Some restaurant breakups happen slowly. Applebee’s appears to be living through one of them now.

For many diners, the issue is no longer one bad meal or one disappointing visit. It is the feeling that a once-reliable casual dining chain has become harder to justify.

The value equation feels weaker than it used to

Applebee’s has spent the past two years trying to stabilize traffic with promotions, menu tweaks, and sharper value messaging. That effort reflects a real business problem: Dine Brands reported Applebee’s domestic comparable same-restaurant sales fell 4.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024, and company filings have repeatedly tied weaker sales to lower traffic rather than just smaller checks. In fiscal 2025, the brand improved, but fourth-quarter same-restaurant sales still slipped 0.4%, again largely because traffic remained under pressure. According to the company, guest experience and everyday value are still central priorities because they have to be.

That matters because casual dining customers are more price sensitive than many chains hoped. Restaurant Dive reported that Dine Brands executives described guests as extremely sensitive to price increases, a familiar problem across the industry as eating out feels less affordable. When customers believe they are paying more without getting a meaningfully better meal, service level, or atmosphere, loyalty fades quickly. Applebee’s is hardly alone in this, but it may be more exposed because its brand was built on approachable affordability.

The challenge is even clearer when rivals define value more convincingly. Industry coverage has pointed out that Applebee’s has struggled to match the buzz and traffic momentum that some competing casual dining chains have generated with simpler, more compelling offers. Once customers start comparing a night at Applebee’s with cheaper fast-casual options or sharper casual-dining promotions elsewhere, the chain can lose on both price and excitement.

Customers also notice operational inconsistency

Price alone does not explain why some guests say they are done. A bigger issue is inconsistency across locations, which is a common hazard in large franchise systems and especially visible at aging restaurant brands. S&P Global Ratings noted that Applebee’s restaurant base is notably seasoned, with an average age of nearly 24 years. Older boxes can still perform well, but only if reinvestment keeps the dining room, kitchen, and service standards from feeling tired.

Dine Brands itself has acknowledged the need to improve fundamentals. The company has emphasized guest experience, remodels, and marketing support, while trade coverage says Applebee’s planned to prioritize remodels in 2025 as part of its effort to refresh the brand. That is a sign management understands the problem, but it also underscores why some customers have drifted away already: diners experience the brand one location at a time, not through corporate strategy slides.

Store closures add to that perception. Nation’s Restaurant News reported in March 2024 that Applebee’s expected 25 to 35 closures that year, describing the moves as a way for franchisees to exit unprofitable locations. By the end of 2024, Restaurant Dive said the chain’s store count had fallen to about 1,501 from 1,578 in 2021. Even when closures are financially rational, they can reinforce a customer narrative that a brand is shrinking rather than improving.

Applebee’s is now fighting for relevance, not just recovery

The deeper risk for Applebee’s is that consumer habits have changed faster than the brand has. Today’s diners expect clearer value, better digital convenience, fresher restaurant environments, and more distinct food identity. Applebee’s still has scale, off-premise business, and brand awareness, but scale by itself does not create affection. In the fourth quarter of 2025, off-premise still represented 23.0% of sales mix, showing the chain remains relevant for takeout and delivery even as in-restaurant traffic stays challenged.

Management is trying multiple fixes. Applebee’s has leaned on menu innovation, promotions like the revived Dollarita, and longer-term development ideas including dual-branded Applebee’s-IHOP locations, which debuted domestically in Texas in February 2025. Those moves suggest a company searching for new traffic engines rather than relying on nostalgia alone.

Still, winning back walk-away customers is harder than stopping defections in the first place. Once diners decide a chain feels overpriced, uneven, or past its prime, they do not need a dramatic reason to leave; they just need better alternatives. That is the real warning in Applebee’s recent numbers. The brand has not disappeared, but for a growing share of customers, it no longer feels like the obvious neighborhood choice it once was.

A growing U.S. food-safety investigation has pushed several restaurant operators to make quick menu changes this summer. Taco Bell said on July 14 it had voluntarily and temporarily removed certain fresh ingredients from select restaurants while health officials examine a Cyclospora outbreak that has sickened people in multiple states. The change has left some customers finding familiar toppings missing from tacos, burritos and bowls, even though the chain has not announced a systemwide menu cut.

Taco Bell confirmed a temporary pull of fresh ingredients at select restaurants

Taco Bell said Tuesday, July 14, that it had “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure,” according to statements reported by ABC News, AP and Bloomberg. The company did not release a nationwide count of affected stores, but reports from restaurant locations and local outlets identified missing lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, cilantro and onions at some restaurants. Taco Bell also said public health officials have not confirmed a link to the chain, a specific ingredient, a supplier, or another business.

