Restaurants

Urban Edge Brea 2

Taco Bell has redesigned some of its restaurants.

The company rolled out four new store models — "modern explorer,""California sol,""heritage" and "urban edge"— and they look nothing like the fast-food chain we know.

The four new restaurants, which recently debuted in Orange County, California, are all pretty similar to one another. The chain plans to roll out the new designs nationally.

They feature open kitchens and lounge seating areas with rustic wood and metal finishes, as well as fancy lighting fixtures and chandeliers that look like they came from Restoration Hardware.

Here's how the company describes each model:

Heritage: "Inspired by its culinary roots in Mexican-inspired food with a twist, this style is a modern interpretation of TacoBell’s original Mission Revival style characterized by warm white walls with classic materials in the tile and heavy timbers. "

Modern explorer: "This rustic modern style is a refined version of the brand’s Cantina Explorer restaurants and can easily fit into a suburban or rural environment. Inspired by the farms that make our food, this style reinforces TacoBell’s commitment to the best ingredients, authenticity and transparency of materials and dining preparation. 

California sol: "Inspired by TacoBell’s California roots and the California lifestyle, this design blurs the lines between indoor and outdoor. It’s a celebration of dining al fresco and embraces a laid-back beachy feel both inside and out." 

Urban edge: "This design represents an eclectic mix of international and street style done the Taco Bell way. This style is inspired by timeless design married with cutting-edge elements of the urban environment."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here’s how many calories are in 6 of the most popular fast-food kids meals

Eating at McDonald's

The restaurant industry is getting increasingly competitive as more and more people take advantage of falling grocery prices by eating at home.

When eating out, consumers are increasingly looking for healthy, convenient food options that don't break the bank.

To get an indication of which restaurants chains will dominate the industry over the next decade, analysts should look at where teens are spending their money.

Teens spend the biggest chunk of their budgets on eating out, and the restaurants that win their favor are potentially gaining lifelong customers.

Here are the top five restaurants among upper-income teens, according to a new survey by Piper Jaffray.

1. Starbucks

Starbucks evenings Starbucks is the perennial favorite among teens, having replaced the mall as their preferred place to meet up and hang out.

The coffee chain has been the No. 1 choice among both upper-income and middle-income teens in each of the past 12 surveys by Piper Jaffray.

The chain's food sales are exploding, and it has been adding beer and wine to the menu at dozens of locations across the US, which will most likely make it even more appealing to young people. The popular loyalty program and app are also major growth drivers.

2. Chipotle

andrew hawryluk chipotle Teens love Chipotle.

The massive serving sizes, provocative marketing, and endless free food offers are strong draws for the younger crowd.

The E. coli outbreak at Chipotle restaurants last year that sent the company's same-store sales plunging by as much as 30% appear to have had no impact on teens' preference for the burrito chain.

In the aftermath of the outbreak, the chain never slipped from its No. 2 spot behind Starbucks.

3. Chick-fil-A

Chick Fil A Chick-fil-Chick-Fil-A is dominating fast food.

The chain, which is best known for its crispy fried chicken and waffle fries, generates more revenue per restaurant than any other fast-food chain in the US.

Chick-fil-A's average sales per restaurant in 2015 were $3.9 million. Its fried-chicken competitor KFC sold about $1 million per restaurant that year.

Despite its relatively small size, Chick-fil-A also ranks highly in terms of its total system-wide sales.

The chain generated nearly $6.8 billion in revenue in 2015, making it the eighth-largest fast-food chain in the US, according to QSR magazine.

4. Taco Bell

Taco Bell stole the No. 4 spot from Panera in the latest Piper Jaffray survey. Panera is now no longer among teens' top five favorite chains.

Taco Bell's new breakfast offerings, like the Triple Double Crunchwrap, have been a major growth driver.

The chain's breakfast sales jumped 14% in the most recent quarter, according to the company.

5. McDonald's

mcdonald's millenials people McDonald's has maintained its No. 5 spot since the last survey six months ago.

But that's a decline from year ago, when it was teens' fourth favorite chain.

Piper Jaffrey analysts say McDonald's has been losing customers to Chick-fil-A.

