Even chain restaurants have to continually reinvent themselves to stay fresh with customers. That means menu innovation, and evolving the concept.
"The lifeblood of the restaurant industry is new items. You need something to speak about," Panda Restaurant Group Chief Supply Chain Officer Roland Ornelas told Restaurant Dive, adding, "You have to really focus on that value to guests — but you also have to steal customers from your competitors."
It's not just a question of change for change sake, but also executing in way that makes sense to customers.
Outback Steakhouse, a 38-year-old chain, has struggled in recent years with its menu, its execution, and keeping customers coming back. That led to Bloomin' Brands deciding to close some restaurants while overhauling most of the rest of the chain.
"This year, we completed a detailed review of our restaurant base and identified 21 underperforming restaurants, which we closed last week. We also identified 22 restaurants in which we would not renew the lease," Bloomin' Brands CFO Eric Christel shared during the company's third-quarter 2025 earnings call.