Chain: T.G.I. Friday’s

Insider’s View on Managing Fast Casual, Casual Segments

As president of the Bistro Group, which owns 31 T.G.I. Friday’s and five McAlister’s Delis, Jeff Ritson has unique insight into both the fast-casual and the casual dining categories. He says the economy has forced the two to change in ways that shave away some of their differences. He notices that casual dining has become […]

Partnership Creates Industry Research, Analysis Enterprise

Black Box Intelligence LLC (BBI), Consumer Edge Research LLC (CER), GuestMetrics LLC (GM), and People Report announced the formation of a joint venture that will capture the combined product offerings of the four companies and provide revolutionary foodservice industry data and analytics. Together the four firms track the financial, consumer, and human capital metrics of […]

T.G.I. Fridays Expands Menu

T.G.I. Friday's will add 14 new menu options, including items such as Hibachi and Mediterranean style skewers, black angus burgers, and Skinny Margaritas. "At Friday's, we constantly work with our chefs and mixologists to create great tasting menu items that appeal to our guests and capture emerging food and drink trends," says Ricky Richardson, executive […]

Leading Franchisee Plans Middle East Expansion

T.G.I. Friday's and Americana Group, a licensed franchisee of T.G.I. Friday's and the Kuwait-based Middle East operator of several brands in quick service, coffee, casual dining and other food-related products, today announced that they have renewed the development agreement to build the T.G.I. Friday's brand in the Middle East. The development agreement will result in […]

Assault on Casual

From his Colorado office, Boston Market CEO Lane Cardwell is targeting some free agents—dining free agents, that is. “There are some customers out there open to where they’ll be eating, and Boston Market is happy to capture that business,” Cardwell says. Cardwell is referring specifically to the significant chunk of diners who are in limbo […]