The scale of the broader outbreak is significant, even though the chain-specific exposure remains unconfirmed. AP reported that Michigan alone had recorded thousands of cases by mid-July, while CDC figures cited by other outlets showed Cyclospora cases had been reported across dozens of states this season. The parasite, Cyclospora cayetanensis, causes cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness that can bring prolonged watery diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms, according to the CDC.

That distinction matters in the current Taco Bell story. The menu changes were described by the company as precautionary, not as a response to a confirmed contamination finding inside Taco Bell restaurants. As of July 14, neither the CDC nor Taco Bell had publicly identified one ingredient at the chain as the verified source of illness.

The impact appears uneven, with confirmed changes in parts of Michigan and other states

What customers are seeing depends on where they order. Restaurant Dive reported that two Taco Bell restaurants in Michigan confirmed they were not serving lettuce or a cilantro-onion mix, and local reporting in Texas said some stores there had also stopped serving several fresh toppings. Metro Detroit locations were among those publicly identified in news reports as posting notices about temporarily unavailable ingredients.

Even so, the company has not released a full list of affected locations by state, city or franchise group. That means it is not yet possible to say how many stores in Michigan, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, New York, North Carolina or other states made the same change. Reports have pointed to disruptions in multiple states, but the confirmed store-by-store picture remains incomplete.

For customers, the practical effect is straightforward: some menu items may still be sold, but without the usual produce-based toppings. Local coverage said orders that typically include lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, cilantro or onions may be served without those ingredients while the temporary pull remains in place. Taco Bell has not said when every affected restaurant will restore the missing items.

The reason is the outbreak investigation, not a confirmed Taco Bell-specific finding

The immediate reason for the disappearing toppings is the Cyclospora investigation and the difficulty of quickly isolating a produce source. Health officials in Michigan said current results point to lettuce or salad greens as a potential source in that state’s outbreak, while also saying other foods cannot yet be ruled out. Reuters and AP both reported that investigators were examining whether lettuce served at Taco Bell could be associated with illnesses, but no final link had been confirmed as of July 14.

Cyclospora outbreaks are often tied to fresh produce, according to the CDC, including leafy greens, cilantro, basil, berries and green onions in past cases. Because many of the ingredients removed by Taco Bell are uncooked toppings, they fit the category of foods that investigators typically examine when this parasite spreads. That helps explain why restaurants may choose to remove ingredients before a final public conclusion is reached.

For customers, that means availability may continue to vary in the near term. Taco Bell said it would continue to monitor the situation and follow guidance from public health authorities. Until investigators identify a confirmed source, some locations may keep serving a reduced version of menu items that normally rely on fresh produce.

For years, ancient diets were reconstructed mostly from bones, seeds, and tools. Now, the real breakthrough is coming from the leftovers people accidentally baked onto their cookware.

What scientists are finding stuck to ancient pots is transforming archaeology from guesswork about ingredients into direct evidence of recipes, cooking habits, and food choices.

The residue revolution inside ancient pottery

Archaeologists used to lean heavily on animal bones and charred plant remains to infer what people ate. That approach was useful, but incomplete, because soft foods, broths, porridges, dairy, and mixed dishes often leave little visible trace behind. Pottery changed that, not just in prehistory, but in modern research, because porous ceramic walls absorb fats and preserve microscopic residues for thousands of years.

Today, scientists use lipid analysis, isotope testing, proteomics, and microfossil studies to read those residues almost like a culinary archive. According to Nature and related archaeological research, absorbed fats can reveal whether a vessel held dairy, ruminant meat, fish, or plant material, while charred crusts may preserve evidence from the final meal cooked in the pot. Experimental studies have also shown that different residue layers record different moments in a pot’s life, from one last stew to many repeated cooking events.

That matters because it means researchers are no longer asking only what animals were hunted or what crops were grown. They can ask what was actually cooked, combined, heated, and eaten. In many cases, the answer is more complex than the old assumption that prehistoric people relied mainly on roasted meat or a narrow set of staple foods.

Plants, grains, and dairy were more important than many assumed

One of the biggest surprises has been the strength of evidence for plant processing. A landmark study in Nature Plants found direct signs that Early Holocene people in the Sahara were processing a wide range of plants in pottery, helping confirm that ancient menus included more than meat or fish. That was important because plant foods are often underrepresented in the archaeological record even when they played a major nutritional role.

