23 New Restaurants In India To Visit In 2025 If You Haven’t Already

The year 2024 has been a sizzling one for new restaurant openings across India, with quite a few exciting spots just making their debut in December – meaning your January dining plans are already sorted! If you're a foodie eager to explore the latest culinary gems in your city, you're in the right place. We've rounded up the must-visit new restaurants that are sure to spice up your dining adventures. Bon appétit...Read More

KFC’s new tenders brand and PizzaExpress’s plans for the U.S.

On this week’s Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss KFC’s new Saucy concept, a spinoff brand opening in Orlando that is built around chicken tenders plus a wide variety of sauces and beverages. Why might KFC be going in this direction? And why are so many legacy chains launching spinoff concepts? Plus they discuss the biggest headlines of 2024’s...Read More

9 restaurant food trends for 2025

2024 has been a tough year for restaurants, but that’s no reason not to make the “fun” predictions for 2025: the food and beverage predictions. Senior food and beverage editor Bret Thorn is back with nine trends he foresees for the coming year. Some of these trends are beverage-focused; for example, Thorn points out that martini variations appear on trends lists from groups including the National Restaurant Association...Read More

Starbucks hit with disruptions following third-party ransomware attack

Starbucks Corp. on Monday confirmed that the Seattle-based coffee chain is facing employee-side disruptions following a ransomware attack on third-party vendor, Blue Yonder. The attack disrupted Starbucks’ back-end processes that affect employee scheduling and hours management, though the company said that it was working to ensure its...Read More

Subway Presents 'Fresh Forward 2.0' Global Restaurant Design Alternate

Subway is set to launch its new global restaurant design, "Fresh Forward 2.0" in 2025. This design will enhance the dining experience, provide greater convenience, and boost franchisee profitability. Since the introduction of the first "Fresh Forward" design in 2017, over 20,000 Subway outlets worldwide have been transformed ...Read More

DPC Dash Dash - Domino's Pizza China Continues to Unleash Massive Market Potential with Sustainable 4d Strategy

DPC Dash – Domino's Pizza China, Domino's Pizza's exclusive master franchisee in the China Mainland, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, and the Macau Special Administrative Region of China, continued to capitalize on significant growth opportunities in the third quarter of 2024, driving success in the underserved Chinese...Read More

Life Time launched preleasing of a major mixed-use multifamily development in Coral Gables that will include a 70,000-square-foot athletic resort and a 22,000-square-foot shared workspace component.

Nolan Reynolds International is set to complete the $500 million, 1.2 million-square-foot project previously known as Gables Station. Life Time is leasing the shared workspace portion and the athletic resort from the developer, and has a management contract for the residential component, said Bahram Akradi, founder, chairman and CEO of Life Time...Read More

Nation’s Restaurant News teams with 858 Partners for technology showcase at annual event

Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) announced a new technology activation at its annual CREATE: The Event for Emerging Restaurateurs, which is taking place this Oct. 9-11 in Nashville, Tenn. 858 Partners, an investment and go-to-market support firm for restaurant technology companies, is joining CREATE as an exclusive partner to host the interactive 858 x CREATE Tech Showcase. It will feature a curated selection...Read More

BJ’s Restaurants CEO Greg Levin steps down, Bradford Richmond to serve as interim

Levin has served as an executive for BJ’s for the past 19 years, including as CFO, prior to his CEO appointment. It’s been a busy month for chief executive officer appointments in the restaurant industry, and BJ’s Restaurants is the latest chain to undergo such a change. The company announced Wednesday after market that Bradford Richmond will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately, after Greg Levin...Read More

Burger King, Walmart+ partner on dining benefit

Burger King Corp. and Walmart+ have teamed to offer free sandwiches and discounts to retail loyalty members, the companies said Thursday. The Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart Inc. said members, starting immediately, can get 25% off Burger King digital orders and also get a free Whopper every three months with any purchase through the quick-service restaurant brand’s smartphone app or website....Read More

Trending this week: Papa Johns names former Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor as its new CEO

This week on Nation's Restaurant News the top story was Menu Tracker: New items from Dunkin’, IHOP, and Sonic Drive-In. Plus innovation at Baja Fresh, Blaze Pizza, Bruster’s Real Ice Cream, Burgerville, Friendly’s, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, Gott’s Roadside, Junior’s Restaurant, La Madeleine, Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub, Nothing Bundt Cakes...Read More

What the latest closures mean for the restaurant industry

Sales from the Top 500 restaurant chains grew by 7.8% in 2023, according to recently released Technomic data. Further, the domestic footprint of the Top 500 chains increased by 1.8% in 2023 to a total of more than 233,000 restaurants. This marked the highest rate of new location growth since 2016. That doesn’t mean it was all rainbows and butterflies for the industry...Read More

