Restaurant Numbers Show Strength in Q4

According to the Technomic Chain Restaurant Index, sales at the country's largest restaurant chains were solid in Q4 '17. Of the 200 chains the Index tracks, 113 had a stronger fourth quarter relative to the full year with chains like Applebee's and Red Lobster turning positive in the quarter. Casual dining chains, however, continued to show weakness: casual dining traffic was down by 4.9% for the year.