1. Chops may rule in upscale settings, but lamb burgers have gained dominance on menus every year for the last decade, up 17 percent in 2016.
2. Hybrid concepts expand the revenue stream for full-service restaurants by bringing the same caliber of chef-driven cuisine to a breakfast bakery menu or counter-service lunch.
3. Fine-dining food halls upend the traditional quick-serve food courts with a gathering of chef-owned mini-restaurants.
4. On the crest of the craft beer craze, casual-dining staples have elevated beyond commodity offerings to gourmet pizza and multi-faceted burgers.
5. Grass-fed livestock, exotic game, or humanely raised meats—burgers are increasingly about quality not price.