Minnesota Follows California in Prohibiting Restaurant 'Junk Fees'

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a price-transparency bill into law this week detailing how industries, including restaurants, will have to make additional fees clear to customers upfront. The law goes into effect Jan. 1. “Minnesotans value transparency, which is why we’re putting an end to junk fees on everything from food and entertainment to hotels and credit card fees,” said Walz in a press release...Read More

March consumer prices rise as restaurant-grocery gap shrinks

Menu price inflation slowed a fraction in March, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index released Wednesday. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in March, the same increase as in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Over the last 12 months, the agency said, the all-items index increased 3.5% before seasonal adjustment...Read More

April Fools' Day Specials: Restaurant Brands Roll Out Whimsical Deals

April Fools’ Day promotions test a journalist’s mettle: Which ones are real, and which ones aren’t? We double checked a number of deals crossing our desks, and we found at least three that passed muster. Thank you BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Cheesecake Factory and Del Taco for verifying these for us...Read More

Inspire Brands Hits Milestone with 10,000th International Restaurant, Sets Sights on Expanded Overseas Presence

Inspire Brands just opened its 10,000th international restaurant and the Atlanta-based company sees lots of potential for more.“10,000 stores is a lot, but we’re still 6th or 7th, probably, relative to some of our peer groups,” said Michael Haley, president and managing director for the international division of Inspire, which owns Arby’s, Dunkin’, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s..Read More

Wendy’s expects to test dynamic pricing and daypart offers in 2025

New CEO Kirk Tanner outlines $30M investment in digital menu boards over next 2 years as well as new $55M investment in breakfast marketing. The Wendy’s Co. expects to test digital features like dynamic pricing and daypart offers in 2025 as it expands its investments in technology, executives said Thursday.The Dublin, Ohio-based burger brand, which released fourth quarter 2023 earnings, expects its digital sales to reach $2 billion in 2024, “a full year earlier than planned,”......Read More

Trending this week: Burger King parent company to acquire Carrols Restaurant Group

This week on Nation's Restaurant News the top story was Menu Tracker: New items from McDonald’s, Sonic Drive-In, and Taco Bell. Plus innovation at Another Broken Egg Cafe, Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Baskin-Robbins, Black Rock Coffee Bar, Bojangles, Burgerville, Charleys Cheesesteaks and more......Read More

The future of plant-based food is … plants

In recent years we’ve seen a huge upsurge in the availability of plant-based meat analogs in the marketplace. Often made with pea protein, these vegetarian substitutes for beef, chicken, dairy, and even seafood have substantial marketing dollars behind them, but sales in the U.S. have either stagnated or declined in recent years, depending on what data you look at......Read More

The story behind Taco Bell’s newest prototype

Taco Bell recently unveiled a 2.0 version of its digital-forward Go Mobile restaurant, about three years after the initial concept was introduced in the throes of the pandemic. The updated asset will play a big role as the chain targets 10,000 units “in the coming years,” and will also support parent company Yum Brands’ goal of reaching 100% in digital sales transactions.....Read More

Taco Bell adds slow-braised shredded beef as part of new birria-inspired dipping taco

Taco Bell today announced its new grilled cheese dipping taco featuring slow-braised shredded beef – a new protein offering from the chain. The taco is filled with a creamy jalapeno sauce and a three-cheese blend of cheddar, mozzarella and pepper jack inside and outside of a white corn shell fried daily.......Read More

Wendy’s to test mobile-order underground pickup option with Pipedream

The Wendy's Co. has partnered with Pipedream Labs to pilot an underground autonomous robot system with the goal of delivering digital food orders to designated parking spots in seconds, the company said Wednesday. The Dublin, Ohio-based burger brand said the Austin, Texas-based Pipedream would deploy its “Instant Pickup” technology at an as-yet-undetermined East Coast company-owned unit to provide fast delivery of digital orders........Read More

Just Eat Takeaway.Com announces leadership changes with its North America segment

Grubhub, a leading online food delivery platform, announces today that CEO Adam DeWitt, will step down from his position. Howard Migdal has been appointed executive vice president of North America and CEO of Grubhub. Migdal, a U.S. national, is currently the CEO of SkipTheDishes, Just Eat Takeaway.com's Canadian subsidiary......Read More

Sprinkles launches into 2023 with new franchising program and products

While the softball-sized cupcakes craze hit its peak in the 2000s and has since dwindled, the Austin, Texas-based cupcake bakery Sprinkles is still going strong, and just opened its first franchised location in Dec. 2022 in Utah, with plans to grow from 23 bakeries and 50 iconic pink cupcake ATMS to more than 100 U.S. franchise locations and 100 international locations over the next three years. The first international franchised location is set to open in Asia this year.....Read More

