Restaurants & Institutions releases its 25th annual ranking of the Top 100 Independent Restaurants, surveying the highest-grossing non-chain restaurants in the United States.
For the second consecutive year, Tao Las Vegas Restaurant & Nightclub in The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino took the top spot with 2007 food-and-beverage revenues of $66.6 million dollars, up from $55.3 million last year. Tao Las Vegas last year added a third element, Tao Beach, to its operation.
In total, R&I's Top 100 Independent Restaurants had combined F&B sales of $1.53 billion in 2007, up 4.8% from last year's $1.46 billion.
More than half of this year's Top 100 restaurants are located in one of two markets: New York City is home to 32 members of this year's list, Las Vegas is second-but continuing to close the gap-with 24 of the 100 largest. Chicago claims seven of the top restaurants, San Francisco has four.
Listed in the April 15 issue of R&I, this year's top 10 restaurants and their 2007 F&B revenues are:
1. Tao Las Vegas Restaurant & Nightclub, Las Vegas $ 66,636,546
2. Tavern on the Green, New York City $ 37,636,999
3. Joe's Stone Crab, Miami Beach $ 29,680,810
4. Smith & Wollensky (Third Avenue), New York City(1) $ 28,702,000
5. Tao Asian Bistro, New York City $ 26,842,734
6. Old Ebbitt Grill, Washington, D.C. $ 22,851,237
7. Gibsons Bar Steakhouse, Chicago $ 20,846,253
8. Fulton's Crab House, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. $ 20,673,932
9. SW Steakhouse, Las Vegas $ 20,500,000 (est.)
10. Bob Chinn's Crab House, Wheeling, Ill. $ 20,449,151
(1) The original Smith & Wollensky location was not part of the chain sold to Patina Restaurant Group and is operated independently.
The complete Top 100 ranking list can be viewed online at:
http://www.rimag.com/archives/2008/04b/sr-top100-ranking.asp.
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