Other studies have pushed the story further. Research on Neolithic pottery from Scottish crannogs published in Nature Communications found evidence for cereal processing alongside dairy and meat lipids, showing that people were not simply consuming ingredients separately but preparing varied food combinations. In East Asia, early pottery from the Japanese Jōmon has yielded chemical evidence strongly associated with aquatic foods, indicating that some of the world’s earliest pots were used to cook fish and other water resources.

Dairy has also emerged as a major revelation. A 2025 study in Nature Human Behaviour identified caprine dairy exploitation on the Iranian Plateau as early as the seventh millennium BC, while work from South Africa and the Tibetan Plateau has found direct residue evidence of milk processing in very different ecological settings. Together, these findings suggest ancient people were far more flexible and inventive in using animal products than older textbook narratives allowed.

Ancient pots are revealing cuisine, not just diet

The most important shift is conceptual. Scientists are moving from reconstructing diet as a list of available foods to reconstructing cuisine as a set of cooking practices. That distinction matters because a pot can show not only that people had access to milk, cereals, or fish, but that they boiled, blended, simmered, or repeatedly prepared them in meaningful ways.

Researchers have also learned to be careful. Experimental work published in Scientific Reports found that charred crust on the inside of a vessel often reflects the final cooking event, while absorbed lipids in the ceramic can represent many meals over time. In other words, a single pot may contain both a snapshot and a long-term average, which helps explain how archaeologists distinguish one feast from everyday use.

What emerges is a richer, more human picture of the past. Ancient cooks were adapting to climate, geography, and available resources with far more skill than older stereotypes suggested. The residue stuck to pottery is not trivial debris; it is direct evidence that early people made soups, porridges, fish dishes, dairy-based foods, and mixed meals that look much more like real cuisine than the simplistic “meat-heavy prehistoric diet” once imagined.

Takeout feels convenient, predictable, and increasingly transparent. But even when a menu posts calories or a package lists ingredients, some of the most important details still sit outside the label.

That gap matters because what affects your meal is not always the food alone. It can also be the packaging, the kitchen workflow, and the chemistry of how food is handled before it reaches your door.

The label tells you what is in the meal, not always what touched it

Nutrition labels were built to describe nutrients, not every material or surface that comes into contact with food. That distinction is easy to miss when a takeout container looks as official as a boxed grocery item. In practice, the container, wrapper, gloves, and prep surfaces can all shape exposure in ways most diners never see.

One major example is PFAS, a class of chemicals long used for grease resistance in some food packaging. In February 2024, the FDA said grease-proofing agents containing PFAS were no longer being sold for use in U.S. food packaging, calling paper wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, and takeout paperboard containers a major source of dietary exposure. The agency followed that in January 2025 by determining that 35 related food-contact notifications were no longer effective after those uses were abandoned.

That is genuine progress, but it does not mean every concern disappeared overnight. The FDA still notes that PFAS can enter food through environmental contamination and continues testing the food supply. The agency is also still reviewing other food-contact chemicals, including phthalates, which are used in some plastic materials and remain part of broader food chemical safety reviews.

Researchers have also examined fast-food packaging and food handling for phthalates and replacement plasticizers. Studies indexed by PubMed have found these substances in fast-food items, suggesting the pathway is not simply the recipe itself, but the broader chain of packaging and preparation. A calorie count cannot capture that.

Sodium, portions, and preparation can overwhelm the numbers you do see

Even when nutrition data are available, they do not always tell the whole story of a takeout meal’s health impact. According to the CDC, most sodium in the American diet comes from packaged and restaurant food, not the salt shaker. That means a meal that looks reasonable on paper can still deliver a large share of the recommended daily limit in one sitting.

The problem is magnified by portion size. Restaurant meals frequently arrive as two meals disguised as one, especially with burrito bowls, noodle dishes, burgers paired with fries, and oversized beverages. A posted number may reflect a standard menu item, but add-ons, sauces, combo upgrades, and heavy-handed seasoning can push the final total well beyond what diners assume they ordered.

Public health guidance has tried to address this. Federal food-service guidelines cite a benchmark of ≤800 mg sodium for meals, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans continue to recommend a daily sodium cap of 2,300 mg for most people age 14 and older. Many popular takeout categories can consume a large chunk of that before dinner is half finished.

This is where labels create false confidence. If you see calories but not the full sodium load, preparation variability, or actual serving size in the delivered order, you may think you made a measured choice when you actually bought a nutritional wild card.

The biggest hidden risk for some diners is not calories at all

For people with food allergies, the most important missing information may be cross-contact. The FDA says recalls due to undeclared allergens are a leading cause of food recalls, and the agency has repeatedly emphasized that food businesses should minimize or prevent allergen cross-contact. In retail settings, that risk can come from shared cutting boards, utensils, fryers, counters, or rushed assembly lines.

