Why are restaurant chains still having challenges in 2025?

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Rich Shank, the senior principal with sister company Technomic. 

We wanted to talk with Shank because of the uncertain state of the restaurant business so far in 2025. A lot of people thought that things would improve this year after a difficult 2024. But so far that hasn’t quite happened. Many chains have reported weak sales beyond just weather concerns, saying that consumers are still cutting back. 

We talk about why that is. We also talk about the uncertainty surrounding the economy, particularly with the threat of tariffs. We also talk about the potential impact of immigration restrictions. 

In addition, Rich talks about how the restaurant business has changed since the pandemic started five years ago.

We’re talking about the state of the industry so check it out.