This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a product of Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches, and Alicia Kelso talked about the state of the financial market in the industry.

While some brands are thriving, there are plenty of others that have been struggling. Many have either declared bankruptcy or are rumored to be. Tijuana Flats and Oberweis Dairy both declared Chapter 11 this week and the rumors behind Red Lobster are strong amid its new CEO. There’s also the Boston Market saga.

Next, the editors talked about the sale of Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Rumors began in December 2023 that the brand could be sold for $2 billion, and that’s just what happened. Blackstone, the private equity company that was rumored to be buying Jersey Mike’s, bought the smoothie chain for that exact amount on Wednesday. This is the first big sale of 2024; are we heading for a big year?

The editors were initially going to talk about the Starbucks Supreme Court case but ran out of time. Here’s a link to an episode of First Bite featuring Joanna Fantozzi, who detailed exactly what the case means for Starbucks and unions at large.

This week’s guest is Skye Anderson, president of global business services at McDonald’s.