Takeout intensifies the problem because the customer cannot watch the meal being prepared or ask follow-up questions in real time. A dish may be described accurately on the menu and still pick up traces of sesame, peanut, milk, egg, or shellfish during service. FDA guidance treats undeclared allergen exposure as a serious hazard, not a minor labeling glitch.

That matters beyond people with diagnosed allergies. Families ordering for children, consumers with celiac concerns, and anyone avoiding specific ingredients for medical reasons often rely on the menu as if it were a packaged-food label. It is not. Restaurant disclosures are less standardized, and kitchen conditions change shift by shift.

The smartest takeaway is simple: use nutrition numbers as a starting point, not a guarantee. Ask about allergens, request sauces on the side, avoid overly greasy food in damaged packaging, and treat the container as part of the meal’s risk profile. Your takeout order may be convenient, but it is not always fully explained by the label attached to it.

Cinnamon has long been the comfort spice of the American pantry. But a quieter, more aromatic contender is moving into that space with surprising speed.

That spice is cardamom, and its appeal goes far beyond trendiness. Its citrusy, floral, slightly resinous profile gives cooks something cinnamon cannot: warmth with lift, depth without heaviness, and versatility that works from breakfast to dinner.

Why cardamom is suddenly everywhere

Cardamom’s rise is not just anecdotal. Market researchers at Grand View Research valued the global cardamom seasoning and spices market at about $1.32 billion in 2024 and projected continued growth through 2030, a sign that consumer demand is broadening well beyond traditional regional uses. Industry analysts at Mordor Intelligence have also pointed to premium bakery, confectionery, and functional beverage demand as major growth drivers in the years ahead.

That tracks with what shoppers are seeing. Cardamom is showing up more often in specialty baking, chai concentrates, coffee drinks, and elevated pantry staples that once leaned heavily on cinnamon as the default “warm spice.” Whole Foods has featured cardamom coffee in its recipe mix, reflecting how mainstream retailers are helping normalize the flavor for home cooks rather than reserving it for restaurant menus or holiday treats.

Part of the appeal is sensory. Cinnamon is sweet, round, and familiar, but cardamom is brighter and more complex. It can sharpen a bun, perfume a rice dish, deepen a stew, or make whipped cream taste unexpectedly elegant. In a food culture increasingly drawn to global flavors and layered aromatics, cardamom offers a way to make everyday cooking feel fresher without becoming intimidating.

What cardamom does better than cinnamon

Cardamom succeeds where cinnamon can feel one-note. In baked goods, it adds fragrance without overwhelming sugar, which is one reason bakers increasingly use it in buns, cakes, shortbread, and laminated pastries. It pairs especially well with pear, orange, pistachio, dark chocolate, and coffee, giving simple recipes a more polished result.

It is also unusually adaptable across cuisines. In Scandinavian baking, South Asian sweets, Middle Eastern coffee, and savory rice dishes, cardamom has long had a central role. That global history matters because it gives home cooks a wide playbook: a pinch in oatmeal, pods in braised meat, ground seeds in pancake batter, or a light touch in fruit compote.

Another reason cardamom is drawing attention is that it fits the current appetite for ingredients associated with wellness. Research on PubMed includes a 2024 systematic review suggesting cardamom supplementation may help improve inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, while another 2024 meta-analysis reported favorable effects on inflammation and blood pressure in adults. Those findings do not make cardamom a cure-all, but they do add to its modern appeal as a spice with both culinary and functional cachet.

How to use it without overdoing it

For cooks used to cinnamon, the biggest adjustment is restraint. Cardamom is more penetrating, so a little goes a long way. Start by substituting only part of the cinnamon in familiar recipes, using cardamom as a supporting note rather than a full replacement until you understand how it behaves.

It works especially well in three zones of the pantry. First, breakfast: stir it into oatmeal, yogurt, granola, waffles, or coffee. Second, baking: blend it into muffins, coffee cake, or sugar cookies for a more aromatic finish. Third, savory cooking: add crushed pods to rice, lentils, chicken marinades, or creamy tomato sauces where the spice can bloom slowly.

The smartest way to think about cardamom is not as cinnamon’s enemy, but as the spice that expands what a pantry can do. Cinnamon still owns nostalgia. Cardamom, though, captures where home cooking is headed now: more layered, more globally informed, and more interested in complexity than simple sweetness. That is why it is no longer the supporting player on the spice rack. It is becoming the one cooks reach for when they want a dish to feel current.

Costco rarely makes a big show of its private-label launches. That is exactly why members who track Kirkland Signature closely are spotting the most interesting changes first.

