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Restaurant Grapevine

Patrick Moore

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

Week of Sept 19-25, 2026

Openings & Closings

Six chains closing hundreds of units through 2026-27. Wendy's (300-350 units), Papa Johns (300), Pizza Hut (250), Jack in the Box (50-100), Noodles & Company (30-35), and Darden's Bahama Breeze (14) are all shedding underperforming locations after multiple quarters of declining same-store sales and traffic. (Restaurant Dive)

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Why it matters for suppliers: Closures this size free up built-out kitchen space, equipment, and staff at once — a window for equipment resellers, POS switch-over incentives, and staffing agencies to reach displaced GMs and crews before they land elsewhere.

The Pipeline: What's Opening Next

Our research desk is tracking approximately 598 pre-opening restaurant leads nationwide as of this week — here's a sample of what's coming down the pipe:

  • Sant Ambroeus is opening its first Texas location in Dallas, targeting early 2027.
  • La Pecora Bianca is bringing its first Florida location to Coral Gables this November.
  • Lettuce Entertain You is opening a new pizza concept, Pizzeria Gabbo, in Chicago's Fulton Market this fall.
  • A Phoenix restaurant group is opening a 5,000-sqft barbecue-and-seafood concept at Park Central this October.
  • Stix Asia, an 18,000-sqft food hall, is targeting a year-end opening at Las Vegas' UnCommons.
  • An Old Hollywood-inspired chophouse is taking over a former Buca di Beppo space in Scottsdale this fall.
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Why it matters for suppliers: Every one of these openings needs a POS system, kitchen equipment, furniture, signage, insurance, and staffing before day one. Email Patrick@RestaurantActivityReport.com to see the full pipeline for your territory.

M&A / Investment

Ninety Nine Restaurants explores a sale. Cannae Holdings is reportedly weighing a sale of the casual-dining chain, following sister brand O'Charley's recent closure of its corporate-owned locations. (Nation's Restaurant News)

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Why it matters for suppliers: Ownership changes typically freeze new vendor contracts during due diligence, then trigger a re-bid of POS, supply, and marketing vendor relationships once new ownership is in place — worth flagging for your CRM's follow-up cadence.

Labor & Operations

Florida's minimum wage climbs to $15 on September 30. Non-tipped workers rise to $15/hour and tipped workers to $11.98, the final scheduled step of a 2020 voter-approved amendment. Florida becomes the 19th state at or above $15. (WEAR ABC 3)

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Why it matters for suppliers: Labor-cost step-ups like this are exactly when operators shop for scheduling, labor-management, and back-office automation tools that promise to offset the hit — a natural outreach trigger for tech vendors targeting Florida accounts.

Tech & Supply Chain

SumUp launches POS Plus for independents. SumUp's new $49/month tier adds floor-plan management, employee PIN login, multi-device order management, barcode scanning, cost-of-goods tracking, and QuickBooks/Xero integration. (GlobeNewswire)

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Why it matters for suppliers: Every new entrant at this price point resets what independents expect to pay for "chain-level" tooling — useful competitive intel if you sell POS, payments, or back-office software into the same segment.