Top Franchising News

This May, popular fast casual chain California Tortilla will open a new location in the recently remodeled L’Enfant Plaza food court, bringing its imaginative Mexican menu to downtown DC’s hungry lunch crowd. California Tortilla will join popular lunch options like Potbelly and Roti in L’Enfant Plaza’s East Food Court. Since the first store opened in […]

Hungry Howie’s Pizza will be breaking into the Colorado market, opening its newest location in Aurora on Wednesday, May 20. Local residents will now be able to have a taste of the brand’s eight flavored crust options: Cajun, sesame, butter, butter cheese, garlic herb, ranch, onion, and Asiago cheese. To celebrate the opening, the restaurant […]

CREAM, the San Francisco Bay–based dessert franchise that specializes in high-quality ice cream sandwiches and other confections, will open three stores in the San Fernando Valley over the next 1–2 years, with the first store opening this summer in Northridge at 9000 Reseda Blvd. “This latest agreement underscores the strength of our business model and […]

Just a year after the Louisville, Kentucky–based Millennial Restaurant Group (MRG) opened its first Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza in Louisville, the fast-casual pizza concept announced that it will soon open a second Louisville area location in Middletown. The new restaurant, set to open in June, will be the seventh location for the franchise group, which is […]

The Halal Guys, the innovative American Halal food concept based in New York City, has partnered with Fransmart and announced the signing of four new multiunit franchise deals outside the home market of New York City. More than 20 new restaurants will open in New Jersey, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Chicago. The Halal Guys have signed […]

Arcos Dorados, which operates more than 2,100 McDonald’s restaurants in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced that it has been selected as the fifth best place to work in Latin America. The 2015 ranking by the Great Place to Work Institute placed Arcos Dorados in the top five multinationals operating in the region for a […]

Mohammad Mansour still remembers the summers he spent riding his bike to the Orland Park Mall for his first job in the food court while attending the local high school. Now the roles have reversed where Mansour is the business owner of several food concepts at the mall giving students their first jobs. And the […]

“Fast-fine” dining innovator Fresh To Order has awarded a three-unit deal with restaurant and convenience store experts Tony Chong and Daryl Ortiz, partners of the Kephas Group. The pair plans to bring Fresh To Order’s chef-driven menu of freshly prepared, healthy dishes to diners in the Philadelphia area next year.  It will be the first […]

Kansas City–based oven-baked sandwich chain, Planet Sub, has signed an agreement to develop 12 stores in the San Antonio, Texas area, which brings the total of units under development in Texas to 35. The growing fresh-casual brand has 23 stores set for other varying metroplexes in Texas including Austin, Dallas, Denton, and Fort Worth, with […]

Corner Bakery Cafe, a fast-casual restaurant concept known for its ingredient-inspired menu and neighborhood café atmosphere, is looking for top multiunit franchise operators to expand into the Southeast. "Experts are forecasting that the fast-casual industry will lead the way for new restaurant development this year. When we couple that with a growing demand for Corner […]

Pie Five Pizza Co., announced a new development deal that will open up to 24 new locations across multiple northeastern states. Local Pie Five franchisee, Mashoor Awad, will be developing the Pie Five Pizza brand across the northeast area including the state of Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania/Philadelphia, Northern Maryland, and Southern New Jersey. The first location, […]

Fast casual, build-your-own pizza restaurant Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint will open in New Jersey later this year. Franchisees Ben Perez-Ringus and Dipen Desai, partners, have signed a deal to build five Uncle Maddio’s restaurants in Morris, Somerset, Middlesex, Bergen, and Essex counties. The first restaurant is expected to open in late 2015. Perez-Ringus will serve as the […]

Carl’s Jr. continues to expand in Latin America with the opening of its first restaurant in Colombia today. Located at Parque de La 93 in the heart of Bogota, the restaurant marks the first of a multi-unit development agreement between Carl’s Jr. parent company CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc. (CKE) and International Meal Company (IMC). IMC […]

Boardwalk Fresh Burgers and Fries continues expansion in the Middle East. Adding to its development in Riyadh, Boardwalk's multiunit developer has expanded its area by signing a second agreement with Boardwalk to develop the entire country of Saudi Arabia. Two Boardwalk restaurants opened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: last June at Tahksosy Road, and then October […]

