{"id":74233,"date":"2026-05-01T09:07:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/?p=74233"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:03:16","slug":"before-you-go-national-restaurant-association-show-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/articles\/before-you-go-national-restaurant-association-show-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Before You Go: National Restaurant Association Show 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Restaurant Association Show 2026 is set to take place May 16-19 at McCormick Place in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year<\/a> we welcomed almost 58,000 attendees and exhibitors \u2026 and we are expecting that number, maybe even a little more this year because it\u2019s a non-NAFEM<\/a> year,\u201d says Caitlin Rodgers, senior director of marketing for exhibitions for Informa Connect Foodservice Group.<\/p>\n

Roughly 2,000 exhibitors will fill 70,000 square feet of booth space. \u201c(There will be) various sizes of booths, from legacy exhibitors who have been there year over year and some first-timers,\u201d Rodgers says. About 400 exhibitors will be equipment manufacturers. \u201cThis is a great place to look at all the different options for equipment. If you are looking at this fryer or that fryer, it\u2019s great to do it all in one go,\u201d Rodgers adds. For design consultants or dealers, \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to walk the halls with operators and get to the heart of why they like this or like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning Opportunities <\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Several of the show\u2019s educational sessions will focus on equipment, menu development and industry trends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Future of Kitchen Equipment: Smart Technology, ROI, and Sustainability\u201d<\/strong> from 3-3:30 p.m. on May 16 will feature Kitchen Innovation Awards<\/a> judges discussing how kitchen equipment is evolving to meet today\u2019s demands. \u201cThey are going to tell you what is driving innovation right now and look at strategic considerations shaping commercial kitchens \u2026 and what other factors are truly determining ROI beyond the initial price tag,\u201d Rodgers says.<\/p>\n

On May 17 from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m., \u201c4 Disruptors Driving Menu Trends and Innovation,\u201d<\/strong> featuring speakers from Technomic, will help attendees stay on top of trends that are transforming the industry. \u201cThis will cover the rise of GLP-1s, the new food pyramid and emerging factors that could affect your menu,\u201d Rodgers says.<\/p>\n

In \u201cGet it While it\u2019s Hot: Driving Demand with LTOs\u201d<\/strong> from 1-2 p.m. on May 18, Technomic\u2019s Joseph Pawlak and execs from IHOP, Lettuce Entertain You and Whataburger will talk about how to integrate limited-time offers into your business model. \u201cWe saw it last year and this year we\u2019ll see it again: LTOs are how operators are differentiating themselves to get that very scarce dollar,\u201d Rodgers says. \u201cThink about it; Chili\u2019s killed it last year with their stretchable mozzarella sticks. That was an LTO to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busting Misconceptions<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Rodgers says one of the biggest misconceptions about the show is that it just showcases food and beverage. \u201cIt\u2019s also an equipment show, a tech show, a furniture show, a tableware show\u2014it\u2019s all those things you can find that restaurants need,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Another common misconception is that the show is only relevant for large chains. \u201cThe biggest piece of our attendees are independents. They are coming here to find trends, and new suppliers\/equipment,\u201d Rodgers says.<\/p>\n

Whatever you do, don\u2019t shortchange yourself on time. Rodgers recommends downloading the National Restaurant Association Show app to view the schedule, floor plan and more. \u201cStart looking at what exhibitors are where, identify sessions you want to go to, create a profile and tag everything you want to go see and it will send you notifications,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

\n

NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION SHOW 2026<\/b><\/span>
\n<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

WHERE<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

McCormick Place<\/span><\/p>\n

2301 S. Martin Luther King Dr., Chicago<\/span><\/p>\n

SHOW HOURS<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 16 to Monday, May 18; <\/span>9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday, May 19<\/span><\/p>\n

For more details, visit nationalrestaurantshow.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Make your plans for the National Restaurant Association Show 2026, coming up this month in Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":74236,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[360,279],"tags":[6807],"segment":[],"manufacturer-category":[],"manufacturer-subcategory":[],"manufacturer-tag":[],"byline":[],"article-level":[],"class_list":["post-74233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-event-coverage","category-news","tag-lead-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74233"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74241,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74233\/revisions\/74241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74233"},{"taxonomy":"segment","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/segment?post=74233"},{"taxonomy":"manufacturer-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manufacturer-category?post=74233"},{"taxonomy":"manufacturer-subcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manufacturer-subcategory?post=74233"},{"taxonomy":"manufacturer-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manufacturer-tag?post=74233"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=74233"},{"taxonomy":"article-level","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fermag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-level?post=74233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}