"Survey results suggest continued competitive intrusion from Chick-fil-A (specifically among average income teens)," analysts wrote. However, they also noted that "McDonald's overwhelming lead as the preferred hamburger brand was maintained in the latest survey cycle."

The chain's low prices are a big draw for cash-strapped young people, who are more likely to be underemployed and working multiple jobs to pay off student-loan debt.

"We believe operational, culinary, and technology initiatives position McDonald's for continued improvement over the next several years," analysts said.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An Army veteran was shot multiple times protecting others students from the Oregon gunman

With menu items like "The Walmart," and burgers named after both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, "'Merica," a parody-America themed restaurant opening in NYC, hopes to gain some laughs.

The restaurant is co-founded by Zach Neil, who started both the Tim Burton-themed "Beetle House" and the Will Ferrell-themed "Stay Classy New York" bars.

Follow BI Video: On Twitter

Join the conversation about this story »

Towpath Cafe

With nearly 150,000 followers on Instagram, London’s Clerkenwell Boy, simply called “Tim” to the few in the know, has somehow managed to keep a low profile.

However, he certainly knows better than most what the city has to offer when it comes to food and drink.

Calling his Instagram feed – which was named the “Best Instagram Feed for Food Lovers” at the Observer Food Monthly Awards in London yesterday – “a diary of where I’ve been and what I’d recommend,” the trusted food and travel addict explores restaurants, pop-ups, markets and bars across all cuisines and budgets to help provide recommendations in the city.

Originally from Australia, he told Business Insider that he tries to explore cuisines that aren’t as prominent where he’s from, such as Indian, Turkish and Spanish.

He also tries to use his influence to shine a light on places that otherwise might not get much press exposure.

“I like to help discover small businesses without massive PR budgets that wouldn’t necessarily get reviewed by a big critic,” he told Business Insider.

From brunch to booze, we asked Tim for some of his favourite under-the-radar places to eat and drink in London.

Ranked according to the number of current traveller reviews on TripAdvisor, from those with the most reviews to those with the least, see his list below to discover a hidden gem next time you’re looking for a bite or a beverage in the capital.

13. "A non-profit restaurant for nearly fifteen years, Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant serves honest British food with a modern twist. They're also super supportive of various charity programmes, young talent, and sustainability initiatives."

12. "Oozy Portuguese custard tarts from Taberno do Mercado – definitely worth pre-ordering."

11. "Head upstairs to the tranquil dining room and pre-reserve a few slices of THAT brown butter and honey tart at The Marksman Public House."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Burger Doctor

Inflation tells you a lot about the broader economy, but it can also shine a light on big specific industry trends in the US.

Tuesday's consumer price index number was no different, as it not only showed pricing pressures building in the economy, but also provided insight on the state of three huge American industries: food, healthcare, and auto.

While they are not particularly revelatory, the CPI data provide a clear macro-level view of the larger forces affecting the performance of these businesses.

Restaurants are having a tough time

The restaurant industry is facing a serious downturn, and the CPI data has a perfect example of why that is.

One reason people are spending less at restaurants is simply that making your own dinner is much more cost-effective, as the CPI data points out.

CPI for food at home (groceries) and for food away from home (restaurants) are moving in almost perfectly opposite directions. Food at home is down 2.2% in September from the same month a year before, while food away from home is up 2.4% over that same period.

To be fair, the decreasing cost of food is good for restaurants, as it keeps input costs down. But a number of staples such as beef and eggs are coming off of record highs, so its only a relative improvement.

The improvement, however, appears to have gotten the attention of shoppers. Sales for the restaurant industry as a whole have been sliding, and large chains especially are getting hit hard.

Americans are paying way more for healthcare

Medical costs have been one of the major drivers of inflation, and Tuesday's CPI print showed that's not letting up at all.

This means that people are paying more out of pocket for their care, since CPI only measures consumers' payments rather than personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, which measures costs including government payments through Medicaid and Medicare and employer payments for healthcare. It's worth noting that PCE is the inflation measure preferred by the Federal Reserve.

Much of this increase has been driven by increasing costs of prescription drugs, which has come under fire after controversies such as the EpiPen's price jump, and the higher number of Americans with high-deductible health plans.

Add the increased costs for the goods and the higher burden placed on consumers, and you've got not only a huge business trend, but also a political hot button.

People are buying a lot of new cars, making used cars cheaper

As new-car sales have hit record highs, it appears that the downstream impact on the used-car industry has been significant.

Prices for used cars have decreased by 4.1% year over year, according to the CPI data, and have been negative on a year-over-year basis for 21 of the past 24 months. The 4.1% decline also ties the largest annual depreciation since the recession.

As the consumer auto site Edmunds noted in August, the used-car market is flooded with cars (especially smaller cars) as more people trade up for new ones. Thus the increased supply has brought prices broadly down and created what Edmunds called "a great time to buy."

(h/t Bespoke Invest)

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: LIZ ANN SONDERS: The most unsettling outcome for the markets would be a surprise Trump win

Adams

Word of mouth is still the best way to find the best meals.

Travel planning and booking site TripAdvisor just announced its Travelers’ Choice Awards for the best restaurants in the world, analyzing millions of traveler reviews written over a 12-month period.

While most are in Europe, one US restaurant made the cut.

Keep scrolling to see where to get the best meals of your life.

circa 1886 tripadvisor

Travel planning and booking site TripAdvisor just released the results of its annual Travelers' Choice awards in the fine dining category, which names the best restaurants in the US as reviewed by millions of travelers on its site.

Of the 25 restaurants, four are in New York City, four are in Charleston, and two are in New Orleans.

From a high-end sushi place in Austin to upscale palaces of gastronomy in New York City, these 25 restaurants can pretty much guarantee a meal you'll never forget.

DON'T MISS: Stunning vintage photos show how glamorous cruise ships used to be

25. Rasika — Washington, DC

"Loved this place for its fresh variety of menu items, some traditional some more forward thinking, all simply delicious and perfectly prepared." - AugieDaddy, TripAdvisor user

24. Canlis Restaurant — Seattle, WA

"Canlis certainly lives up to their reputation. A wonderful atmosphere, terrific service and the meals were sublime. Nothing was out of place. Don't miss this experience, it is well worth it." - alimentoD, TripAdvisor user

23. Fig — Charleston, SC

"With all the new, acclaimed restaurants opening in Charleston, it is good to know that this place, part of the first wave of Charleston's epicurean movement, is still innovative and delicious." - slonim, TripAdvisor user

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

tipping check bill tip

The restaurant industry is a notoriously cutthroat business no matter where you open up shop. And though every once in awhile an owner might feel tempted to treat his or her guests to a free meal out of the goodness of their hearts, just remember that no good deed goes unpunished.

Earlier this month, in an effort to attract more customers to her new restaurant in Guiyang, China, Liu Xiaojun had a noble, yet ill-advised idea to let walk-ins pay whatever they wanted after finishing their meals. While one would hope that the “pay what you want” policy might spark an outpouring of generosity, in reality people are walking garbage cans, and the promotion resulted in a massive, $15,000 loss for the restaurant.

“If our food or service was the problem, then that would be one thing,"Xiaojun told Shanghaiist. "But according to customer feedback, our dishes are both filling and tasty. It's just that the payments don't match up with the evaluations."

Liu Xiaojun isn’t wrong. At first glance, her restaurant was a hit, with customers crowding the dining hall. But when it came time to pay, many customers only paid 10% of their bill, and in certain cases, guests left only a single yuan (about 15 cents) for their meals. When the promotional policy had ended, the guests were nowhere to be found, and by 4 p.m. the following Monday, the restaurant hadn’t seen one customer yet that day.

"It makes sense that people like to eat food and not pay much,” Xiaojun ultimately admitted. “I just don't understand why they haven't come back since the promotion ended.”

[via Shanghaiist]

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This Lego-style home can be built in a few weeks with just a screwdriver

Jason Atherton, winner of the Chef awards , poses with Lorraine Pascale backstage at the GQ Men of the Year Awards

One of London’s top chefs says his next restaurant has been designed to be “Brexit-proof” because he is so concerned about the rising price of food and wine imports.

Jason Atherton, who holds Michelin stars at three of his restaurants in the capital, said that “90 to 95 per cent” of ingredients used in the kitchens at Temple & Sons — a grill and deli in the City — will be British.

