MRM Research Roundup … Mid-October 2018 Edition

 Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine's "According to a recent study/survey …" column is being rebranded as MRM Research Roundup. This time, we feature top pizza cities,  top cities for vegans and vegetarians, brand intimacy, retail's halo effect and the best places to eat apple pie and for allergy-friendly dining.

How Strong is the Restaurant Industry Really?The third quarter of 2018 was relatively strong for the restaurant industry. Same-store sales were up 1.2 percent in September, the fourth consecutive month of growth. The industry had not experienced a quarter in which all months had positive sales since the fourth quarter of 2015. Sales for the third quarter were also up 1.2 percent, the highest since the third quarter of 2015. These insights come from TDn2K’s Black Box Intelligence™ data, based on weekly sales from over 30,000+ locations representing 170+ brands and nearly $71 billion in annual sales.

“Top line numbers were good for the latest…