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Outside Insights
Today’s News
2017-09-21
2017-09-21
2017-09-20
2017-09-20
2017-09-20
- Chicken wing prices are out of control right now. t.co/pUmRsAFiyM
- "One of the things that attracted me to @AuBonPain was I felt like I could make a difference here." t.co/VICq6DUYIx
- Check out some #WednesdayWisdom from Randy Garutti, CEO of fast casual leader Shake Shack. t.co/NRhDvlMPk4 t.co/dPviH7gMGA
- RT @HBC_Community: Wow! MT "@QSRmagazine Starbucks can add more than 150,000 customers in a single day thanks #PumpkinSpice Latte. …
- Starbucks can add more than 150,000 customers in a single day thanks to the famed Pumpkin Spice Latte. t.co/U6pj5b2W2z
- These brands have made the leap from nontraditional to brick and mortar, and are seeing great results.… t.co/zm75ombMFw
- Starting out in nontraditional venues and then later growing into brick-and-mortar stores is a formula for success. t.co/ia46u2iDnI
- Papaya King celebrated its 85th anniversary by selling more than 17,500 hot dogs in two days. #dedication t.co/ECCwDs6Nvs
- Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana lost a combined 1,038 operating days. t.co/hAtNgekS95
- Growing @CurryUpNow wants to hold the torch for Indian food in America. t.co/OpFoT1QugZ
Competition
Brands are just like people; as they grow older, they mature, they change, and they suffer the same growing pains as the generations of brands that came before them. And now that the U.S. limited-service restaurant industry has been around for a century or so, brand growth can be seen just like...
Web Exclusive
The rising cost of chicken wings has put so much pressure on Buffalo Wings & Rings that executives formed an in-house chicken task force to find ways to tackle the problem.
“We meet every week to just go through and find out what we can do to alleviate some of the pressure,” says Tom Jenkins,...
Start to Finish: What Inspires Execs
I worked on a farm as a kid, so I’ve been in the food business my whole life, basically. I started at Carlson Restaurants as a manager-in-training in the late ’80s at TGI Fridays, and left years later as the president of Pick Up Stix—that’s really where I learned how to lead and learned a lot about...
Outside Insights
Starbucks has been in the news headlines plenty this year for innovating its menu with the launch of its brightly colored unicorn drink, which drove “significant traffic.” Fall, however, seems to be the time when Starbucks gets to truly flex its specialty flavor muscles with the return of its ever-...
Industry News
Chipotle’s highly anticipated rollout of queso came with some collateral. The fast-casual chain confirmed to CNBC Monday that it is taking chorizo off the menu after less than a year.
CNBC reports that chorizo, according to BTIG analyst Peter Saleh, accounts for about 3 percent of protein sales at...
Competition
Sports stadiums and arenas operate seasonally, and even then only for a few hours each week. Food halls and special markets often have limited hours of operation. Office buildings provide mostly lunchtime sales for food vendors, and college campuses feel deserted in the summer.
Despite the...
Industry News
With nearly 25 percent of its company base in the Houston metropolitan area, Fiesta Restaurant Group felt a heavy impact from Hurricane Harvey.
The parent of Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana said that all but one of its 43 Houston-area Taco Cabana company stores have reopened. And no serious injuries...
Outside Insights
Clearly, Del Taco is doing something right.
The restaurant industry is suffering through one its roughest periods in recent memory. In August, TDn2K reported that restaurant same-store sales fell 2 percent and traffic declined 3.9 percent across the industry, and these negative numbers were...
Pages
Industry News
The Flame Broiler, known for serving simple, healthy and delicious rice bowls while on the go, continues its expansion with a fourth location in Jacksonville, Florida. This will be the fourth The Flame Broiler location for franchisee Jackie Grzebin, who owns and manages all four stores in the...
Industry News
Fall is just around the corner, which means two things—Oktoberfest and a new Oktoberwürst sausage from Dog Haus.
Available this year from September 1—October 31, the limited-time sausage was created by Dog Haus’ Würstmacher (aka sausage maker) Adam Gertler and features a haus-made 1/3lb...
Industry News
Famed NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon celebrates the opening of Mont Belvieu’s first Red Mango Yogurt Café Smoothie and Juice Bar with a special Grand Opening on Friday. The store, located at 9675 Eagle Drive, will be dual-branded with Nestle Toll House Café by Chip, offering customers their...
Industry News
Locali, a wildly popular and rapidly growing LA-based concept, with addictive made-to-order sandwiches, salads, quinoa bowls and other healthy options; grab-and-go offerings; and an array of curated food items available for retail purchase, will be opening their fourth location in West Hollywood...
Industry News
Newk’s Eatery, the fast casual restaurant known for its culinary-driven menu and open kitchen, is expanding in North Texas with the company’s latest development agreement to open seven locations in Fort Worth and surrounding areas.
Newk’s newest franchisee is an operating group composed...
Industry News
Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice is ready to expand its footprint into the U.S.
With more than 6,000 locations across China, Australia, Japan and Singapore, the celebrated brand recently announced that it will open its first U.S. restaurant in Tustin, California, on September 10 with details...
Industry News
Fall is right around the corner, which means it’s almost pumpkin season.
Au Bon Pain is more than ready. On Tuesday, August 29, the popular fast-casual bakery café invites guests to experience all the fantastic flavors of fall—pumpkin included—with these savory seasonal selections:
...
Outside Insights
Food safety became a mainstream topic in 1993 when a Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak infected 732 people, including four children who died from the incident, which was linked to undercooked burgers. The tragedy made national headlines, severely damaged the restaurant chain’s reputation, and...
Pages
For years, Pita Pit worked to educate customers about the nutritional value of its various pita fillings and toppings.
For those limited-service brands that don’t yet have mobile ordering, consider three words of advice from Nike: Just do it.Within the next three years, every quick serve with any kind of regional or national footprint will have mobile ordering system-wide, says Russell Zack, senior vice president of
In 1980, Americans consumed an estimated 48 pounds of chicken per person each year. This year, the National Chicken Council projects that figure will reach an astonishing 92 pounds. By contrast, consumption of beef actually dropped significantly, from 77 to 56 pounds, during this same period.
Enterprise systems are more advanced than ever. Not only do they provide vital business information, but they can also make maintaining a consistent menu database across the brand easier than it’s ever been.
Starbucks has been in the news headlines plenty this year for innovating its menu with the launch of its brightly colored unicorn drink, which drove “significant traffic.” Fall, however, seems to be the time when Starbucks gets to truly flex its specialty flavor muscles with the return of its e
Joann Chung often helped her parents with their sushi restaurants. In 2015, Chung and her husband, Derek, opened Pokeatery in San Mateo, California.
In 2012, after some 22 years as Pizza Factory franchisees, Mary Jane Riva and her husband, Bob, added a new title to their business cards: franchisor.
The more a brand has been around the block, the greater number of bumps, booms, and bruises it has earned.
Breaking findings from Sense360 show that early morning hours are important across sub-categories of quick-serve restaurants for the most loyal customers.Nutritionists have long hailed breakfast as the most important meal of the day and USA today recently highlighted the growing importance of breakf
Food halls are taking the nation’s cities by storm, providing locals with a central location for dozens of innovative concepts.
For many chefs at quick-service and fast-casual restaurants, working with poultry is similar to an artist facing a blank canvas: The fairly neutral object can be used to create something unique and appealing.Even though deep-frying is incredibly popular in the limited-service space, there are other
The most recent numbers on baseline performance of fast casuals suggest some deep-seated problems in the industry.