Negative online reviews have increased for restaurants

New data from Trustpilot finds that negative online reviews for U.S. businesses have jumped by 3% since April, with restaurants and bars experiencing the biggest upticks in negative reviews, alongside construction, education and hobbies and crafts. Trustpilot’s quarterly Online Review Index examines consumer sentiment across several industries and found a 4% decline in positive reviews since April, equating to nearly 40,000 fewer positive reviews.....Read More

Jack in the Box opens off-premises-only unit in Q4

Jack in the Box Inc. in its fourth quarter introduced a new off-premises-only restaurant prototype in Tulsa, Okla. “We've made big strides in updating guest touch points with a more modern Jack spin, including our new web and app ordering experience, updated menu boards, team member uniform, packaging and, of course, our new restaurant design for the future,” said Darin Harris, Jack in the Box CEO......Read More

TIMES SQUARE APPLEBEE’S EVICTED AND ORDERED TO PAY $7M IN OVERDUE RENT

The restaurant at 234 W. 42nd St. is operated by franchisee Apple Metro and has been there for more than 20 years. It began missing rent payments in June 2019, according to court documents, but the bulk of the overdue balance began to accumulate in March 2020, when New York shut down indoor dining amid the pandemic. The Applebee’s reopened in June 2021 and continued to miss payments.......Read More

DAIRY QUEEN FRANCHISEE FINED $42K FOR TEEN-HOUR VIOLATIONS

A Dairy Queen franchisee based in Fort Wayne, Ind., has been fined $42,572 for 102 violations of federal limits on the hours 14- and 15-year-olds can work. H&H Coldwater LLC was charged by the U.S. Department of Labor with allowing the teens to exceed the cutoffs set for those newcomers to the job market......Read More

QUICK-SERVICE RESTAURANT CHAINS MAKE A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO KILL CALIFORNIA'S FAST ACT

Fast-food chains operating in California are pressing Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto a bill that gives the state’s quick-service workers a significant role in setting their own wages and working conditions. Without a veto of AB 257 by the governor, quick-service operators face the possibility of a near-term jump in the state’s minimum wage to $22 an hour, with the level raised by 3.5% or the cost of living every year thereafter, depending on which is lower......Read More

TGI FRIDAYS TO EXPAND USE OF VIRTUAL BRANDS

The casual-dining chain said Tuesday that it’s expanding its partnership with digital restaurant company C3 to use more of its brands in more of its restaurants after a successful test. In the fall, TGI Fridays began offering a C3-owned sushi concept, Krispy Rice, as a delivery-only option at some restaurants in California and Maryland.....Read More

AS INFLATION RISES, SOME RESTAURANTS ARE LOWERING PRICES

As inflation rises this summer, prices at O’Charley’s will fall. The Nashville-based casual-dining chain last week said it would start discounting online orders based on the consumer price index (CPI), a federal figure that measures inflation. In May, the CPI was 8.6%—its highest level since the early ’80s...... Read More

THE RESTAURANT CRITIC’S JOB HAS CHANGED … MAYBE FOREVER

As the restaurant critic of New York magazine, Platt spent most of the last year writing about cooking for his family, takeout and delivery meals, creative outdoor dining setups and other efforts by restaurants to keep afloat during the pandemic. “It became more of a reportorial job, not criticism,” he said during a virtual event hosted by Grub Street, New York’s food and restaurant blog.....Read More

WHAT RESTAURANTS CAN EXPECT UNDER BIDEN

From the moment Joe Biden uttered the words, “so help me God,” the nation’s 46th president has sounded the message that his administration will break sharply from the policies of the Trump White House. With Republicans also losing the Senate after six years, giving Democrats control of legislative.......Read More

RUBIO’S COASTAL GRILL TO EXIT BANKRUPTCY BY END OF YEAR

Rubio’s Coastal Grill is set to emerge from bankruptcy after a court approved its reorganization plan, the company said Tuesday. The 170-unit San Diego-based chain filed for Chapter 11 in October with $82.3 million in outstanding debt. The restructuring cut that debt by $35 million. Executives praised the quick turnaround that will bring the company out of bankruptcy by the end of the year........Read More

SAN FRANCISCO RE-SHUTS DINING ROOMS, FURTHERING A NATIONWIDE ROLLBACK FOR RESTAURANTS

Restaurants in San Francisco will be required to re-shut their dining rooms as of 11:59 Friday night in another instance of a government reinstating service restrictions to slow the nation’s lightspeed spread of coronavirus.With new cases of COVID-19 setting records virtually every day.....Read More

More NRIrestaurants News....Click Here