This week on the Extra Serving podcast, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches and Leigh Anne Zinsmeister talked about restaurant earnings.

Since last week, another slew of brands have reported, and we have to talk about them. Wendy’s and Dutch Bros are both pushing their dayparts, Noodles & Company is lowering prices, Krispy Kreme is working on efficiencies and The Cheesecake Factory is debuting a rewards program. What is the main message of earnings?

Also, there’s a winner for our Taco Showdown! The NRN editors talked about the Columbus, Ohio-based brand that won our largest showdown yet, and its place in the industry.

Finally, the editors talked about Wendy’s new partnership with Google for its AI drive-thru. We’ve seen many iterations of AI at the drive-thru but partnering with Google is a step further into AI than we’ve seen before. What does it mean for Wendy’s that it’s so invested in tech? Is it another instance of jumping too far into a trend, like the Reef deal?

This week’s guest is Sherif Mityas, CEO of Brix Holdings.