Chain Restaurant Nostalgia Transforms into a New Business Model

Chain, which reexamines the memorable dishes of chain restaurants through the lens of independent chefs, is moving from pop-up events to a longer-term business model. The gastronomic project co-founded by B.J. Novak will launch a six-month residency at Topanga Social in Westfield Topanga, Los Angeles, starting September 2, 2026.

For years, Chain has organized pop-up events that reinterpret classic chain restaurant dishes with a chef's touch and has hosted ChainFEST events. Topanga Social is taking the concept out of the event format and into a food hall model that can be tested for a longer duration.

The new operation will feature Roy Choi, Mason Hereford, Mei Lin, and Calvin Eng. The common thread among the four chefs is their approach to reinterpret chain restaurant dishes through their own culinary backgrounds and techniques rather than simply replicating them.

McDonald's, Wendy's, and Food Court Memories in the Hands of Chefs

The new model highlights four main chef interpretations inspired by chain restaurants.

Roy Choi, a well-known figure in the Los Angeles culinary scene, has prepared a Charred Chicken Teriyaki Bowl inspired by the teriyaki chicken plates offered in mall food courts. The dish features grilled chicken thighs, California rice, green onions, sesame, and sweet garlic teriyaki sauce. Choi's inspiration for this dish comes from his childhood experiences in shopping malls.

Calvin Eng, the chef of Bonnie's restaurant in Brooklyn, is creating a Crispy Cantonese Fishwich inspired by McDonald's Filet-O-Fish. The spicy fish cake made from wild cod and shrimp is served with green onion tartar sauce, American cheese, and fried potato bread.

Mason Hereford, the chef of Turkey and the Wolf in New Orleans, has worked on a Spicy Chicken Chainwich that reinterprets the memory of Wendy's Spicy Chicken sandwich with Louisiana habanero sauce.

Mei Lin is combining the previously explored Crunchwrap idea with Sichuan cuisine. The Mapo Wagyu Cruncho Perfecto is prepared with mapo-spiced wagyu, chile crisp queso, crispy wonton, and lettuce.

The important distinction here is that the goal is not to create an exact replica of the original products. Lin explains her approach as capturing the feeling created by the original product and taking it to a different place rather than reproducing it.

From Pop-up to Six-Month Operation

Chain's more notable aspect from a business perspective is the change in format rather than the menu.

The concept initially operated with invite-only pop-up dinners in its early years. Some events included direct collaborations with the chain restaurants that inspired them. Later, the model expanded to a gastronomic festival and event space. Now, for the first time, a six-month food hall residency is being attempted.

According to Eater Los Angeles, the Topanga Social operation is initially planned for six months. Chain's creative director Nicholas Kraft does not rule out the possibility of extending the duration.

This transition is significant for restaurant entrepreneurship. A short-term pop-up can measure consumer interest with low fixed costs and limited duration. A permanent restaurant, however, requires a greater commitment in terms of rent, staff, equipment, and continuous customer traffic.

The six-month residency is positioned between the two models. The concept can generate more realistic operational data than a few nights of events; however, it can also provide a more controlled testing ground compared to a long-term restaurant investment.

Topanga Social is Also Being Revamped

Chain's arrival at the food hall is not just about the brand's own expansion.

Topanga Social itself is undergoing a restructuring process. According to Eater, most of the businesses in the food hall had closed in early May. Westfield Topanga later announced that it would renovate the space with new food and beverage businesses and entertainment options.

Therefore, Chain will also provide an experiential gastronomic content that serves as an "anchor" within a food hall that is trying to generate customer traffic.

This point also indicates the changing structure of food hall operations. Simply gathering independent restaurant stalls in the same area may not always be sufficient to attract consumers. Events, limited-time concepts, renowned chefs, and brand collaborations are becoming tools that can ensure the continuous renewal of the space.

A Separate Concept with General Mills is Also Coming

The new operation will not only feature chef interpretations.

A section called Chain Snacks will establish a collaboration between Chain and General Mills. Limited-time snacks and desserts will be developed based on the company's cereal brands.

Another section called ByChain plans to prepare limited-time menus and collection products with a different American brand each month. The details of these collaborations have not yet been disclosed.

These two areas demonstrate that Chain's revenue model is not solely based on food sales. Food, brand collaborations, limited-time products, and merchandise are transforming into different commercial layers of the same experience.

Chain's growth in this direction is not new either. FOX Corporation announced in October 2025 that it had made an equity investment in Chain, stating that the agreement covered events, digital content, advertising sales, and brand sponsorships.

Why is Nostalgia Turning into a Commercial Product?

Chain's core product is not just a sandwich or teriyaki chicken. The concept leverages the emotional relationship consumers have with the dishes they have previously experienced.

This approach can provide a significant advantage in new product development. Instead of trying to understand a completely foreign product, the consumer starts from a reference point they already know, such as Filet-O-Fish, spicy chicken sandwich, or food court teriyaki.

The chef can then modify the known structure through technique, ingredients, or their own culinary culture.

Chain's history also shows that this idea has undergone a few years of testing. The concept began as a pop-up in 2021 and previously prepared dishes inspired by well-known chain products like Crunchwrap Supreme, McRib, and Bloomin' Onion. Some projects even caught the attention of the original chain's chefs.

In this respect, the Topanga Social operation will serve as a more meaningful test to see the performance of nostalgia-based product development outside of short-term events.

What Does It Mean for Restaurants in Turkey?

In Turkey, a similar model does not have to directly copy American chain restaurant nostalgia.

The real viable idea is to reinterpret a dish memory that the consumer already knows with a new technique or concept. Buffet dishes, past café products, hotel classics, or local fast-food culture can provide a similar starting point.

However, brand rights are critical here. Developing a commercial product by using another restaurant's product name, logo, or distinctive brand elements without permission can pose legal risks. Chain's past collaborations with relevant restaurant chains for some of its projects highlight the importance of this distinction.

Therefore, leveraging nostalgia is not the same as using another brand's commercial identity.

Stafflink's Perspective

The most interesting aspect of the Chain example from a HORECA perspective is not that chefs are making fast-food products "luxurious." More importantly, it is the re-testing of a validated idea in a pop-up format through a six-month operation before transitioning directly to a permanent restaurant.

This model could serve as an important intermediate step for gastronomic entrepreneurs.

A few nights of pop-up can measure customer interest, but it produces limited data on staff planning, repeat visits, daily sales fluctuations, inventory management, and menu performance. A six-month residency can better demonstrate the concept's durability under real operational conditions.

In our view, the key indicators to watch for Chain will be the repeat visit rate, per capita spending, product mix, contribution to food hall traffic, and sales levels after the celebrity chef effect diminishes, rather than social media interest or opening queues.

Nostalgia can drive the first visit. However, whether a restaurant model is sustainable will be determined by the second and third visits.