Prices of imported food are expected to soar by as much as 15 to 20 per cent this winter as sterling’s post-referendum devaluation feeds through to shops and markets.

Atherton, who voted Remain, said: “As soon as the referendum vote came in we knew prices would be rising for imported goods.

“We are going to try to be as British as we possibly can to support farmers and wine producers while at the same time making a sustainable business… There is no point in using Spanish hake when we can use British hake. We look at Europe as a fantastic food larder but we have got it all here. In winter we will have to be creative with things that are in season like root vegetables, pumpkins and squashes.”

The British feel to the restaurant, next to the Tower 42 skyscraper, will extend to the cutlery, which is supplied by Mayfair silversmith GJ Dennis, the Scottish-made linen and uniforms from Manchester label Private White VC.

The wine list will only be 25 per cent European to reduce the impact if the Government is unable to secure a favourable trade deal with Brussels. Most will be from the New World as well as sparkling wine from British producers such as Nyetimber.

Atherton said he was sceptical whether diners who are used to paying £45 for a bottle of Pinot Noir would be prepared to pay £70 to £80 once the effect of the devaluation and tariffs has been priced in. Despite his vote against Brexit, he said it was time “we all club together and make it work for us”.

His new 80-seater restaurant and 40-seater deli and bar — inspired by “a traditional British grocery store” — will open on November 21.

Visit standard.co.uk/restaurants for the latest news and reviews from London’s food scene.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A UK startup made a robot chef that cooks food for you

mcNugget, McDonald's, chicken nuggets

McDonald's chicken McNugget sales are soaring, according to the company.

Nugget sales have risen 10% since the company removed artificial preservatives from its recipe, McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook said Friday.

McDonald's announced the change to its McNuggets in August, and said it would also remove high-fructose corn syrup from its hamburger buns and transition to antibiotic-free chicken one year earlier than planned.

After the announcement, the company received some criticism that its sauces still contained preservatives.

Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich was one of the most outspoken critics of the company.

"I was offended watching this commercial during the Olympics aboutthe preservative-free McNuggets,"Shaich told Business Insider in August. "I thought, 'You've got to be kidding.'Sure, you've got McNuggets that are preservative-free, but what are you dipping them in? Sauces that are filled with that stuff!"

But it appears that the change to the McNugget recipe has paid off for McDonald's.

The company said Friday that the nuggets, along with all-day breakfast and its McPick 2 promotions, were the biggest drivers behind its 1.3% growth in US same-store sales in the third quarter.

"We are putting the customer at the center of everything we do and are directing our resources towards those innovations and investments that will strengthen our ability to deliver a better McDonald's experience over time," Easterbrook said in a statement. "Our customers, system, and shareholders are best served when we direct our focus and energy towards executing against these critical customer expectations."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: It'll cost you nearly nothing to open a Chick-fil-A — but there's a catch

Celebrities who amass a large fortune often invest in a variety of ventures. Here are the celebrities who made the leap into restaurant entrepreneurs.

Follow BI Video:On Twitter

Join the conversation about this story »

Executive chef Michael Citarella of New York City's The Monarch Room prepares his famous off-the-menu burger, the Monarch Burger. It's 8 ounces of all-natural, ultra-premium beef ground from a single steer with a 20% fat ratio, served on a toasted caraway-seeded bun with aged cheddar, bibb lettuce, beefsteak tomatoes, and Monarch's special sauce.

Follow BI Video: On Twitter

Join the conversation about this story »

Jared Fogle

The ex-wife of former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle is suing the fast-food chain, alleging that the company has known about Fogle's sexual interest in children since 2004 but never did anything to address it.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Kathleen McLaughlin, says Subway was notified at least three times about Fogle's "sexual interest in and activity with children" but kept featuring him in ads and did not notify authorities.

"As early as 2004, Subway's then-senior vice president of marketing received a complaint that Jared had approached a young girl at a promotional event for a Las Vegas Subway franchise for a sex act," the suit alleges.

