Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN), the leading publication for the entire restaurant industry, has announced six winners of its annual Hot Concepts Awards.
This year’s Hot Concepts, supported by The Coca-Cola Company, recognizes up-and-coming chains from across the U.S. that demonstrate impressive growth momentum and have the potential to become household names.
“It’s a long road from restaurant startup to national success story, and hundreds of brands are attempting that path by expanding their menus and systems to new markets,” said Sam Oches, NRN’s editor-in-chief. “With Hot Concepts, we want to identify a select number of those brands that we believe have the best chance of reaching a broad audience.”
This year’s Hot Concept award winners are:
- Angry Chickza Hot Chicken Fast Casual with 26 locations
- Mecha Noodle Bara full-service Asia concept with 10 locations
- Puttshacka minigolf eatertainment concept with 17 locations
- Rodney Scott’s Whole Pig BBQa grill restaurant with 5 locations
- Tacomaa taco fast-casual with 22 locations
- Toastiquea toast and juice café with 29 locations
The Hot Concepts Awards will be presented at CREATE: The Event for Emerging Restauranteurs in Nashville on October 10. Executives from each concept will be on hand for a panel discussion with Oches, discussing each brand’s unique story and how they’ve overcome challenges along the way.
“Congratulations to the 2024 Nation’s Restaurant News Hot Concept winners!” said Barb Poremba, senior vice president of industry leadership at The Coca-Cola Company. “These brands and their leaders are not only innovative and forward-thinking, but they are also inspiring future restaurateurs to pursue their dream of entrepreneurship. They truly embody the spirit of this great industry and we at The Coca-Cola Company are honored to celebrate them this year at CREATE in Nashville.”
Previous Hot Concepts winners have included major chains such as Panda Express, Raising Cane’s, The Cheesecake Factory, Jamba and CAVA.
“The restaurant industry offers an amazing diversity of brands, menus and leaders that are popping up across the country and finding a national audience,” said Oches. “Our Hot Concepts winners are a perfect example of this diversity and we are excited to welcome this next generation of restaurant leaders to our CREATE event in October.”
CREATE will take place October 9-11 at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Restaurant managers can register for CREATE for free here.