This latest wave is less about flashy one-off releases and more about strategic additions in categories shoppers buy on repeat. That makes these quiet rollouts especially worth watching.

The biggest Kirkland additions are showing up in everyday staples

One of the clearest recent Kirkland moves is in baby care. Costco has introduced new Kirkland Signature diapers, and the company’s product pages describe them as thinner by design with faster absorption, a drier feel, improved moisture wicking, a pocketed waistband on all sizes, more stretch in the tabs, and a lower price. That is a meaningful update in a category where value-focused parents tend to be highly brand loyal.

The online assortment also shows Kirkland diaper packs in sizes 3 through 7, with features including a soft breathable cover, hypoallergenic liner, and up to 12 hours of absorbent protection. For Costco, that matters because baby essentials are exactly the kind of recurring purchase that can strengthen warehouse traffic and member retention. Quiet product refreshes in staples often have a bigger long-term effect than splashier seasonal launches.

Household basics are also part of the story. Costco’s current online and warehouse materials show Kirkland Signature paper towels, freezer storage bags, disinfecting wipes, almond milk, and Vita Rain Zero in active rotation. These are not necessarily all brand-new inventions, but they signal where Costco continues to deepen Kirkland’s presence: practical, high-volume categories where shoppers compare quality as closely as price.

Why Costco is leaning harder into Kirkland right now

Costco has long treated Kirkland Signature as more than a generic store brand. In the March/April 2026 edition of Costco Connection, the company said the label now generates annual revenue larger than Nike, Campbell’s, and Hershey combined. That scale helps explain why Costco keeps refining the assortment instead of relying solely on outside national brands.

The strategy is straightforward. If Costco can offer a product that meets or beats a name brand on performance while preserving a value edge, it gives members another reason to renew and spend more per trip. That is especially powerful in grocery, household goods, baby care, and wellness, where shoppers buy frequently and notice even small pricing differences.

A new Kirkland Signature whey protein item fits that pattern. The product is now listed online in creamy chocolate, with 25g of whey isolate and concentrate, 1g of sugar, 3 net carbs, and 5.6g of BCAAs per serving. Protein powders are a crowded category, but Costco’s play is clear: bring a familiar premium spec sheet into the Kirkland ecosystem and let value do the selling.

This is also why “what’s new” at Costco can feel deceptively subtle. The company often tests, expands, or refreshes products without fanfare, relying on digital listings, same-day inventory, and in-warehouse discovery rather than splashy launch campaigns.

What shoppers should expect next in stores and online

The most important thing for members to understand is that “coming soon” at Costco does not always mean a synchronized national debut. Costco’s own site repeatedly notes that items may be available in local warehouses and that prices can vary by location. Shopper communities echo that reality, with members regularly reporting that one region gets new Kirkland items weeks before another.

That regional rollout model is why some of the newest Kirkland products first appear online, in same-day delivery listings, or on limited warehouse pages before they feel broadly available. It is less a formal launch calendar than a staggered retail test. In practice, that means attentive shoppers often spot the next big Kirkland item through product pages and warehouse signage before Costco highlights it more widely.

The categories to watch now are clear: baby, sports nutrition, beverages, pantry staples, and cleaning supplies. Those are the areas where Costco is actively reinforcing its private-label moat, and they are categories where members tend to reward consistency, quality, and bulk value. If recent listings are any guide, the next Kirkland arrivals will not necessarily be glamorous, but they will be exactly the kinds of products shoppers add to their carts again and again.

For Costco, that is the point. The quietest Kirkland launches are often the most important ones, because they are designed not just to create buzz, but to become habits.

California restaurants have faced sustained pressure from inflation, rising labor costs and weaker consumer spending in recent years. In Fresno, those broader strains now intersect with a new class-action lawsuit against Horn Barbecue that could affect former workers at the brand’s recently closed Granite Park location.

Class action targets Horn Barbecue over pay practices

A class-action lawsuit filed in Alameda County accuses chef Matt Horn and his restaurants of failing to pay workers for all hours worked, denying compliant meal and rest breaks, and withholding overtime, according to court filings first reported by SFGATE and detailed by The Fresno Bee. The suit seeks to cover workers statewide, including employees tied to Horn Barbecue’s Fresno restaurant, and an attorney for the plaintiff told The Bee that at least 100 workers in Alameda County alone could fall within the proposed class. The lawsuit also seeks penalties tied to wage-statement violations and requests a jury trial.

