias. The plaintiffs, who worked at a Glendale, Queens location, also say Chili's use of customer ratings to set schedules and table assignments can be racially biased. Brinker did not respond to Reuters' request for comment, and these are allegations, not findings. (Reuters)

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Why it matters for suppliers: Tip-credit pay and guest-rating systems are drawing legal scrutiny. Vendors of scheduling, payroll, training and HR tools can expect operators to ask how their products reduce compliance risk, so lead with that.

Technology & Innovation

Bojangles is extending its Bo-Linda drive-thru AI partnership with Hi Auto to about 600 of its roughly 890 restaurants. Restaurant Dive reports the voice system, launched in 2024, runs in about 500 locations and will add 100 more by mid-2027. According to the companies' press release, it handles more than one million orders a week at 98% accuracy. New features include upselling that adapts to drive-thru queue length and a photo of each car attached to its order. Restaurant Dive also notes that voice ordering has struggled to reach mass adoption elsewhere. (Restaurant Dive)

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Why it matters for suppliers: A chain taking drive-thru AI from a 2024 pilot to about two-thirds of its stores shows voice ordering is becoming standard where it works. Tech vendors should be ready to integrate with POS, and equipment and packaging suppliers should plan for faster, more accurate order flow.

Breaking News

Instacart is reportedly exploring a sale, with DoorDash among the possible buyers. 24/7 Wall St. reports that Instacart is working with an investment bank after The Information said it held preliminary talks with Uber and DoorDash, and that a later report said Uber has stepped away. Instacart's market value was about $12 billion before the news, so a typical takeover premium would put a deal near $16 billion to $17 billion. No bid has been confirmed, talks may not lead to a deal, and antitrust scrutiny is likely. (24/7 Wall St.)

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Why it matters for suppliers: A DoorDash-Instacart deal, if it happens, would give one platform more leverage over fees and data. Expect operators to ask about third-party delivery costs, and packaging and delivery-focused vendors should watch who ends up in control of the combined audience.