The 3 Biggest Franchise Food Stories of 2018 (60-Second Video) Look back at the tastiest tales of the year.

By Dan Bova

  1. Chick-fil-A is taking flight! Despite controversies surrounding the company president's anti-same-sex marriage beliefs and the resulting protests at college campuses, Chick-fil-A is poised to become the third-largest fast-food chain in America by sales in 2018, bumping down Subway.
  2. Americans are hungrier and lazier than ever, apparently. This year a major trend has seen the world's biggest fast-food chains making home delivery partnerships with the likes of Uber Eats. Yahoo Finance reports that McDonald's will end the year with more than 15,000 out of its 37,000 restaurants offering delivery.
  3. The biggest news in chain restaurants is lasagna -- if by big you mean calorie count. In a roundup of the most fattening regular item meals released in 2018, Redbook.com named Olive Garden's Lasagna Dip as the big daddy of them all with 1,890 calories and 124 grams of fat. It's an appetizer, by the way, so be sure to save room for dessert.

Happy New Year! Watch more 3 Things to Know videoes here.

Dan Bova

Entrepreneur Staff

VP of Special Projects

Dan Bova is the VP of Special Projects at Entrepreneur.com. He previously worked at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maxim, and Spy magazine. His latest books for kids include This Day in History, Car and Driver's Trivia ZoneRoad & Track Crew's Big & Fast Cars, The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff, and Wendell the Werewolf

Read his humor column This Should Be Fun if you want to feel better about yourself.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

More from Entrepreneur Exclusives

3 Simple Ways to Boost E-Commerce Sales

Why Your First 1,000 Customers Are Your Most Important

How to Grow Your Business By Finding New Customers

How to Beat The Working From Home Blues (60-Second Video)

Business News

'Nobody Ever Gave Me Anything': More Boomers Say They're Not Transferring Wealth to Family Until They're Dead

A new survey from Charles Schwab found boomers are more hesitant to distribute their wealth than other generations.

Business News

'When You Lock Up Products You Lock Out Customers': CVS Is Testing an App That Lets Shoppers Unlock Store Cases Themselves.

CVS is testing new functionality on their CVS Health app that allows users to unlock those annoying plexiglass cabinets.

Marketing

7 Local SEO Strategies I've Used to Help Businesses Boost Their Revenue 10x — Especially Blue-Collar Companies

Discover actionable local SEO strategies for service-based businesses like pest control or auto glass repair. Boost visibility, reviews and leads with these tips.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Employee Experience & Recruiting

If You Want to Hire Good Entry-Level Talent, Offer These 3 Game-Changing Opportunities

Finding and hiring good entry-level talent can be a daunting enterprise for small businesses. What can they do to stand out in a time of talent scarcity?

Business News

Fans of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog Combo Are In for a Big Surprise

Costco CEO Ron Vachris announced a change that's coming soon to the company's food courts.