The named plaintiff is kitchen manager Francisco Berber, who said in the complaint that he was not paid for 110 hours of work, according to The Fresno Bee’s report on the court documents. The complaint says workers were sometimes expected to work during state-mandated meal periods, were not always paid legally required overtime, and were not consistently provided wage statements showing hours and deductions. Under California law, hourly workers are generally owed time-and-a-half after eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, and double time after 12 hours in a shift, as described in the Bee’s account of the filing.

Horn declined to discuss the allegations in detail because the case is pending, but in a statement to The Fresno Bee he said Horn Barbecue had sought to act in good faith with employees and address payroll issues when they arose. He also said independent restaurants, and particularly Black-owned businesses, have operated under difficult economic conditions in California.

What is confirmed in Fresno, and what is still unresolved

For Fresno workers, the immediate local significance is clear: the lawsuit expressly seeks to include employees statewide, and the Fresno location is one of the restaurants named in reporting around the case, according to The Fresno Bee. The restaurant at Granite Park near Cedar and Dakota avenues shut down this spring, roughly five months after opening, and ABC30 reported that an eviction notice posted on the business demanded it vacate by June 17. Fresno’s City Attorney’s Office is also investigating the restaurant for possible wage theft after the case was referred by the state, according to Fresno Bee reporting summarized separately by AOL.

What is not yet known is how many Fresno workers would be included if the class is certified. The company has not released a full count of employees affected in Fresno, and public reporting has not identified a complete list of all California workers who may be part of the case. The Bee reported that 14 workers had filed claims with California’s Department of Industrial Relations as of that report, including claims connected to Fresno.

The local case also stands apart because Fresno has built out a wage-theft enforcement program in recent years. City records show Fresno’s City Attorney has expanded staffing for wage-theft investigations, giving the city more capacity to review labor complaints within its jurisdiction.

Why the case matters beyond one closed restaurant

The dispute is unfolding against a difficult backdrop for restaurant operators across California. In his statement to The Fresno Bee, Horn cited rising food costs, inflation, higher labor expenses and reduced consumer spending as key pressures on the business. Those explanations do not resolve the wage allegations, but they do help explain the broader financial environment in which the company’s Fresno site closed and other Horn-linked restaurants have shut down. The Bee reported that all but one of Horn’s restaurants had closed by the time of its story, including locations in Fresno, Lafayette and Elk Grove, while the status of the Oakland restaurant was unclear.

For Fresno residents and former workers, the practical takeaway is narrower than the rhetoric around the case. The lawsuit does not automatically result in payment, and workers do not need to opt in at this stage if the court later certifies the class, according to The Fresno Bee’s report. Separately, Fresno’s own wage-theft investigation remains active, meaning the city’s process could continue on its own track while the civil lawsuit moves forward in Alameda County.

The next steps will depend on the court’s handling of class certification, any response filed by Horn, and whether local investigators take separate enforcement action. For now, what is confirmed is that Fresno’s short-lived Horn Barbecue location is closed, wage claims have already been filed, and a broader California lawsuit now puts Fresno workers inside a potentially larger legal fight.

Skipping meals sounds extreme, but the latest research makes the idea more nuanced. In several newer trials, people who limited when they ate often did as well as, or slightly better than, people told to count calories. The twist is that the apparent benefit may have more to do with behavior than biology.

What the new research actually found

One of the clearest signals came from a randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open in 2023 that followed adults with type 2 diabetes for six months. Participants assigned to time-restricted eating were told to eat only between noon and 8 p.m., without counting calories, while another group followed daily calorie restriction. The time-restricted group lost more weight and also improved HbA1c, a key blood sugar marker, compared with the calorie-counting group.

That result helped fuel the idea that “skipping meals” might beat traditional dieting. But the intervention was not random meal omission in the chaotic sense. It was a structured eating window, which usually meant dropping breakfast or late-night snacks rather than simply eating erratically. In other words, the study tested a schedule, not nutritional neglect.

A broader 2024 meta-analysis in JAMA Network Open reached a similarly intriguing conclusion. Meal-timing strategies, especially time-restricted eating, lower meal frequency, and shifting calories earlier in the day, were linked to better weight-loss outcomes when maintained for at least 12 weeks. The analysis also noted why these strategies attract attention: many people find the constant mental work of calorie counting difficult to sustain.

That distinction matters. Researchers are increasingly separating the question of whether meal timing changes metabolism from the question of whether it simply helps people follow a plan consistently. So far, the strongest evidence suggests adherence is doing much of the heavy lifting.

The real reason it may work better than calorie counting

The practical advantage of meal skipping is that it can quietly reduce energy intake without forcing people to log every meal, ingredient, and portion. In the NIH’s 2024 summary of a randomized trial in adults with metabolic syndrome, participants who limited eating to an 8-to-10-hour window lost about 6.6 pounds over three months, largely from fat, even though the approach did not require calorie counting. Researchers described the benefits as modest but significant.

