{{short description|Type of restaurant}} [[File:5.2.11SoulDaddyOpeningDayByLuigiNovi7.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Customers dining and ordering at a (now Chipotle) Soul Daddy outlet in South Street Seaport, Manhattan, New York, in 2011]] [[File:George Miller and Thomas Perez eat lunch with Sweetgreen co-founders, 2014 (1).jpg|thumb|Assembling meals at Sweetgreen]] [[File:Falafel Super Bowl Salad - Leon 2025-10-27.jpg|thumb|A falafel "slop bowl" at Sweetgreen with green goddess dressing]]{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}} A '''fast casual restaurant''', found primarily in the United States, is a restaurant that does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast-food restaurants. It is an intermediate concept between fast food and casual dining.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Liu |first=Evie |title=Fast-Casual Restaurant Stocks Lost Their Sizzle. What Could Bring Them Back. |url=https://www.barrons.com/articles/fast-casual-restaurant-stocks-cava-chipotle-sweetgreen-fa71aa0e |access-date=2026-01-08 |website=barrons |language=en-us}}</ref>
== History == The concept originated in the United States in the early 1990s, but did not become mainstream until the late 2000s to early 2010s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bluemaumau.org/9057/2010%E2%80%99s_twenty_largest_fastcasual_franchises |title=2010's Twenty Largest Fast-Casual Franchises |publisher=BlueMauMau |access-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125025305/http://www.bluemaumau.org/9057/2010%E2%80%99s_twenty_largest_fastcasual_franchises |archive-date=January 25, 2018 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> During the economic recession that began in 2007, the category of fast casual dining saw increased sales to the 18–34-year-old demographic.<ref name="Jargon" /> Customers with limited discretionary spending for meals tend to choose fast casual for dining which they perceive as healthier.<ref name="Jargon">{{cite news|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/108728/burger-king-draws-critics|title=As Sales Drop, Burger King Draws Critics for Courting 'Super Fans'|author=Jargon, Julie|work=The Wall Street Journal|publisher=Yahoo! Finance|date=February 1, 2010|access-date=February 1, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204190038/http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/108728/burger-king-draws-critics|archive-date=February 4, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160722184849/http://time.com/money/4419283/expense-report-meals-panera/ Panera Bread Most Expensive Expensed Chain Restaurant], By Martha C. White, July 22, 2016, Money</ref>
Many fast casual restaurants including Cava, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Sweetgreen serve what are derisively called "slop bowls"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/business/chipotle-cava-sweetgreen-bowl-sales-prices.html|title=The Allure of ‘Slop Bowls’ Fades as Consumers Tighten Spending|first=Julie|last=Creswell|date=March 6, 2026|access-date=May 27, 2026|website=Nytimes.com}}</ref>, where the meal consists of what the ''New York Times'' called a "nebulous mash of ingredients"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/style/ai-slop-slop-bowls-shein-slop-hauls.html|title=Living the Slop Life|first=Emma|last=Goldberg|date=May 19, 2025|access-date=May 27, 2026|website=Nytimes.com}}</ref> assembled to order in a cardboard container.<ref>{{cite news|title=Price is now the main ingredient in the office-lunch slop bowl |url=https://www.ft.com/content/9f8863e9-bd9c-4ed6-897d-74d77b0fec4c |newspaper=Financial Times |access-date=April 12, 2026}}</ref>
Major fast casual food chains saw reduced earnings in 2025, attributed to customers reducing their spending and increased competition. Researchers noted that more consumers, particularly young ones, are making their own lunches.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Valinsky |first=Jordan |date=2025-11-11 |title=Has the American worker fallen out of love with slop? {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/11/food/chipotle-sweetgreen-cava-earnings-problems-slop |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>
== Origin of the term == The founder and publisher of FastCasual.com, Paul Barron, is credited with coining the term "fast-casual" in the late 1990s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wheelen |first1=Thomas L. |title=Strategic Management and Business Policy: Cases |url=https://archive.org/details/strategicmanagem00hung_0 |url-access=registration |year=2006 |publisher=Pearson Prentice Hall |location=Upper Saddle River, N.J |isbn=978-0-13-149460-2 |edition=10th |last2=Hunger |first2=J. David}}</ref> Horatio Lonsdale-Hands, former chairman and CEO of ZuZu Inc., is also credited with coining the term. ZuZu, a handmade Mexican food concept co-founded by Lonsdale-Hands and Espartaco Borga in 1989, filed a U.S. Federal trademark registration for the term "fast-casual" in November 1995,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Penelope |first=Swift (2017) |date= |title=Amadeus: Fast-Casual - Origin and Trademark |url=https://www.amadeusbb.com/ |access-date=2018-02-20 |language=}}</ref><ref name="U.S. Federal Trademark Registration">{{Cite web|url=https://www.trademarkia.com/fast-casual-75017852|title=FAST CASUAL Trademark | Trademarkia|website=Trademarkia.com|access-date=May 27, 2026}}</ref> leading Michael DeLuca to call Lonsdale-Hands a "progressive pioneer in the burgeoning 'fast-casual' market segment" in the July 1996 edition of ''Restaurant Hospitality.''<ref>{{cite journal|title=Formula for Success|journal=Restaurant Hospitality|date=July 1996|volume=80|issue=7|pages=81–86}}</ref>
== Definition == The company Technomic Information Services defined "fast-casual restaurants" as meeting the following criteria:<ref>{{cite news | title = What exactly is fast casual? | url = http://www.franchisetimes.com/content/story.php?article=00643 | access-date = January 23, 2011 | newspaper = Franchise Times | date = January 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121021191740/http://www.franchisetimes.com/content/story.php?article=00643 | archive-date = October 21, 2012}}</ref> * Limited-service or self-service format * Average meal price between $8 and $15 * Made-to-order food with more complex flavors than fast food restaurants * Upscale, unique or highly developed décor * Most often will not have a drive-through
==Examples of fast casual restaurants== {{more citations needed section|date=November 2025}} * Au Bon Pain * Barburrito * Beef-a-roo * Blaze Pizza * BurgerFi * Captain D's * Cava * Chipotle Mexican Grill<ref name="Jennings, Restaurant Business, 06/04/2024" /> * Chopt<ref>{{cite web |last1=Thorn |first1=Bret |title=Chopt continues expansion into suburban markets |url=https://www.nrn.com/fast-casual/chopt-continues-expansion-into-suburban-markets |website=NRN.com |publisher=Informa |access-date=8 September 2025 |date=July 12, 2024 |quote=The fast-casual restaurant is bringing its ‘better tastes better’ ethos to the drive-thru}}</ref> * Culver's * Dig * El Pollo Loco * Fat Bastard Burrito * Farmer Boys * Firehouse Subs<ref name="Jennings, Restaurant Business, 06/04/2024">{{cite web |last1=Jennings |first1=Lisa |title=The 10 largest fast-casual restaurant chains by sales |url=https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/operations/10-largest-fast-casual-restaurant-chains-sales#page=0 |website=Restaurantbusinessonline.com |publisher=Informa Connect |access-date=16 July 2025 |date=June 4, 2024}}</ref> * Five Guys<ref name="Jennings, Restaurant Business, 06/04/2024" /> * Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers * Fuddruckers * Jason's Deli * Jersey Mike's Subs<ref name="Jennings, Restaurant Business, 06/04/2024" /> * Jimmy John's * Just Salad<ref name="Klein, QSR,7/20/2021">{{cite web |last1=Klein |first1=Danny |title=Just Salad Secures 'Largest Ever Capital Raise,' Looks to Double in Size |url=https://www.qsrmagazine.com/growth/emerging-concepts/just-salad-secures-largest-ever-capital-raise-looks-double-size/ |website=QSRmagazine.com |publisher=WTWH Media, LLC |access-date=7 September 2025 |date=July 20, 2021}}</ref> * McAlister's Deli * Mendocino Farms * Mission BBQ * Mixt Greens * Moe's Southwest Grill * Mucho Burrito * Panera Bread<ref name="Jennings, Restaurant Business, 06/04/2024" /> * Portillo's Restaurants * Potbelly Sandwich Shop * Pret A Manger * Qdoba * Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers<ref name="Jennings, Restaurant Business, 06/04/2024" /> * Shake Shack * Smashburger * Sweetgreen * Taco del Mar * The Halal Guys * Tropical Smoothie Cafe * Wingstop<ref name="Jennings, Restaurant Business, 06/04/2024" /> * Zaxby's<ref name="Jennings, Restaurant Business, 06/04/2024" />
== See also == * List of casual dining restaurant chains * List of fast food restaurant chains * Delicatessen * Diner
== References == {{reflist}}
{{fast food restaurants |state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fast-Casual Restaurant}} Category:fast casual restaurants Category:restaurants by type