Hunting for a fast-casual concept? Here are the 10 best

Shopping for a restaurant concept to complement your current portfolio of proprietary and retail operations? Here’s a dream list of potential partners or brands to emulate. Technomic, the research sister of FoodService Director, partnered with BusinessInsider.com and Restaurant Business magazine to rank limited-service chains by a combination of financial success and consumer popularity.  Here’s an introduction to the Top 10.

1. Panera Bread

Executives coined “Panera 2.0” as a label for the chain’s suite of cutting-edge tech initiatives, but the term could just as readily signify the reinvented bakery-cafe chain in its entirety—if the tag weren’t as stale as yesterday’s muffins. Something like "Panera 2.8" might be a more accurate way of capturing the changes that range from stripping recipes of additives to trying such unusual ingredients for a big chain as kale. The setup took four years; now, says CEO Ron Shaich, it’s payoff time. He cites the examples of Charlotte, N.C., stores that were collecting $33,000 in weekly sales pre-Panera 2.0 and about $45,000 afterward.

2. Chipotle Mexican Grill

Forgive the leadership of Chipotle for looking back at 2015 with nostalgia. The food safety problems that pushed sales off a cliff didn’t begin until mid-October. The crises failed to negate results from a solid first nine months, letting the concept stay near the top of the sales ranking. Now it’s in courtship mode, trying to woo back a public that abandoned the chain. The major efforts will include the chain’s first-ever loyalty program and significant menu changes, including a possible remix of the beverage lineup.

3. Panda Express

Long before the fast-casual market was where everyone wanted to be, Panda Express was quietly mining demand at the high end of limited service for better, more authentic food. Its Asian outlets sprouted quickly in nontraditional sites such as shopping malls, airports and colleges and universities. The rest of the industry would eventually get wise, but Panda enjoyed an enviable lead it still holds today. Now its founders are looking at such other fast-casual growth projects as Pieology and Just Salad, but their 33-year-old workhorse is still a pacesetter.

4. Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches

According to the lore Jimmy Liautaud has yet to contradict, he was a buzz-loving teenaged slacker until his father gave him an ultimatum: Either make some money or report for military service. He decided to open a knockoff of Portillo's, his favorite fast-food joint, but couldn’t afford the equipment needed to cook hot dogs. Instead, he made cold subs. Thirty-four years later, Liautaud oversees the industry’s largest fast-casual chain in terms of unit count, with some 2,450 branches. He could have sold the brand to the public last summer, but acknowledged he got cold feet. Now he’s likely keeping an eye on all the third-party services that have enabled competitors to add delivery, a major distinction of his venture.

5. Zaxby's

The millennials on our editorial staff give older co-workers an indulgent you’re-so-clueless eye roll when there’s a suggestion that chicken fingers are for kids. Chicken fingers, the oldsters are told, are loved just as much by millennials, who see them as an easier-to-eat alternative to chicken wings. Zaxby’s, the highest-finishing chicken fingers specialist among the 250 fast-casual concepts ranked by Technomic, likely wouldn’t argue.

6. Five Guys Burgers and Fries

By the standards of Five Guys, the burger chain that makes Hot ‘n Now seem like a slave to the latest menu fad, it was ground-shaking: Selected stores added milkshakes last year. That’s as close as the retro concept is likely to come to a change in its purist formula: burgers, fries, hot dogs and a few sandwiches. The focus on execution kept the fast-casual pioneer in the Top 10, even with far more heat from new competitors.

7. Wingstop

Let’s forget the ROI on Wingstop's stores for a minute ($1.1 million in average sales from a building that typically costs $370,000) to focus on the top line, or, more specifically, how the chicken wings chain plans to snag more business. Online orders are usually $4 higher than the typical tab, so management is pushing for more digital preordering by takeout customers, who account for 75% of sales. Mobile devices and desktops now generate 15.8% of intake—a four-point jump from a year ago. And franchisees have greenlighted a national advertising campaign one year earlier than the strategic plan had specified.

8. Qdoba Mexican Eats

Outfitted with a new name, look and pricing model, the Mexican sister of Jack in the Box outperformed its traditional-QSR sibling last year. A major reason, says management, was the switch to all-inclusive pricing, instead of charging a la carte for guacamole, as Chipotle does. Whatever the brand lost in immediate revenues was made up in simpler operations, a boost in perceived value and a far better guest experience, according to the concept’s parent company. Now it remains to be seen if momentum can be retained after the departure next month of President Tim Casey, the architect of the changes.

9. Jersey Mike's Subs

The premium-sandwich chain may soon rival Bruce Springsteen as the Garden State’s best-known export, having expanded far from a single shop in Point Pleasant, N.J., to more than a thousand stores across the continent. Technomic has cited the chain’s expansion and sales strengths as some of the reasons Subway recently has struggled. Mike’s is not without considerable direct competition, but Jimmy John’s is the only rival to beat it in the sales rankings.

10. Jason's Deli

Long before the removal of artificial ingredients became a trend loudly applauded by consumers and practitioners, Jason’s Deli decided to yank preservatives from its food because the team decided it was the right thing to do. The brand never came up with a catchy slogan about the integrity of its food (uh, Chipotle?), nor any sound bites about serving food as it should be (ahem, Panera). Instead, the privately held chain just chugged along, striving to provide healthful, less-processed food while growing at a decidedly controlled rate (the 40-year-old concept had 262 stores opened as of Jan. 1).