That helps explain the appeal. Calorie counting is precise in theory, but exhausting in real life. Many people underreport portions, forget snacks, or abandon tracking altogether after a few weeks. A shorter eating window replaces arithmetic with a simpler rule: when the kitchen is closed, eating stops.

This does not mean timing alone is always superior. A 2022 New England Journal of Medicine trial found that an 8-hour time-restricted eating plan did not outperform calorie restriction when both groups were already following a structured calorie deficit. That study is a reminder that when calories are truly matched and compliance is high, the magical effect of fasting tends to shrink.

So the “reason you’d think” is often wrong. The advantage is not necessarily that the body flips into a radically different fat-burning state. More often, people eat less because the system is easier to follow.

Why the findings are promising, but not universal

Newer research also shows that meal timing is not a guaranteed shortcut. A 2025 Nature Medicine randomized trial assigned 197 adults with overweight or obesity to usual care alone or to one of three 8-hour time-restricted eating schedules. After 12 weeks, none of the time-restricted groups had significantly greater reductions in visceral fat than the group that simply received Mediterranean diet guidance, although adherence was high and no serious adverse events were reported.

That is an important reality check. Time-restricted eating appears safe and feasible for many adults, but it does not automatically beat a high-quality diet. If someone uses an eating window to consume the same amount of food, or overcompensates with large evening meals, the benefit may fade quickly.

There is also a difference between strategic meal timing and routinely skipping meals in ways that backfire. Earlier research has suggested that skipping breakfast while pushing more intake later into the day can work against circadian rhythms and worsen hunger, glucose control, or overeating in some people. For that reason, experts increasingly focus on earlier, consistent eating windows rather than late, chaotic fasting patterns.

The bottom line is less flashy than the headline but more useful. Structured meal skipping can beat calorie counting for some people because it is simpler, more sustainable, and often lowers intake without the burden of constant tracking. That is not a metabolic loophole. It is a compliance advantage.

With grocery shoppers across the U.S. confronting higher food prices and a growing split between discount staples and premium food retail, specialty supermarkets have become a larger part of the industry conversation. In the Bay Area, Berkeley Bowl remains a clear example of that trend, holding onto a devoted following in Berkeley even as chains such as Trader Joe’s and Erewhon expand in California.

Berkeley Bowl’s staying power is tied to a specific scale and identity

Berkeley Bowl’s continued appeal is rooted in a business that has stayed local while growing enough to serve a wide customer base. The company says it was founded in 1977, and its second store, Berkeley Bowl West at 920 Heinz Avenue, opened in June 2009, giving the grocer two Berkeley locations rather than a statewide footprint. That structure has helped preserve the store’s identity as an independent market even as it operates at a scale larger than many neighborhood grocers.

The July 10, 2026 profile by the USA Today Network’s California reporting team described Berkeley Bowl as a Bay Area favorite that still occupies “a special place” for many California shoppers. That report pointed to a long-running reputation for bulk goods, grains, dried beans and preserved fruit, as well as a produce department that functions as a destination in its own right. Berkeley Bowl’s official site also highlights hot bar service and prepared foods, showing how the store has expanded beyond a produce-and-bulk model without abandoning it.

That combination matters because it gives Berkeley Bowl a clearer identity than many conventional supermarkets. Rather than competing primarily on national brands, the store is known for assortment, fresh departments and in-store food options. In practical terms, that means shoppers are not only buying staples there; they are also using the store as a prepared-food stop and a specialty-food destination.

The cult following is especially visible in Berkeley and the broader East Bay

The local effect is concentrated and measurable. Berkeley Bowl operates at 2020 Oregon Street and Berkeley Bowl West at 920 Heinz Avenue, both in Berkeley, according to the company and city documents. That gives the East Bay a grocery brand with deep local recognition but limited geographic spread, which helps explain why the loyalty is so place-specific.

The July 2026 California report framed Berkeley Bowl as part of Berkeley’s own culture, not simply one more supermarket option. It cited the store’s long association with college students, longtime residents and food-focused shoppers who cross the city to shop there. That history matters in Berkeley, where grocery shopping often overlaps with preferences for natural ingredients, bulk purchasing and diverse international foods.

What is not publicly confirmed is any broader expansion plan beyond Berkeley. The company’s public materials identify the two existing Berkeley stores, online ordering, hot bar offerings and Bay Area pop-ups, but they do not announce new Bay Area cities or a wider California rollout. That limited footprint appears to reinforce the store’s following, because customers are returning to a business that still feels geographically tied to one city instead of a chain replicated across the region.

