On-Demand Recording
Webinar: Black Box Intelligence State of the Restaurant Industry Q4 2026
The quarterly State of the Industry series is produced exclusively for Black Box Intelligence customers and select partners.
We use industry data captured and benchmarked for over 100,000 restaurant units and concepts to provide our audience with in-depth analysis of exactly what’s going on in the industry.
Watch our recording reviewing everything we’re seeing so far in 2026 and looking forward to the rest of the year.
What’s Covered
Summary of What’s in the Recording
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The Resilient Guest Is Starting to Pull Back: Sales and traffic held steady through most of 2026. Early Q4 data tells a different story, and we break down what it signals for the months ahead.
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Experience Is Winning the Wallet: Some segments are gaining while others lose share. See where guests are trading up, where they’re cutting back, and why.
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Traffic Decline Is Structural, Not Cyclical: The median brand has lost 21% of its same-store traffic since 2018. Find out what’s driving it and which segments and cuisines are holding on best.
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Execution Is the New Value: With value deals now standard, one metric is more closely tied to traffic performance than any other. Learn what it is and what top units do differently.
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Strong GMs Drive Stronger Traffic: Staffing at one position has the biggest impact on comp traffic. Get the true cost of turnover and the training investments that pay off with guests.
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The 2027 Forecast and How Top Brands Beat It: We share our 2027 sales and traffic outlook by segment and the specific moves top-performing brands are making to outperform. Explore the outlook and the playbook.
Presenters
Brought to you by BBI’s premier and most experienced restaurant industry analysts.
PLEASE NOTE: You can attend this webinar session ONLY if you are a restaurant operator or current client of Black Box Intelligence™ (subscribed to Workforce, Financial, Guest and/or Supplier Intelligence)