# Restaurant chains refocus on food quality to bring back diners

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/restaurant-chains-refocus-on-food-quality-to-bring-back-diners/
- Published: 2026-11-09T12:00:01+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-09T22:06:55+00:00
- Original publisher: CNBC (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/09/restaurant-chains-better-food-diners.html
- Topics: Business, Culture, Food

## Key points

- Chains are betting better food can bring diners back.
- Burger King’s nugget sales rose more than 35%.
- Wendy’s is testing changes amid a turnaround plan.

## Summary

Major restaurant chains are making food quality a focus of their efforts to win back diners and improve sales. Wendy’s has made better food at good value one part of its turnaround plan, while Burger King is updating popular menu items, drawing on lessons from Domino’s earlier revival.

Wendy’s is testing thicker, crispier bacon, a richer Frosty, whole-leaf lettuce and improved salads, as it reports its seventh consecutive quarter of same-store sales declines and rejects a $1.4 billion takeover bid. Burger King has changed the Whopper’s bun and mayonnaise and revamped its nuggets and sauces; its parent company said Whopper sales rose by a double-digit percentage and nugget sales by more than 35% in the third quarter, when US same-store sales increased 8.4%. Domino’s recipe overhaul in 2009 preceded 9.9% US same-store sales growth the following year.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.