Its durability reflects wider grocery trends, but also a model chains have not matched

The broader context helps explain why Berkeley Bowl has remained relevant. The July 10 report said luxury grocery retail is growing as affluent shoppers and younger consumers seek premium foods and more curated shopping experiences, citing the Food Institute. The same report said demand for foods with fewer additives has also gained traction in California as shoppers look more closely at ingredient transparency.

Berkeley Bowl fits into that environment, but not in exactly the same way as a high-end luxury chain. The report contrasted California’s premium grocery landscape with the store’s more relaxed identity and long-established reputation for natural-leaning, diverse and often value-conscious shopping. A separate FMI, The Food Industry Association, report cited in the source material also pointed to increasing consumer interest in premade foods, a trend that aligns with Berkeley Bowl’s hot bar, sushi, salads and sandwiches.

For customers, that means the store’s popularity is not based on novelty alone. Berkeley Bowl has continued to offer a mix of fresh produce, bulk staples and prepared foods that matches several current grocery trends at once. Its website also shows ongoing guest-chef and pop-up programming at Berkeley Bowl West, indicating that the company is continuing to build on the in-store experience that has helped keep its following intact.

Cherries are one of summer’s shortest pleasures. That is exactly why one small storage mistake matters so much.

Washing them too soon is what shortens their life

The biggest mistake people make with cherries the moment they get home is rinsing the entire bag immediately. It feels tidy and efficient, but extra moisture is the enemy of fresh cherries once they go into storage. According to USDA guidance and multiple university extension programs, cherries should generally be stored unwashed and cleaned only right before eating.

That advice is grounded in simple produce science. Moisture left on the skin can encourage faster spoilage, soften the fruit, and increase the odds of mold developing in a crowded bowl or bag. Utah State University notes that ripe cherries should be refrigerated and used within 3 to 5 days, adding that washing ahead of time can make them spoil more rapidly unless they are dried very thoroughly.

This is where good intentions go wrong. Many people come home from the market, rinse produce in one batch, and assume they are saving time for the week ahead. But cherries have delicate skins, bruise easily, and trap water around the stem cavity, which makes them especially vulnerable compared with sturdier fruits.

If you want the best bite, think of cherries less like apples and more like berries. Their appeal is crisp skin, taut flesh, and concentrated sweetness. The minute they sit wet in the refrigerator, that ideal texture starts slipping away.

What to do instead when you unpack them

The better move is simple: refrigerate cherries as soon as possible, keep them dry, and avoid crushing them under heavier groceries. USDA SNAP-Ed recommends storing ripe cherries in the refrigerator in a loosely sealed plastic bag, and University of California and Washington State extension materials similarly emphasize cold storage and delaying washing until serving time.

If the cherries came home in a sealed clamshell or produce bag, check for any split, bruised, or leaking fruit before storing them. One damaged cherry can speed deterioration in the rest of the batch. Pull out the bad ones, then place the good fruit back into a breathable or loosely closed container so excess humidity does not get trapped around them.

A shallow container also helps. Purdue Extension advises refrigerated storage for about 3 to 5 days, and that shorter, flatter arrangement reduces bruising from the weight of fruit piled on itself. Stems can stay on, too, since they help reduce moisture loss and make the cherries look and feel fresher longer.

If you did wash them already, the fix is not to panic. Spread them out, dry them thoroughly with clean towels, and refrigerate them promptly. They may not last as long as untouched cherries, but careful drying can still limit the damage.

How this one habit affects flavor, waste, and value

This storage habit is not just about appearance. Cherries are a premium seasonal fruit, and wasting even part of a bag adds up quickly. Extension experts at the University of Arkansas recently emphasized that produce often lasts longer when it is washed right before eating rather than before storage, because excess moisture accelerates deterioration.

There is also a flavor penalty. As cherries soften, they lose the firm snap that makes sweet varieties so satisfying for snacking, baking, and salads. A cherry that is merely edible is not the same as one that tastes peak-season fresh, and early washing often moves fruit from the first category to the second faster than people realize.

For households trying to stretch groceries, the best cherry strategy is boring but effective: sort, chill, keep dry, wash only portions as needed. That approach preserves texture, reduces spoilage, and gives you more flexibility to use the fruit in yogurt, desserts, lunch boxes, or simple grab-and-go snacks over several days.

So if you remember just one thing when you walk in the door with cherries, make it this: do not race them to the sink. The smarter first stop is the refrigerator, where cold and dryness protect the very qualities you paid for.