Most Popular Stories - QSR magazine

May 19, 2013

Industry News

Street Taco Trio Makes Its Debut at California Tortilla

The fans spoke, and California Tortilla listened. Street Tacos edged out the competition to win March’s Elito 8 Tournament; now they’re available at California Tortilla locations nationwide starting Monday, May 20. For a limited time only, customers can get all the flavors of the city streets inside their...

Read Full Story // read more about: California Tortilla, Menu Development, Promotions

Industry News

Franchise Vet Wins Perkins' Franchisee of the Year Award

Perkins & Marie Callender’s recognized its Franchisee of the Year, Dan Esmond, owner/operator of four Perkins Restaurants & Bakeries in Lawrence, Topeka, Great Bend, and McPherson, Kansas.

Read Full Story // read more about: Perkins, Beverage, Breakfast, Charitable Giving, Franchising

Industry News

Smithfield's Receives Heart-Warming Thanks from Troops

Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q (SCNB) recently shipped care packages with official SCNB T-shirts and all of the ingredients needed to prepare its eastern North Carolina–style chicken, barbecue, and other southern staples to U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan. Although the brand knew its donation would be consumed...

Read Full Story // read more about: Smithfield's, Charitable Giving

Competition

The Great Migration

On Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s 17th Street, tucked in the shadow of giants Chipotle and Panera Bread, an upstart burger joint dreams of someday entering the same upper ranks of the fast-casual world that those two brands helped create. Though the restaurant carries a familiar name, its vibe is decidedly fresh. Welcome to Shula...

Read Full Story // read more about: Larkburger, Shula Burger, Operations, Consumer Trends, Growth, Fast Casual

Menu Innovations

Coffee is King

Forget quick-serve mainstays like burgers and fries. These days, limited-service brands are looking to coffee to beef up business, and Burger King is the latest chain to get in on the action. Burger King’s customers can now enjoy 10 new specialty drinks, including iced coffees in a variety of flavors, roast coffees with a 100...

Read Full Story // read more about: Burger King, Beverage, Burgers, Ingredients & Dayparts

Alan Philips: Trends to Watch

No Business Like Show Business

A couple of years ago, I embarked on a journey into the world of pop-up restaurants. After almost a decade of consulting, I decided it was time to take on a project that was a pure representation of my passions: food, wine, and creating unique hospitality experiences. Not to be held up by things like good sense, I decided to take a shot...

Read Full Story // read more about: Marketing, Competition, In the Store, Consumer Trends, Promotions

Industry News

Mark Wahlberg, Taco Bell Team Up to Help Kids Graduate

The Taco Bell Foundation for Teens, in partnership with Get Schooled, announced the launch of Graduate for Mas, a program challenging teens to make a personal commitment to graduate high school. Actor and philanthropist Mark Wahlberg, who did not finish high school himself, also announced his support of the program.

Read Full Story // read more about: Taco Bell, Charitable Giving

Outside Insights

How to Prevent Credit Card Fraud

Every merchant that accepts credit and debit cards is required to be compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS), whose next set of standards will be released in October 2013. Yet despite these compliance requirements, the food and beverage industry had the highest percentage of data security...

Read Full Story // read more about: Back of House, Point Of Sale, Security, In the Store, Ordering

Restaurant operators should instill a marketing message throughout their stores.

Denise Lee Yohn: QSR’s Marketing Guru

Everything Communication

Q: I've got a solid logo and look for my business, an ad campaign that works pretty reliably, and a good following on Facebook. What can I do to take my brand to the next level?

...

Read Full Story // read more about: Marketing, In the Store, Consumer Trends, Promotions

Industry News

In a Victory for Gamers, Pizza Hut and Xbox Unite

The video game industry has a history of introducing dynamic duos. And now comes another: Xbox and Pizza Hut.

The two category giants have joined forces to launch a first-of-its-kind ordering app that allows users to purchase physical goods straight from the Xbox 360 video game and...

Read Full Story // read more about: Pizza Hut, Online & Remote Ordering, Pizza, Promotions

Industry News

McAlister's Grows 5 Percent in Q1 2013

McAlister's Deli, a leading fast-casual restaurant, announced a same-store sales increase of 5 percent during the first quarter of 2013.

This marks the 11^th straight quarter of positive sales growth. Comp sales were driven primarily by an increase in entrée...

Read Full Story // read more about: McAlister's Deli, Finance, Sandwiches, Growth

Industry News

Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco Serves It Up at DQ

Baltimore Ravens Quarterback, Super Bowl MVP, and famous No. 5 Joe Flacco served up DQ $5 Buck Lunches to surprised fans at a Dairy Queen in Rosedale, Maryland, on Friday and joined Dairy Queen in presenting a donation to the Matthew J. Cheswick Memorial Fund.