Subway sent its then senior public-relations manager to ask Jared and a franchisee owner, rather than the victim, about the incident, the suit alleges. "Subway did not thoroughly investigate the report and did not alert authorities as they were legally required to do," it reads.

Then in 2008, a Subway franchisee from Florida notified the company that Fogle had made disturbing comments about children, as Business Insider first reported. Again, the company sent its senior public-relations manager to ask Fogle about the complaint and nothing was done, the suit alleges.

“Finding out that your husband and the father of your children is a child predator, and knowing that his job involved him visiting schools on a regular basis is devastating," McLaughlin told reporters on Monday.

She said she filed the lawsuit to get answers from Subway regarding its knowledge of her husband's sexual attraction to children.

In response to the lawsuit, a Subway spokesman provided the following statement to Business Insider: "“As this is pending legal action, we cannot provide comment."

Fogle was convicted and sentenced last year to nearly 16 years in prison for having sex with minors and receiving and distributing child pornography. He's serving out his sentence at a federal penitentiary in Colorado.

Jared Fogle He married McLaughlin in 2010 and they had two children. She filed for divorce last year after Fogle pleaded guilty to child-pornography charges.

McLaughlin's lawsuit also alleges that Subway "provided a platform for [Fogle] to prey on children by sending him to elementary schools all over the country.”

"Despite knowing of Jared’s sexual interest in children and the then-alleged sexual acts he committed with them, Subway continued to promote their star spokesman," the suit says.

The company launched a campaign known as “Jared’s School Tour,” which required him to visit elementary schools all over the US. He was also required to spend significant time in elementary school for his “Tour de Pants” campaign, in which he traveled around the US with the pants he once wore when he weighed 425 pounds.

Jared Fogle By 2015, Fogle’s weight-loss story was “getting stale” so “Subway saw Jared’s family as a marketing opportunity," the suit says.

Several months before an FBI raid on Fogle's home — which resulted in child-pornography charges being filed against him — Subway announced a marketing campaign promoting Jared as a family man.

The company began airing a commercial that depicted animated versions of Jared’s family, including his wife and children, the suit says.

McLaughlin is now suing Subway, alleging that it depicted her in the ad without her consent. She is also accusing the company of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging that the company's "ambition for sales and growth came at the expense" of her and her kids.

Here's the lawsuit:

Subway Complaint by Hayley Peterson on Scribd

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This is how much it’ll cost you to open a McDonald’s

mcdonalds french fries

McDonald's turnaround is facing a major roadblock.

The company has successfully reversed a long slide in same-store sales over the last year, but it still hasn't figured out how to get more customers in the door, according to internal documents obtained by Bloomberg.

Customer traffic at McDonald's has declined for four consecutive years, following at least four straight years of gains, according to the documents.

In an internal email that was obtained by Bloomberg, McDonald's said it has to grow sales, customer traffic, and cash flow to succeed, but that "today we are making uneven progress."

The email was summarizing a September meeting between McDonald's executives and franchise leaders.

"Growing guest counts is our main challenge," the email reads. "Over the past 12 months, we have been pretty flat."

McDonald's did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the documents.

McDonald's US same-store sales growth has shown signs of slowing in recent months. That metric grew 1.3% in the US in the third quarter, following a 1.8% rise and a 5.4% rise in the second and first quarters, respectively.

In a recent survey by Nomura analyst Mark Kalinowski, franchisees warned that the excitement of all-day breakfast — which was launched one year ago — has been wearing off. They predicted flat-to-negative same-store sales growth for the rest of the year.

On average, the franchisees expect same-store sales growth to decline by 0.8% in the fourth quarter of this year.

"No way we can beat last year," one franchisee wrote in response to the survey, which polled 30 operators who collectively run about 271 restaurants. There are more than 14,000 McDonald's locations in the US.

Go to Bloomberg to read the full story on the internal documents.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We did a blind taste test of fast-food burgers

Chipotle Burrito

Chipotle says it's addressing a top customer complaint by making online ordering much faster and more efficient.

Specifically, the chain says it will get rid of the long waiting period between ordering food and picking it up.

"When people place orders at Chipotle, there's a very significant lag between when they place the order and when our restaurants allow them to come pick it up," Chipotle co-CEO Steve Ells said Tuesday.

