At each Ops Summit, Crunchtime’s Ops Excellence Awards recognize the restaurants and hospitality brands raising the bar for operational performance. While we’ve already highlighted our incredible finalists and our 2026 winner , the caliber of submissions this year was so high that we couldn’t stop there. Before diving into their stories, we want to recognize our Honorable Mentions: Dave’s Hot Chicken, Fazoli’s, Habit Burger, Philz Coffee, and Pressed Juicery.