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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

FAST-CASUAL CUSTOMERS ARE STARTING TO EXPECT A DRIVE-THRU

As the lines between fast casual and fast food blur, diners are increasingly expecting quick-service convenience at more-polished limited-service chains, according to a new Technomic consumer report......Read More

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE PLOTS RETURN TO UNIT GROWTH BEHIND SMALLER RESTAURANTS

After a decade of shrinking unit counts, Outback Steakhouse is charting a return to growth behind a new, scaled-down restaurant design. The smaller prototype will allow the brand to both enter new markets and fill in existing ones, with the upshot being 3% gross annual unit growth in the near-term, executives said during an earnings call Friday.....Read More

NOODLES & COMPANY GOT HIT BY A COVID ONE-TWO PUNCH

The combined impacts of the delta and omicron surges cost the fast casual $8 million in estimated revenue from temporary closures and reduced hours during the fourth quarter. Noodles & Company got hit by a one-two punch of the delta and omicron COVID surges, dealing a major blow to the fast casual’s revenues.....Read More

MCDONALD’S WILL INVEST $250M TO DIVERSIFY ITS FRANCHISEE BASE

McDonald’s said Wednesday that it plans to invest $250 million over the next five years to help new franchisees in the U.S. finance restaurants as part of a global effort to increase the diversity of the company’s base of owner-operators. .....Read More

IN-N-OUT IS NOT MOVING TO FLORIDA

The company acknowledged that its president, Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson, spoke with the state’s governor. But it says it is not expanding into the state. The venerable burger chain, which has been making noise about vaccine requirements in some communities in its home state of California, said that it has no plans to either expand in Florida or move its corporate headquarters to the state......Read More

Majority of restaurant operators say business conditions are worse now than three months ago, survey finds

The trade group surveyed 4,000 operators between Sept. 7 and Sept. 15 and is using the results to lobby against President Joe Biden’s plan to raise the corporate tax rate and proposed changes to the National Labor Relations Act that would allow fines of $50,000 to $100,000 for labor violations. .......Read More

Domino’s stock climbs 11% on earnings beat, strong pizza demand in the U.S.

Domino’s reported 3.5% same-store sales growth in the United States for its second quarter, even as it faced tough comparisons to last year’s skyrocketing pizza demand.On a two-year basis, U.S. same-store sales climbed 19.6% during the quarter.CEO Ritch Allison said that the company will hike wages for workers at company-owned restaurants in certain markets and positions......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

McDonald’s sets targets to diversify its leadership, seeks gender parity by 2030

McDonald’s said Thursday it is taking steps to increase the number of women and people from historically underrepresented groups in its senior leadership ranks. By 2025, the company aims to have at least 35% of its senior-director and higher leadership roles be held by people from minorities. That would be a 6% increase from 2020, McDonald’s said....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

Where Restaurants Have Reopened Across the U.S.

After weeks — and in some cases, nearly two months — of shutdowns, states across the country are beginning to allow non-essential businesses to reopen in multi-phase plans. In Texas, restaurants can reopen their dining rooms at 25 percent capacity, while diners in Alaska and New Hampshire must make reservations in advance.....Read More

CONSUMERS LIKELY TO CUT BACK ON RESTAURANTS IN A CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Consumers are likely to leave the house less and cut back on restaurant visits amid mounting fears of a coronavirus pandemic.....Read More

SUBWAY DOWNSIZES CORPORATE TEAM

Len Van Popering is leaving this month as global brand and innovation officer, and sandwich brand will eliminate position. Subway is downsizing its corporate executive team, confirming Thursday that it was getting rid of its chief brand and innovation officer position.......Read More

FROM CRACKER BARREL TO CHEESECAKE FACTORY, SEE 2019’S RESTAURANT MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

This year saw 34 mergers and acquisitions from large to small. Cheesecake factory acquired Fox Restaurant Concepts in one of the largest deals of the year but big brands like Jimmy John's and Del Frisco's were also acquired......Read More

CALIFORNIA WILL BAN LATEX GLOVES IN RESTAURANTS STARTING JAN. 1

California on Jan. 1 will be banning latex gloves in restaurants and other foodservice locations, joining a growing number of states that are barring the products because of allergies......Read More

HOW TO HANDLE MENU PRICE HIKES AS LABOR COSTS SOAR

With unemployment near record lows and minimum wage hikes going into effect in many jurisdictions, operators are under pressure to raise menu prices in order to remain profitable.....Read More

DINE BRANDS SEES TOUGHER TIMES AHEAD FOR APPLEBEE’S

Coming off a second consecutive quarter of same-store sales declines for Applebee’s, parent Dine Brands Global has lowered its expectations for the chain’s top line performance during the remainder of 2019 and raised its forecast of how many units will close by year’s end....Read More

KFC’S PLANT-BASED TEST WAS A HUGE WIN

KFC’s test of plant-based chicken was at just a single restaurant in August, and it only lasted about five hours, but the impact for the company was far bigger......Read More

DOMINO’S SAME-STORE SALES SLOW FURTHER

Domino’s Pizza recorded its lowest U.S. same-store sales figure in seven years in the third quarter as the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based pizza chain continues to feel the heat from growing third-party.....Read More

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