The Restaurant Industry Is Broken. Can It Be Fixed?
The Daily

The Restaurant Industry Is Broken. Can It Be Fixed?

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 4, 202637 min
  • Business & money

If you dine out regularly, you might have noticed some changes in restaurants over the past few years. Perhaps you’ve found yourself ordering at a counter, scanning a QR code to see the menu, or eating … a lot more soft serve. These changes aren’t just trends. Brett Anderson, a New York Times food reporter, says they are restaurant owners’ desperate attempts to stay afloat in an industry in crisis. According to a report from the National Restaurant Association, 42 percent of restaurant owners said they weren’t profitable in 2025. Many of them were at serious risk of closing...

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0:00

I'm John Karamanaka, a critic at The New York Times. And I'm Joe Cascarelli, a culture reporter at The Times. Together we host Popcast, a weekly pop culture chat show where we speak to the biggest musicians, actors, internet celebrities, and more.

0:12

We've had Bad Bunny, Olivia Rodrigo, and Anne Hathaway. We've also hosted live performances with Andre 3000 and Erykah Badu. Plus, we end every conversation with a snack. Catch new episodes of Popcast every week on YouTube.

0:24

And anywhere you get your podcasts. Tell me about this restaurant that started you thinking about the larger state of the restaurant industry. Well, there's this restaurant in Minneapolis called Modern Times.

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