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.