Starbucks/Chipotle merge rumors and True Food’s bankruptcy
.jpg?width=100&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale "Picture of Sam Oches")
On this week’s Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss the latest restaurant industry news, including the rumor that Starbucks was exploring an acquisition of Chipotle, True Food Kitchen’s bankruptcy filing, and a class-action lawsuit against McDonald’s.
First up is the news that Starbucks had explored acquiring Chipotle. While the connective tissue is obvious — Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol was previously chief executive at Chipotle — Sam and Alicia aren’t so sure the deal would make sense, especially at a time when it could be a distraction from Starbucks’ ongoing efforts to build momentum. They discuss the pros and cons of a potential merger between the two companies and why they think it ultimately won’t happen.
Next, they unpack True Food Kitchen’s Ch. 11 bankruptcy filing, which comes on the heels of one of its worst years in company history; according to the Technomic Top 500, True Food Kitchen’s sales fell by nearly a percentage point in 2025, while its unit count contracted by 2%. Sam and Alicia talk about the challenges the company has faced, why some of its choices to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic came back to hurt the company, and whether this emblematic of a broader issue with health-minded restaurant concepts.
They then turn their attention to Uber’s acquisition of ezCater, the latest salvo in the third-party delivery wars. The $2.3 billion acquisition is a massive flex for Uber, which will bring ezCater’s 140,000 restaurants and $400 average catering order into the Uber Eats marketplace. Sam and Alicia discuss the ongoing consolidation among the digital ordering platforms and why this could be a good opportunity for more restaurants to explore the catering channel.
Next up is the class-action lawsuit filed in Illinois against McDonald’s. The lawsuit claims that McDonald’s has leveraged pricing technology to force franchisees into higher prices, which it alleges would be a violation of antitrust laws. Sam and Alicia discuss the lawsuit and why it will likely be unsuccessful, but also use the opportunity to look at pricing in general and why this lawsuit signals a broader push back by consumers against rising prices.
Finally, in the Quick Fire portion of the episode, they tackle other headlines from the week in restaurant news, including KFC’s new snackable Go Buckets and Chipotle’s new jingle recorded with the London Vegetable Orchestra.
For more on these stories:
Read more about:
