Like your burger with a side of modern interior design? Now you can have it your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Burger King is among the handful of major restaurant chains revamping their locations just as consumers curb their appetites for dining out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The brand\u2019s new aesthetic, dubbed \u201cSizzle,\u201d has rolled out at 90 locations in the U.S. and Canada, with most of those renovations completed last year. The company said it\u2019s looking to remodel hundreds more in 2025, bringing digital menu boards, self-ordering kiosks and giant orange booths embossed with adjectives like \u201cJUICY\u201d and \u201cCRISPY\u201d to customers nationwide. Burger King\u2019s parent company said last year that it was pouring $2.2 billion into a brand refresh<\/a>, and recently spent nearly half that sum on buying its biggest franchisee to speed up the facelifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are really excited about the strong early results that we are seeing,\u201d a Burger King spokesperson said of the Sizzle remodels, which feature \u201ccomfortable seating, warm colors and natural materials that create a cozy and inviting atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Popeyes, Denny\u2019s and Applebee\u2019s are each in the midst of their own brick-and-mortar refreshes, and they each have reason to hope their investments pay off. Each<\/a> one<\/a> has struggled<\/a> to jolt its business in an industry where sales started the year flat before dipping to a seven-month low<\/a> in February. Visits to quick-service restaurants fell 1.6% in the first quarter<\/a> from the same period a year ago, according to foot traffic data from Placer.ai, while fast-casual visits were flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With few exceptions \u2014 Chili\u2019s<\/a> and Taco Bell<\/a> among them \u2014 major operators are in an uphill fight to keep customers ordering. Spending on food services and accommodations, which includes restaurant meals, shrank by $15 billion in February<\/a>, according to federal data. Restaurant bankruptcy filings last year hit their highest level since 2020<\/a> as store closure announcements piled up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just weeks ago, several large restaurant brands were forecasting sales to accelerate after a slow first quarter<\/a>. But the Trump administration\u2019s massive new tariffs<\/a> \u2014 despite its recent 90-day pullback<\/a> of many of them \u2014 threaten that outlook with cost increases for everything from lumber<\/a> to avocados<\/a>. The National Restaurant Association has warned<\/a> that \u201capplying new tariffs at this scale will create change and disruption that restaurant operators will have to navigate\u201d to keep their doors open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a tough time\u201d for restaurants to invest in refreshing their locations, said Eric Gonzalez, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets who follows the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daily expenses have swelled, with food costs rising 40%<\/a> over the past five years and industry wages up 35%, according to NRA estimates. But Gonzalez said many operators don\u2019t have much choice: \u201cIf you don\u2019t keep your system modernized, you kind of die on the vine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While many consumers renovated their homes during the pandemic<\/a>, restaurants were grappling with bigger real-estate concerns than wall colors and seating designs. Many locations were closed due to shutdown orders, understaffed, under-visited, converted into food-delivery prep kitchens or some combination of all four. Now operators feel they\u2019re overdue for a refresh, said Jonathan Maze, editor-in-chief of Restaurant Business magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese brands need revitalizing, so you get executives that really pushed the remodels,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The efforts include standard-fare upgrades like revamped exteriors and fresh color palettes along with newer digital features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chuck E. Cheese has been busy adding programmable displays<\/a> whose content can be refreshed continuously, ensuring guests find something new with each visit. Like other fast-food chains, Burger King is leaning into self-ordering kiosks and looking for tech-driven ways to enhance its drive-thru capacity; some locations are even experimenting with artificial intelligence for taking customers\u2019 orders. Popeyes said its refreshes include new tech and equipment upgrades \u201cto improve team efficiency, order accuracy and guest experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For all the newfangled additions, experts say brick-and-mortar overhauls are a well-worn strategy to re-energize fatigued customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRestaurants get dated,\u201d Maze said. \u201cAny chain that\u2019s been around for any period of time needs to spruce things up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco Bell was known in the 1990s for its teal-and-salmon decor, with furniture bolted to the floor tiles. Wendy\u2019s locations were once blanketed in maroon carpeting and featured self-service salad bars. Fast-food aesthetics around the turn of the millennium skewed kooky and colorful<\/a>, but times have changed. Modern hardwood finishes and a sleeker minimalism tend to prevail today, a look that has sometimes drawn criticism<\/a> as being too grown-up or just plain boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But operators say there are early signs that their refreshes are working. The sites where Denny\u2019s has been testing its latest updates, to the tune of about $250,000 per location, have seen traffic and sales each rise more than 6%, according to Chief Operating Officer Chris Bode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the end of the day, we want to continue to evolve our iconic brand into what is important to today\u2019s guest,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gonzalez said past remodeling pushes \u2014 or a lack thereof \u2014 have had lasting impacts on how consumers see major restaurant brands. When millennials were kids, many fast-food chains looked dated and uninviting, opening the door for fast-casual rivals like Chipotle, Panera and Smashburger to pick up younger diners. Many Gen Zers, on the other hand, have only known spiffed-up McDonald\u2019s and tend to view that and rival brands more positively, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRemodeling helped with that,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Revamps aren\u2019t just about boosting vibes, though. In a climate where many businesses are grappling with inflation<\/a>, global economic uncertainty<\/a> and sour consumer outlooks<\/a>, upgrades can also help save operators money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tech-fueled updates are often aimed at boosting staffers\u2019 efficiency in kitchens and drive-thrus. Some recent changes, like self-ordering kiosks, reduce the need for employees to take orders at counters. During Wendy\u2019s latest investor day, CFO Ken Cook said he expected new technology to improve labor productivity and help boost restaurant margins by 2% over the next three years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As customers become more value-conscious, restaurants need to do the same, said Chad Moutray, vice president of research and knowledge at the National Restaurant Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey need to find ways to cut costs wherever they can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n