Leigh Anne Zinsmeister

McDonald’s is being sued over its prices. A customer in Illinois filed a potential class-action lawsuit against the fast-food giant over its alleged use of AI to recommend prices. The lawsuit says that the company has pressured franchisees to follow its recommendations, which violates antitrust law because operators are supposed to be competitors. It also blames McDonald’s price increases on the AI tool. McDonald’s said there are numerous inaccuracies in the lawsuit, which follows a report on its pricing that the company called “wrong.” The company says it plans to fight the lawsuit.

Could Starbucks buy Chipotle? It could happen. The coffee shop giant has reportedly talked with advisors on a potential purchase of the fast-casual burrito chain, according to a published report in Financial Times. That deal would potentially be the biggest in restaurant industry history. Chipotle’s market value is $39 billion. The largest restaurant deal to date happened in 2014, when Burger King paid $11.4 billion for Tim Hortons. The report sent Chipotle’s shares 7% higher while Starbucks shares declined 4%. Brian Niccol was the CEO of Chipotle before he left in 2024 to take the Starbucks job.

So much for the idea that Starbucks would buy Chipotle. The coffee shop giant said in a statement on Monday morning that it is not buying the burrito chain, ending days of speculation after a report in the publication Financial Times said it was exploring an acquisition. The deal had been greeted by skepticism among analysts and investors who questioned the possible benefits for Starbucks, which would have had to pay a record price to buy Chipotle.

Domino's reported third quarter results Tuesday morning, including a U.S. same-store sales increase of just 0.3%. This nominal growth comes despite the launch of the personal-sized, Detroit-style Domino in August and aggressive promotions such as the weeklong 50% off deal in late July. However, the chain had a tough lap over Q3 2025's 5.2% same-store sales increase driven in large part by its popular “Best Deal Ever” promotion. This marked Domino's third quarter in a row with a same-store sales increase below 1%, following 0.1% in Q2 and 0.9% in Q1. During the company’s earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Sandeep Reddy said the business continues to be impacted by a challenging macroenvironment pressuring consumers, which led to lower average tickets and fewer items per order. However, Domino’s continued to drive order count in both delivery and carryout, and new CEO Joe Jordan said the chain also continued to gain share within the QSR pizza category. The company’s updated outlook for the rest of the year includes U.S. same-store sales toward the low end of the low-single-digit range, assuming the challenging environment continues.

Salad and Go is coming back. The drive-thru salad concept filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year and closed all 70 of its locations. But co-founder Daniel Patino, who was the concept’s executive chef from the beginning, acquired the intellectual property rights, along with two locations in Arizona. He acquired the rights with partners Mike Myers and Tom Misitano of Hospitality First Concepts. The plan is to rebuild with corporate owned restaurants, but also franchise the brand.

Guest Check: Post-IPO, the chain’s biggest consumer target is Gen Z. They just have to figure out what they want.

A food delivery giant could be hiding in plain sight. Walmart turned heads this summer when it announced it was getting into restaurant delivery, announcing partnerships with Subway, Dunkin, and Papa Johns. The world’s largest retailer hopes that offering customers the option to add a meal to their groceries or other items will grow its ecommerce business. And it has the infrastructure to make it happen. Walmart’s delivery business is large and growing, and it has its own driver network called Spark to fulfill deliveries. Challenges will be building up the restaurant selection and logistics to truly compete with apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats. Walmart says it plans to add more restaurants in the coming months.

Guest Check: Over a year out from a marketing disaster, food is one reason fans haven’t abandoned the brand completely.

“2+2=Good 4 You” provided meals to students impacted by Tennessee flooding while also stocking the food pantry at Northeast State Community College.

Northeast State Community College in Blountville, Tennessee, faced multiple hardships as a result of recent flooding in the region. Not only were some stud