Cheswick, a student at...

Read Full Story // read more about: Dairy Queen, Burgers, Desserts, In the Store, Charitable Giving, Promotions

Industry News

Quiznos Spices Things Up with New Chicken Fajita Sub

Quiznos has introduced an exciting new sub, Chicken Fajita, for a limited time only. Quiznos was bold enough to translate fajitas from a traditional format into an inspired sub. Regional Mexican and Latin American flavors are among the top flavor trends of 2013, according to Mintel.

Read Full Story // read more about: Quiznos, Menu Development, Food & Beverage, Menu Innovations

Superfoods like quinoa give quick serve operators a strong marketing tool.

Marc Halperin: Resident F&B Expert

A Super Marketing Tool

Sit down and relax, Mr. and Mrs. Menu Developer. You look tense. Here, have a sip of this blueberry-kale-sun-dried-tomato-açai-green-tea-flaxseed smoothie I’ve just whipped up. It’s loaded with antioxidants, vitamin B, fiber, and lycopene. I think you’ll find it both...

Read Full Story // read more about: Marketing, Promotions, Health, Ingredients & Dayparts

Industry News

Wentworth Technology Partners Up with ERC Parts

Wentworth Technology is pleased to announce an agreement with ERC Parts for the distribution of SpeedThru Drive-Thru Headset Systems to their customers. ERC has been providing essential POS, surveillance, and other solutions to the quick service restaurant industry for over 30 years. ERC’s...

Read Full Story // read more about: Drive Thru, Technology

Panera Bread markets company values in new promotional campaign.

Promotions

Focus On the Values

Panera Bread’s “Live Consciously, Eat Deliciously” platform, which launched in late February after nearly a year of testing and research, is a first for the brand. Rather than touting Panera’s products, it focuses on the concept’s philosophy.

“We really...

Read Full Story // read more about: Panera Bread, Marketing, Social Media

McAlisters Deli franchisee says casual dining experience helps in quick service.

Sandwiches

What You Can Learn from Casual Dining

David Blackburn has been in the foodservice business his entire adult life. Since 1979, the McAlister’s Deli franchisee has cataloged more than 25 years of experience in the casual-dining sector, spending 16 of those as regional vice president of operations at O’Charley’s....

Beverage

Coffee is King

Forget quick-serve mainstays like burgers and fries. These days, limited-service brands are looking to coffee to beef up business, and Burger King is the latest chain to get in on the action.

Burger King’s customers can now enjoy 10 new specialty drinks, including iced coffees in a...

Operators must protect their quick serve business from credit card fraud.

Back of House

How to Prevent Credit Card Fraud

Superfoods like whole grains and oatmeal offer healthy menu alternative.

Healthy Menus

The Other Side of Super

Superfoods have swept the culinary world into a frenzy, enticing consumers with a taste of the exotic and courting them with nutrition and functionality, to the point where restaurants across the country are trying to stake a claim in this fledgling movement.

Quick-service restaurants are...

Corner Bakery's new menu items use fresh ingredients to offer premium quality.

Breakfast

The Corner of Innovation

In a push to distinguish itself from growing competition in the fast-casual bakery-café space, Corner Bakery Café is doubling down on menu innovation.

The 22-year-old, Dallas-based chain recently leveraged its high-quality kitchen equipment and capabilities, as well as more than 40 fresh...

The Boston Fire Department was treated to free meals at Firehouse Subs.

Charitable Giving

Nurturing Boston

As soon as he learned about the April 15th Boston bombings, Dave Tucci, the New England area representative for Firehouse Subs’ DMA, called the Firehouse franchisee closest to the bombings.

Tucci was relieved to find out that all employees at Firehouse’s Copley Square location...

Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey is innovativing the POS space with Square.

Point Of Sale

Can Square Change POS Forever?

Jack Dorsey, who cofounded Twitter and Square, was raised by parents in the quick-service industry. His father owned a pizza restaurant, and his mother ran a coffee shop.

It’s little surprise, then, that Dorsey’s latest initiative with Square is to broaden its use within quick...

Tin Drum Asia Cafe used equity firm investment to stay debt free in growth.

Finance

Striking Gold

Steven Chan’s business was at a crossroads last year. His Atlanta-based fast casual Tin Drum AsiaCafé launched in 2000, sold its first franchise in 2001, and was growing slowly due to Chan’s determination to keep it debt-free. At the beginning of 2012, Tin Drum had 10 franchises in...