The company has traditionally let restaurants set that lag time. Now, Chipotle is rolling out a new "smarter pickup" technology that sets the lag time automatically based on each individual restaurant's level of demand at any given time.

Many customers complain about the lag time in reviews of the company's iPhone app. Lag time for Chipotle orders typically ranges between 20 minutes and 30 minutes, according to app reviews and our own experience.

We tried to order food through the company's app from a Richmond, Virginia Chipotle at 2 p.m. on Sunday, and we were told it wouldn't be ready for 30 minutes. At the time, we were across the street from the restaurant, so we went inside to order instead thinking it would be quicker. There was no line inside of the restaurant.

By comparison, Starbucks mobile orders during peak morning periods are typically ready 3-7 minutes after ordering, and Chick-fil-A prepares mobile orders immediately, as soon as customers arrive at the restaurant.

Chipotle's new ordering technology "means that the customer is always presented with the shortest possible time between order placement and pick-up," according to Mark Crumpacker, Chipotle's chief marketing officer.

The technology will be rolled out nationally by January, he said.

Ordering inside the restaurant will also get easier soon, according to the company.

Chipotle is testing digital ordering tablets that will allow people to order and pay for their food without standing in line.

A team of workers will prepare those orders from a prep table in the back of Chipotle's restaurants, to avoid bogging down the main preparation line. The second prep table will also be responsible for fulfilling online orders.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We did a blind taste test of fast-food burgers

Zagat has officially released its New York City restaurant guide for 2017.

The results are based on ratings from 30,961 New York-based diners and were curated by Zagat's editors. 2,171 New York restaurants of all kinds were considered.

It turns out, unsurprisingly, that New Yorkers love to go out to eat. According to Zagat, New Yorkers eat out at a restaurant 4.9 times a week on average. When they do go out to eat, they spend an average of $50.11 on dinner per person.

Here are Zagat's rankings of the best restaurants in New York City, organized by food, service, decor, and popularity.

Top Food

1. Le Bernardin

2. Bouley

3. Jean-Georges

4. Daniel

5. Gotham Bar & Grill

6. Peter Luger

7. Gabriel Kreuther

8. Tocqueville

9. Gramercy Tavern

10. Sushi Yasuda

Top Decor

1. Asiate

2. Daniel

3. Le Bernardin

4. Bouley

5. La Grenouille

6. River Café

7. Eleven Madison Park

8. Per Se

9. Jean-Georges

10. Rainbow Room

Top Service

1. Le Bernardin

2. Bouley

3. Daniel

4. Jean-Georges

5. Eleven Madison Park

6. Gotham Bar & Grill

7. Gramercy Tavern

8. La Grenouille

9. Gabriel Kreuther

10. Del Posto

Most Popular

1. Le Bernardin

2. Gramercy Tavern

3. Peter Luger

4. Gotham Bar & Grill

5. Bouley

6. Jean-Georges

7. Daniel

8. Atlantic Grill

9. Marea

10. Capital Grille

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Over 100 billion pounds of food is wasted each year in the US — this app is trying to fix that

anthony bourdain serious

Loving to cook isn't enough.

That's what celebrity chef and "Parts Unknown" host Anthony Bourdain tells John Sellers at Thrillist about making it as a chef.

When Sellers asked him about whether the explosion of cooking shows in the past few years has created a "false impression" of working in a kitchen, Bourdain said it was likely.

"... Anybody who goes in laboring under the assumption or thinking it's going to be easy or glamorous is going to be very, very quickly dissuaded," he told Thrillist. "They were not going to last. But that was always the case. There are always delusional people who thought it would be a great idea, who decided to 'follow their passion.' This was always a lethal instinct. Or almost always a lethal instinct."

He went on to say that, by 35, "you're going to be grandpa in the kitchen" doing "physically hard" work and "getting paid sh--, if you're lucky, for the first few years."

Bourdain, who just published his newest cookbook, Appetites, continued:

"And if you want to be really good, then you will insist upon getting paid sh--, because what you should be doing is working for somebody really, really good for as close to nothing as they're willing to give you, in return for the experience.

