Nominations are open: Is your fast casual brand one to watch in 2027?

After nearly 20 years of covering the fast casual industry, I've learned that the most interesting stories rarely come from the brands everyone already knows. They come from the ones quietly outworking, out-innovating and out-hustling their way toward a breakout year. And each year, my goal is to find them before anyone else does.

That's exactly what our Fast Casual Brands to Watch in 2027 special report is all about. It's in its eighth year, and we are still looking for the trailblazers, the rising stars and the concepts making serious noise, whether that's through bold culinary creativity, savvy scaling or technology that's genuinely changing how customers order, pay and eat. If your brand is on the verge of a breakout year, I want to hear about it, straight from you.

Here's what we are prioritizing: Newer concepts, specifically restaurants launched within the last seven years that haven't been featured in this report before. Longevity, however, won't rule you out.

If your brand has rolled out something genuinely new in the past 12 months — a full brand pivot, a major technology rollout or a new franchise model — I want that in the mix, too. Judges will be reviewing every nomination, and we don't want to miss a great story because it came from a brand that's been around a while.

Cherryh Cansler is Publisher of FastCasual.com and Vice President of Connect Food. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.