Major food chains are reinventing themselves. We ranked their efforts to see who's winning the Great Restaurant Reset.

Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? . Many major restaurant chains have been undergoing revitalization and rebranding efforts this year. Some, like Red Lobster, are seeing positive trends, while others, like Cracker Barrel, have faltered. Business Insider ranked each effort based on brand commentary and financial results. It has been a big year for rebranding efforts among major restaurant chains. As consumer tastes change - with value and experiential dining increasingly at the forefront - restaurant brands are seizing the moment to reinvent themselves: launching new logos, upgrading locations, and exploring new strategies to win over customers. Business Insider ranked each effort based on available financial performance and commentary from branding experts. Here's which rebrand is winning the Great Restaurant Reset so far. Cracker Barrel Cracker Barrel launched a $700 million "strategic transformation" plan in 2025 aimed at updating stores, menus, and improving the brand's relevance. However, financial results showed essentially flat revenue in 2025 - a third straight sluggish year. The most visible part of the refresh - its logo and brand redesign - backfired badly, with intense backlash forcing them to scrap the new logo. Management in September projected an 8% traffic drop for Q1 FY 2026, tied to the controversy. Stock for Cracker Barrel was down more than 52% this year. Pizza Hut Over the past year, Pizza Hut has quietly rolled out a refreshed logo and shaken up its menu and value strategy, launching new deals and limited-time items (like budget-friendly personal-pizza options) designed to win back customers amid sagging same-store sales. Yum! Brands , the parent company of Pizza Hut, is openly exploring a sale of all or part of the brand - that's about as loud a vote of "this turnaround isn't working yet" as it gets. US same-store sales and system sales have been in negative territory, facing a 5% drop in both Q1 and Q2, a 7% decline in Q3 at US locations, and its operating profit was down 8% in Q3. Stock for Yum, which also includes other fast food titans like Taco Bell and KFC, was up more than 15% year-to-date. Outback Steakhouse Parent company Bloomin' Brands announced in November a $75 million, multi-year turnaround plan for Outback Steakhouse , aimed at restoring the chain to its steakhouse roots by improving food quality, updating its restaurants and service, and refining the overall guest experience. As its rebrand effort is in its earliest stages, as tracked by Business Insider, it hasn't had the same runway that other brands have. Still, the chain has been struggling for two years, with the recent quarter showing only flat comparable store sales growth. As part of a cost-cutting overhaul, they have abruptly closed 21 restaurants, with more closures planned. There is a clear, funded strategy and some sequential improvement, but the brand is still closing units and lagging key steakhouse competitors, so the revitalization isn't yet taking root. Bloomin' Brands ' stock was down more than 46% year-to-date. Chipotle Despite its...

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