It’s not certain yet whether the Lakers or the Magic will be the NBA’s champions, but the foodservice operators at their home arenas are already winners, according to observers.

As the 2009 proxy season begins for the restaurant industry’s publicly traded companies, observers say executive compensation is sure to be a top shareholder concern.

Even as Mexico City’s government ordered all the city’s restaurants to suspend dine-in service over a growing swine flu outbreak, observers say there is no discernible impact yet to the U.S. restaurant industry.

Mounting evidence this week, from industry observers and operators in the field, has suggested that restaurants could see an upswing in consumer spending in short order.

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The recent rally in restaurant stocks and a trickle of more upbeat economic data have some observers thinking the industry has already suffered the worst of this recession’s hits.

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