History of restaurant industry:

Restaurants as we know them today emerged from 18th-century in France. After the French
Revolution, the thousands of chefs once employed in aristocratic and royal households found
themselves unemployed and struggling to survive. Hence the rise of the restaurant, which gave
all citizens the egalitarian chance to eat together in harmony -- and a newly powerful middle
class turned the dining experience into a vibrant social one.

Human beings have always eaten, but the business of selling food to customers who order off a
menu is a phenomenon dating back to the French Revolution. Before that time, diners bought
food at street food stalls and public houses. Today's restaurants are characterized by their
capacity to create a space and a dining experience. They also usually offer customers a choice
of menu options. Upscale restaurants offering fixed price menus are an exception to this trend,
but they nonetheless focus on the dining experience, as compared to the expedient fare of
historical eating options.

The modern restaurant industry encompasses a wide variety of eating establishments ranging
from upscale artisan eateries to chains and franchises with thousands of locations. On one end
of the spectrum, passionate chefs with skills and knowledge pay close attention to quality
ingredients and sophisticated preparation techniques. On the other end of the spectrum,
restaurants with multiple locations buy pre-made menu items from food service warehouses,
hiring chefs to prepare these dishes using carefully choreographed systems that leave little to
chance.

The industry comprises chain and franchised restaurants that provide food services to patrons
who order and are served while seated (i.e. waiter or waitress service), and pay after eating.
These establishments may provide this type of food service to patrons in combination with
selling alcoholic and other beverages.

The restaurant industry in the United States reached 745.61 US dollars in 2015 – a long way
from the 42.8 million seen in 1970. This figure was forecasted to rise again in 2016 to more
than 782 billion. In 2015 there were approximately 14 million people working within the
industry, by 2026 this number is expected to reach over 16 million.

The restaurant industry in United States is generally comprised of independent or chain full-
service and limited- service restaurants. In 2015, full service restaurants (FSRs), including chain
such as Applebee’s and red lobster, generated around 247 U.S dollars in food and drinks sales.
Limited service restaurants (LSRs) made over 210 million that year. LSR category includes well
known fast-food restaurants and coffee chains like McDonald’s and Starbucks. MacDonald’s is
the leading chain restaurants in the U.S.A in term of sales, making 35.84 million U.S dollar in
2015.