On this week’s episode of Extra Serving, a podcast by Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Leigh Anne Zinsmeister and Joanna Fantozzi spoke about the latest in Q2 earnings.

As executive editor Alicia Kelso so eloquently put it in a piece she wrote last week, earnings season is like Christmas for the industry. A time to figure out how certain LTO campaigns worked for the major restaurant companies. This week, several big chains reported, including Starbucks, Papa Johns, Wingstop and Yum Brands. What are the themes the editors noticed and what do these results mean?

Also, the editors talked about MrBeast Burgers. The crown jewel of the virtual restaurant industry has had some consistency problems documented on social media. As a result of these claims, MrBeast himself wants to divest from the company and is taking action to have his name removed from the concept. Is this the death knell for the virtual restaurant industry?

Finally, the editors talked about the future of ChatGPT and generative AI in restaurants. Technology expert Fantozzi explained how companies are using the technology and some implications on labor in the future.

This week’s guest is Mark Wolok, VP of business development at Savvy Sliders.