Study: Families want healthful menu, convenience
Family-dining restaurants are expected to experience a lingering recessionary slump over the next four years, and price-focused promotions are not likely to turn around sales trends, according to a...
View ArticleRestaurants make over breakfast for dinner
Breakfast menu items, generally low in food cost and high in popularity, are getting makeovers at a number of chains. Family-dining restaurant Shari’s Café and Pies, based in Beaverton, Ore., serves...
View ArticleCafé Enterprises names Fred T. Grant, Jr. CFO of Fatz
Café Enterprises Inc. has named Fred T. Grant, Jr. chief financial officer of its casual-dining chain, Fatz, the company said Thursday. Grant is a certified public accountant with more than 20 years of...
View ArticleCold Stone franchisees sue parent company
A group of Cold Stone Creamery franchisees is suing parent company Cold Stone Creamery Inc., asking the franchisor to disclose information about a shared, vendor-contributed marketing fund and data on...
View ArticleThe keys to QSR breakfast success
Quick-service restaurant chains looking to break into the market for breakfast — as Wendy’s and Taco Bell plans to do in 2012 — will need deep pockets for marketing and a strong coffee offering,...
View ArticleStarbucks 1Q net increases 10%
Strong holiday sales in December helped drive a 10-percent increase in first-quarter profit for Starbucks Corp., the company said Thursday. For the quarter ended Jan. 1, net earnings totaled $382.1...
View ArticleFurr’s Fresh Buffet expands in Texas
Buffet Partners L.P. plans to open a new Furr’s Fresh Buffet in San Antonio in mid-February, the second unit of the chain’s scatter-bar buffet format in that city. The “scatter-bar” buffet allow guests...
View ArticleOaxacan Negroni
Cool Plates features dishes from across the country to help inspire chefs' creativity. Mixologist Michael Flannery replaces the gin that would typically go in a classic Negroni with a smoky mezcal,...
View ArticleQuiznos eyes growth after restructuring
Quiznos is aiming for modest growth in 2012 with a new, more efficiently built prototype and more support for franchisees after a restructuring deal that resulted in new ownership and a $150 million...
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Restaurants seek athletes as franchisees
Brandon Gorin is hoping the weekend surrounding Super Bowl XLVI, which takes place Feb. 5 in Indianapolis, will drive his highest sales weekend ever at his two Marco’s Pizza franchises in Fishers, Ind....
View ArticleStarbucks outlines unit, product growth
Starbucks Corp. is continuing to pursue expansion plans both within and outside its units, despite outside economic pressures threatening the company’s bottom line. The headwinds of higher commodity...
View ArticleVIDEO: Smashburger's success, growth plans
Smashburger, the better burger chain making a run at segment leader Five Guys Burgers & Fries, grew its restaurant base by 55 percent in 2011, and isn’t looking to slow down. Currently at about 140...
View ArticleCosì 4Q sales rise 2.6%
Così Inc. ended a volatile year with sales swinging slightly positive, according to company results for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 26. Same-store sales for the Deerfield, Ill.-based fast-casual...
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NRA: Foodservice sales to hit record $632 billion
The U.S. foodservice industry is expected to post sales totaling $631.8 billion in 2012, a 3.5-percent increase from last year and the third consecutive year of positive growth, according to the...
View ArticleMcDonald’s UK tests family-friendly design
McDonald’s is testing a more family-friendly restaurant design with new technologies in the United Kingdom and Germany, the chain said. Self-order kiosks, digital-order information displays, dining...
View ArticleRestaurants plan promotions for Dine Out For No Kid Hungry
Share Our Strength is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its Dine Out For No Kid Hungry program in 2012. Last year 5,560 restaurants raised in excess of $2.2 million for the program — a figure the...
View ArticleAsian Box aims to spice up fast casual
The Asian fast-casual niche continues to heat up with a new concept called Asian Box set to debut this month in Palo Alto, Calif. Asian Box is being developed by San Francisco restaurant consultant...
View ArticleCIA expands, broadens curriculum
The Culinary Institute of America has been on an expansion spree recently. The 66-year-old school based in Hyde Park, N.Y., opened its third campus, in Singapore, in 2010, and its new San Antonio...
View ArticleLandry’s clear to acquire Morton’s
Landry’s Inc. has completed its tender offer for shares of Morton’s Restaurant Group Inc., clearing the way for the $116.6 million acquisition, the company said Wednesday. Tilman J. Fertitta, chairman...
View ArticleNRA: Economy pressures consumers, but restaurants eye opportunities
Consumers emerging from the recession are demonstrating significant levels of pent-up demand for dining out, the lead economic analyst for the National Restaurant Association said Wednesday during an...
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