"So that's something that I think it would be useful to point out. That if you have a good job, you're 35 years old, and you think it's going to be easy, or that you're going to make a good living, you at least need a realistic picture of what the business is really like before you make a jump or a commitment like that."

Bourdain, now 59, is one of the few who started from scratch and became an enormous success in the field — and relatively late, at that. The best-selling memoir that led to his becoming a household name, "Kitchen Confidential," was published in 2000, when he was 44 years old.

"I know the guy who wrote 'Kitchen Confidential' very well,"Bourdain told Business Insider in April. "He's not me anymore. I'm not boiling with rage. I don't live in this tiny, tunnel-vision world. I had such a limited view of what reality was like outside of the kitchen doors — I had no clue! I never lived with normal people. I lived in the restaurant universe for my entire adult life. I'm no longer the star of the movie. At all. That's it! It's a huge relief in a lot of ways."

He knows that he's the exception to the rule, as a chef who started in the kitchen and has become a celebrity. "I work really hard to not ever think about my place in the world,"he told Business Insider. "I'm aware of my good fortune."

He continued to Thrillist:

"I mean, I admire anyone who wants to cook and knowingly enters the field. It's a hard thing. But, you know, look before you leap. Because I've seen that so many times, kids coming out of cooking school and working in my kitchens, and literally two weeks in, you see it. You look behind the line, and you can just see the dream die. This terrible information sinking in, like, "Oh my God, this is nothing like they told me it was going to be."

That might be in part because, as he said, there's very little romance in becoming a professional chef. "The true god of the restaurant business, of professional cooking, is not brilliance and creativity," he told Thrillist. "It's consistency."

Read the full interview at Thrillist »

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A hair stylist explains the best way to ensure you'll get the haircut you want

anthony bourdain smiling

In the United States, most restaurant workers don't earn a living wage at their jobs.

In "Forked: A New Standard for American Dining," Saru Jarayaman writes that restaurant workers, who may earn as little as $2.13 an hour, become completely dependent upon tips, which fluctuate throughout the year, for their income.

This isn't the case around the world. While tipping is nearly compulsory in the US, there are many countries around the world where you don't have to leave a tip at all, if you don't think your service was exemplary. That's because restaurant employees are paid enough to live on through their salary. In Australia, for example, the average wage is $15 an hour, plus tips, reports PayScale.

This practice is slowly spreading to the US.

Restaurateur Danny Meyer announced that he'd ban tipping at his Manhattan restaurant Gramercy Tavern by the end of 2016. Chef Tom Colicchio ended tipping during lunch service at Craft, his flagship restaurant in New York City.

Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef and host of "Parts Unknown," agrees with proponents of paying restaurant workers enough that tipping isn't necessary.

"I am very, very much for all restaurant people making a living wage," Bourdain told John Sellers at Thrillist when asked if he expected the no-tipping movement to become mainstream. "Because as it is now, most restaurant people cannot afford to eat in their own restaurants. It would be laughable. I never had health insurance for almost all of my career."

He continued:

"And you know, two weeks' vacation was pretty much unthinkable — there wouldn't be a job waiting for me when I came back. Holidays off, nuh-uh. Maternity leave, all of those things. I would very much like to see all of that. Is abolishing tipping a positive thing? A way forward? I don't know.

"I think the fact that Danny Meyer chose to do it is an indicator of what the future is going to be. He tends to be way ahead on these things. I do have friends, however, who provide full benefits, very good salaries, and very good healthcare who really have a problem with it and say that it is not viable for their system."

Bourdain, who recently released his newest book, "Appetites," said he isn't sure abolishing tipping is necessarily the solution. Restaurateur Eric Ripert, owner of New York's renowned restaurant Le Bernadin, has said that he will keep tipping in his restaurant because his staff likes it. "The tipping policy is beneficial to everyone in my opinion, including waiters, customers, and owners," he told The Daily Meal. "Only the government benefits from no tipping."

"But something is needed," Bourdain told Thrillist. "I mean, currently, the restaurant business is, generally speaking, not a good living, particularly for cooks."

Read the full interview at Thrillist »

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Drivers are wasting $2.1 billion on premium gas a year

Chipotle

After a year of plunging sales, Chipotle is changing nearly everything about its business.

