Wendy’s shakeup, Taco Bell/Olivia Rodrigo, indie restaurants win

Top 500 chain restaurant sales slowed again in 2025 as consumers cut back on dining, but sectors like coffee, beverages and snacks and chicken thrived Plus, Chick-fil-A’s closure of its Little Blue Menu concept.

On this week's Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss the latest restaurant industry news, including Wendy’s ongoing executive turnover, Taco Bell’s celebrity partnership, and sales data that’s good news for independent restaurants. First up is Wendy’s, which announced that Tariq Hassan — formerly chief marketing and customer experience officer at McDonald’s — would be joining the company as chief marketing and customer growth officer.

It continues the shakeup at Wendy’s under new CEO Bob Wright, who told the Wall Street Journal this week that previous leadership had been more committed to cost cutting than quality. Sam and Alicia discuss Hassan’s hire and other changes that could be putting Wendy’s on the right track. Next they look at Wendy’s competitors McDonald’s and Burger King, and particularly how they’re doubling down on their chicken nuggets.

McDonald’s brought back its Spicy Chicken McNuggets for the first time in six years — and perhaps it’s not a coincidence that it’s at the same time that Burger King announced it had upgraded its own chicken nuggets so that they include 100% white meat chicken and a crispier breading. Why the sudden attention on chicken nuggets?

Sam and Alicia break it down. They then shift their attention to Taco Bell, which introduced a new Baja Blast in partnership with pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo. The You Seem Pretty Pink for a Baja Blast will initially be available at Taco Bell’s Live Mas Cafe locations before rolling out nationwide.

Sam and Alicia discuss why this partnership is different than other celebrity collaborations, and why authenticity is so important for brands looking to leverage partnerships for their marketing. New sales data shows that independent restaurants may be faring better than chains with consumers’ recent foodservice spend, and Sam and Alicia break that down next.

Data from Bank of America shows that consumer spending on restaurants is up, but while fast-food, fast-casual, and casual chains are only experiencing increases of less than a percentage point, indies and regional concepts are enjoying gains around 4%. Why is that?

They look into the data and what historical clues can tell us. They close things out with a Quick Fire round of headlines, including Chipotle’s popular BOGOs, Pizza Hut’s NFL campaign, Papa Johns’ PopUp Bagels partnership, and Chick-fil-A’s closure of its Little Blue Menu concept.