MRM Research Roundup: Mid-July 2019 Edition

This edition of Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine's Research Roundup features Toast's  comprehensive 2019 Restaurant Success Report, major growth in self-service offerings, lunch hour opportunities, top 10 Allergy-Friendly Independent Restaurants and who is winning the plant-based burger war? 

Toast's  2019 Restaurant Success ReportThe team at Toast released a state of the industry report surveying more than 1,000 customers and 1,000 restaurant industry professionals on their views on a number of hot-button issues affecting the industry today. 

Among the key findings:

Restaurant professionals ranked high operating and food costs and hiring staff as their top challenges to running a restaurant, with 52 percent citing high operating and food costs and 51 percent citing hiring staff. Training staff came in third with 35 percent of restaurateurs selecting it as a top challenge. 72 percent of guests said quality of food was important. 65 percent of restaurant…