Restaurants
Case studies in restaurants.
Chipotle — Which Restaurant Formats Should Scale?
At 4:00:10 p.m. Eastern on 4 February 2020, Chipotle Mexican Grill had a few minutes before its scheduled fourth-quarter and full-year results release. Its newly filed 2019 Form 10-K put digital orders at 18% of revenue. Read case
Darden Restaurants: converting a portfolio, preserving the brands
On February 3, 2026, Darden Restaurants announced that it would close about half of its Bahama Breeze restaurants and convert the rest to other Darden brands. By May 31, one conversion had been completed. Read case
Domino’s Pizza — Should It Open a New Ordering Channel?
Imagine you are advising Domino’s Pizza, Inc. on 11 July 2023. The company has built a large digital-ordering business and a delivery-and-carryout system operated mostly by franchisees. A third-party marketplace could offer another way for customers to find and order Domino’s. Read case
DoorDash: How should the fee rollout be governed?
On July 23, DoorDash announced a change to consumer delivery fees. The company said its Service Fee would vary with delivery effort, including distance and order size. The announcement described the update as a way to better match fees to delivery effort while keeping nearby orders affordable and allowing consumers to order from farther-away merchants. Read case
Jersey Mike’s Subs: Where Should the Next Growth Wave Go?
You are part of a hypothetical strategy team asked to recommend how Jersey Mike’s should sequence growth over the next three to five years. Should it put most development effort into U.S. penetration, build international markets in stages, or set market-readiness gates that determine where capacity goes next? Read case
McDonald’s: Making value visible across a franchised system
McDonald’s had a value question to answer. On April 30, the company reported U.S. comparable sales growth of 2.5% for the first quarter, down from 12.6% in the year-earlier quarter. Results remained positive, but the growth rate had slowed. Read case
Starbucks: testing technology for the green apron
Starbucks entered 2024 with a broad reinvention agenda. Its November 2023 “Triple Shot” strategy named three priorities—elevate the brand, scale digital capabilities and expand globally—supported by two “pumps”: operating efficiency and partner culture. The company described technology as one part of the plan. Read case
Yum! Brands — Who Should Operate KFC U.K. & Ireland?
On April 29, 2024, Yum! Brands acquired all shares of two entities operating 216 KFC restaurants in the U.K. and Ireland. Nearly ten months later, its strategy team must decide what operating model should follow. Should Yum retain the restaurants as a company-operated platform, begin returning them to franchise ownership in stages, or test both models for a defined period? Read case