The Austin-based fast casual chain, VertsKebap, will open the doors to its first San Antonio restaurant in the Park North Shopping Center at 842 NW Loop 410 on Saturday, May 16.  VertsKebap Park North will celebrate its first day of business with a grand opening event from 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. featuring one free, full sized entrée […]

Dunkin’ Donuts announced today the signing of a multi-unit store development agreement with existing franchise group, NMR LLC, to develop five Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants and four multi-brand restaurants with its sister brand, Baskin-Robbins, in Albuquerque and its surrounding areas. The first restaurant is planned to open in Summer 2016. Led by Amin Habib, Murad Fazal, […]

The Halal Guys has announced the signing of three major multi-unit franchise deals abroad. Nearly 40 new restaurants will open in the Philippines; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  The franchisee for the Philippines has signed a 20-unit deal for the entire country, with the first location expected to open in the summer of 2015 in […]

Burger 21, an award-winning, “beyond the better burger” fast-casual franchise, announced that it has signed an additional franchise agreement with the brand’s very first franchisee, Dennis Saller, to develop its first restaurant in Melbourne, Florida, at the Avenue Viera shopping mall. Additionally, the Tampa, Florida–based chain signed lease agreements for its Snellville and Johns Creek, […]

Cincinnati-based restaurant Tom+Chee will open its first North Carolina location in Carrboro on May 15, 2015. The 54-seat, 2,000-square-foot restaurant, which also offers additional outdoor seating, is located at 370 E. Main Street, Suite 140, Carrboro, NC 27510. The Carrboro location will celebrate its grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:15 a.m. on […]

Blaze Fast Fire'd Pizza, the fast-casual concept, known for its chef-driven menu and casually hip restaurants, announced today that it will open its sixth Chicago-area restaurant, in Niles, on Thursday, May 7. To celebrate the grand opening, the restaurant will offer free build-your-own artisanal pizzas on Friday, May 8 from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. […]

McDonald's president and CEO Steve Easterbrook today announced the initial steps of the company's turnaround plan, including a restructuring of McDonald's worldwide business and financial updates. "Today we are announcing the initial steps to reset and turn around our business," Easterbrook says. "As we look to shape McDonald's future as a modern, progressive burger company, […]

MAD Greens will open two locations in Colorado in just two weeks. Its first Westminster restaurant at 1181 W. 120th Avenue, Suite 300 will open with a Free Salad Day on April 28, and a Lone Tree location will open at Lincoln Avenue and RidgeGate Parkway two weeks later. This is the first time in […]

Chicken Salad Chick recently announced that it has received an investment from Eagle Merchant Partners (Eagle), an Atlanta, Georgia-based private equity firm. This partnership brings a depth of restaurant industry experience to the leadership team, including the naming of restaurant industry veteran Russ Umphenour as chairman of the board and Scott Deviney as president and […]

Villa Enterprises, multi-brand restaurant operator and franchisor celebrating 50 years in business, announced Villa Italian Kitchen has opened three new restaurant locations today at Dublin, Ohio’s Tuttle Crossing Mall, 2000 Riverchase Galleria, in Birmingham, Alabama, and 8401 Park Meadows Center Drive, at Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado, each conveniently located at the Food Court featuring a variety of freshly made […]

The Pie Hole, the Los Angeles, California-based pie and coffee concept, has closed a three-unit franchise deal for Orange County, California. Named to CondeNast Traveler’s Best Pies in America list, The Pie Hole features sweet and savory, made-from-scratch pies and premium coffees in a fast casual, local gathering space format. The Pie Hole has two […]

Persona Wood Fired Pizzeria has signed a five-unit deal for Houston. This marks the brand’s first franchise development agreement in the state of Texas. The new Persona locations in Houston will be owned and operated by Spicy Ketchup LLC, a locally based franchise group experienced with the Jimmy John’s brand. The group plans to open […]

Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, a national travel stop company, has signed a deal to add 10 Taco John’s quick-service Mexican restaurants to its travel stop locations. “Mexican QSR is a fast-growing segment of the food industry, and Taco John’s will help us expand those offerings to our customers,” says Joe Cotton, Love’s director […]

Sloan’s Ice Cream today announced a major development deal that will expand the brand into the Middle East. West Palm Beach, Florida-based Sloan’s — a premium brand combining innovative ice cream flavors with over-the-top aesthetics, including bold pink and neon green walls and heaping amounts of candy and toys — has signed a franchise development […]