Between 2009 and 2018, the number of fast-casual restaurants in America doubled, while sales have nearly tripled. When the gravy train stops, fast-casual restaurants are going to be in trouble. To understand why private equity is pouring money into restaurants, we have to start with the appeal of the fast-casual model. The limited menu enables both fast-food and fast-casual restaurants to be efficient, keep costs down, and avoid losses from food waste and labor. Because a lot of the weaker players have been weeded out," Susskind says about fast-casual restaurants.

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Persons: Charles Grodin, Robert DeNiro, I've, Blackstone, Cava, Alex M, Susskind, that's, Chris Macksey, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones —, Tracy Goh, Damaran Sara, Goh, Talia Berman, Levy, Berman, Moshe Batalion, Thomas Crosby, Crosby, they've, It's Organizations: Sycamore Partners, Bowls, Lobster, Taco Bell, Cornell University, Prix Fixe, Nabisco, Darden, Investment, RioCan, Independent, Pal's, Harvard, University of Chicago's Booth School, Business, Cornell, Rubio's, Mill, Capital Locations: Jersey, America, Manhattan, Taco, Olive, Cava, San Francisco, New York's, Tennessee, Florida, United States, California