Why Chefs Are Keeping Their Leases and Ditching Their Concepts

A tasting menu restaurant loosens up into a wine bar. A pizzeria converts into a pasta spot. An Indian restaurant gets a fast-casual rebrand. A James Beard Award-winning restaurant becomes a vinyl bar. A fine-dining French restaurant turns into a laid-back brasserie. 

Something strange is happening in restaurant real estate. For the last year and a half, a critical mass of independent operators has begun to reconcept their restaurants. They’re hanging onto...