The burrito chain said this week that it's adding new menu items, redesigning restaurants, launching television ads, testing digital ordering tablets, and offering a ton of free food — all things that represent a stark departure from Chipotle's business strategy for the last two decades.

Chipotle is making the changes following three straight quarters of plunging same-store sales in the wake of two E. coli outbreaks last year that affected its restaurants in 14 states.

The company focused on overhauling its food handling and preparation procedures in the first half of this year in an effort to prevent another outbreak and restore trust with customers.

Now, Chipotle is aggressively testing new strategies to draw customers back to its restaurants.

In its biggest change to date, Chipotle is embracing menu innovation after nearly 20 years of offering the same ingredients.

The company added chorizo, a chicken and pork sausage blend, at the beginning of October — marking its second major addition to the menu in two decades aside from tofu sofritas in 2014.

On an earnings call Tuesday, executives said the company plans to keep testing and adding new menu items on a regular basis.

The next new addition will be a dessert, according to Chipotle co-CEO Steve Ells. Ells said the company is currently testing two desserts and will soon roll out one of them nationally.

Ells also said he isn't ruling out serving breakfast — something that customers have been asking Chipotle to do.

"We are actively exploring ways to enhance the guest experience by offering new additions to our menu," Ells said. "We believe that this is a good way to entice infrequent or lapsed customers to return as well as a way to increase sales."

As the company considers new menu items, it's also trying to cut costs by designing a cheaper restaurant model, slowing down new restaurant growth, and pulling the plug on its Southeast Asian chain, ShopHouse.

The company has developed a new restaurant design that will cost $40,000 less to build than its current design with "improvements in lighting, acoustics, seating, customer flow and the presentation of our kitchen," according to Mark Crumpacker, Chipotle's chief marketing officer.

In the meantime, Chipotle is shelling out money for TV ads — which the company hasn't done since 2012— and is considering hiring a new advertising agency.

People carry bags as they leave a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant in San Francisco, California July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith Chipotle is currently running 30-second TV ads in several test markets and said that if the tests go well, the ads will roll out nationally.

The company is also making changes that will be a little less obvious to customers.

For example, Chipotle is building out second "make-lines" in all of its restaurants, which are teams of employees in the back of its restaurants that fulfill catering and online food orders.

The second make-lines are expected to speed up online ordering. They will also be responsible for fulfilling orders from in-store digital tablets, which the company is currently testing.

The tablets allow customers to order and pay for their food without interacting with an employee.

In spite of all the changes that Chipotle is making, Wall Street has little confidence in the company's ability to turn things around and return its restaurants to robust sales growth any time in the near future.

Chipotle's stock fell 10% after announcing its third quarter earnings on Tuesday.

"While management is taking significant and positive steps to transition into a better positioned company (led by technology and data insights), we do not believe the progress will be easy or consistent," Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a recent note. "We remain skeptical that it has enough momentum to overcome its internal issues or external challenges."

Do you work at Chipotle and have a story to tell? Reach out to this reporter at hpeterson@businessinsider.com

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tried Chipotle's newest menu item, chorizo

bowery meat company

Restaurants may be more innovative than ever these days, but still, nothing beats a classic steakhouse meal.

To help you find the best one near you, reservation booking site OpenTable has released its annual 100 Best Steakhouses in America list, which is based on more than 5 million reviews from OpenTable diners. Only restaurants that could be booked in the site's "steak" cuisine category were considered, and chains with multiple winning locations were counted once.

As for the winners, California, Illinois, and Texas made a strong showing with 17 restaurants each, while New York had 14 steakhouses make the list.

22 Bowens Wine Bar and Grille– Newport, Rhode Island

801 Chophouse– Clayton, Missouri

Abe and Louie's– Multiple Locations

Al Biernat's– Dallas, Texas

Arrowhead Grill– Glendale, Arizona

The Avenue Steak Tavern– Columbus, Ohio

B&B Butchers & Restaurant– Houston, Texas

Baltaire– Los Angeles, California

Barclay Prime– Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Bavettes– Chicago, Illinois

Bazaar Meat by José Andrés-SLS Las Vegas– Las Vegas, Nevada