QSR magazine announced that its second Fast Casual Meet Up of 2019 will be held in Washington, D.C. The Meet Up, part of a 10-city series across the U.S., is on February 6 at 6 p.m. at Chicken + Whiskey.

“Washington, D.C., is one of the most exciting fast-casual hubs in America,” says Sam Oches, QSR’s editor. “From CAVA to &pizza to Sweetgreen, the fast-casual brands that have emerged from the nation’s capital have had a huge influence on the rest of the industry.”

The Fast Casual Meet Up series launched in 2015 as a way to unite communities of fast-casual operators across the country. The free networking receptions feature food and drinks in a relaxed setting, giving founders, executives, managers, and other restaurant representatives a platform for meeting peers and learning more about what’s going on in their local communities.

To date, representatives from more than 500 brands have joined QSR at a Fast Casual Meet Up.

“We’ve had great feedback from operators about the Meet Ups, and countless partnerships and friendships have emerged from them,” Oches says. “Restaurant professionals are always working so hard and rarely get time to interact with their peers. We want to give them that opportunity so they can learn from each other—and we didn’t want to make them fly across the country to a conference to achieve that.”  

To RSVP to the free D.C. Fast Casual Meet Up, restaurant operators simply need to visit QSRmagazine.com/dc-meet-up and input their information. (Vendors/suppliers are not permitted to the Meet Ups.)

Fast Casual, News