Italian food has become a dominant cuisine in U.S. culture.
“Today, out of 800,000 restaurants in the U.S., about 100,000 serve Italian food. But while the bulk are pizzerias and casual restaurants, there’s also a significant component of fine dining restaurants,” Krishnendu Ray, director of NYU’s Food Studies program and author of “The Ethnic Restaurateur,” told National Geographic.
Meanwhile, there are about 40,000 each of Chinese and Mexican restaurants, with far fewer fine dining options among them.
“Sixty-one percent of the 1,000 people surveyed by the NRA said they eat Italian food at least once a month, and 26% said they eat it a few times a year. By comparison, the other two of the ‘big three’ ethnic cuisines in the United States, Mexican and Chinese, were eaten at least once a month by 50% and 36% of those surveyed, respectively, and a few times a year by 31% and 42% of respondents, respectively,” the NRA shared.
Despite the demand for Italian food, a once-thriving chain, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, has closed more than 85% of its restaurants, leaving the chain with only nine remaining locations.
Macaroni Grill was meant to be an Olive Garden rival
Romano’s Macaroni Grill suffered a slow decline.
The chain began with a strong pedigree, having been founded in San Antonio in 1988 by restaurateur Phil Romano, the creator of Fuddruckers. It was acquired by Chili’s owner Brinker International the following year.
“Positioned as an Olive Garden competitor, Romano’s served standard Italian fare and leaned into its Italian theme: It staffed opera singers and played Italian language lessons in its restrooms,” Restaurant Business reported.
The chain grew quickly under Brinker, peaking at 237 locations in 2006, most of them company-owned, according to data from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic.
Brinker sold the chain to private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital in 2008 for $131.5 million, a price that was later adjusted to $88 million after the economy crashed.
At its peak, Macaroni Grill built a strong business around its “make-your-own-pasta” offering.
Customers were handed a sheet offering a number of choices, and they could check off boxes to create their own custom pasta dish. That offering was paired with fresh bread, and tables were topped with a heavy white paper on which servers wrote their names.
While Romano’s Macaroni Grill has struggled, rival Olive Garden has thrived with a simple playbook.
“Olive Garden has simplified its restaurants and its promotional calendar. It has used fewer discounts, relying on ‘everyday value’ marketing while emphasizing lunch to improve sales that way,” according to Restaurant Business.
The chain also made a subtle, but important operating change.
“It has also focused more on its takeout business, which has increased considerably in recent years. Takeout now represents nearly 14% of Olive Garden sales. Few casual-dining restaurants can boast such levels,” the industry website shared.
At the time, it was owned by Arizona-based RedRock Partners LLC, which acquired the chain from Ignite Restaurant Group Inc. in 2015 for $8 million.
In its filing, Macaroni Grill cited a decrease in sales and an increase in labor and commodity costs, which hurt profits, Nation’s Restaurant News reported.
Nishant Machado, the company’s acting CEO at the time of the filing, blamed the chain’s problems on “an overall downturn for the casual dining industry,” including a preference of customers toward “cheaper, faster alternatives.”
Macaroni Grill only has a few locations left.Shutterstock
Romano’s Macaroni Grill survived, but still struggled
While Romano’s Macaroni Grill survived its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it has been in steady decline since the filing.
“The pandemic was devastating for Romano’s. It closed half of its locations in 2020, bringing its footprint to 43 restaurants. And unlike other casual-dining chains, it did not enjoy a post-COVID rebound,” Restaurant Business reported in December 2025.
Sales have declined every year since as it continued to close locations.
In 2024, the chain dropped off Technomic’s ranking of the top 500 largest restaurant chains in America by sales.
Macaroni Grill’s struggles, however, are not a comment on the health of restaurants in a broader sense.
“The restaurant industry is notoriously competitive,” Sara Senatore, a Bank of America analyst who specializes in restaurants, told Investopedia. “And in the current environment, what we’re seeing is a return to intense competition.”
Restaurant Business Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Maze said the chain’s decline has been the result of management decisions, not the economy.
“The story of Mac Grill is in many respects the story of the decline in casual dining. For years, the Italian chain had been a popular concept, sort of a next-generation Olive Garden,” he wrote in a column on NRN.
The chain’s struggles, he noted, have been consistent no matter who has been in charge.
“Mac Grill’s problems have been consistent, date back a decade, and have plagued multiple owners and CEOs,” he added.
Macaroni Grill, however, has not given up. The company has added a quick-serve concept, Twisted Mac, and is still selling franchises.
“Whether you are looking for the prestige of a legacy national brand or the high-growth potential of a modern QSR, our portfolio offers two distinct ways to bring authentic Italian hospitality to your market. Both brands are powered by the same commitment to quality, generosity, and the Guest First philosophy,” the company shared on its website.
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