Bloomin’ Brands reinvigoration of Outback has, rightfully so, grabbed headlines in recent months. If you look back to the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the company shuttered 14 restaurants and followed by refranchising 54 corporate stores to longtime franchisee partners. In Q3 of this year—the most recent report for the legacy steakhouse—same-store sales rose 4.6… read more

Cava Group Inc. completed its acquisition Wednesday of Zoes Kitchen, creating a privately held Mediterranean fast-casual company with some 340 units and more than 8,000 employees. The $300 million deal, first announced in August, was financed by a “significant equity investment” from Act III Holdings, the emerging brand-accelerator financing group created by former Panera Bread CEO… read more

Forty per cent of consumers say their definition of health has changed over the past two years — and that definition is driving their choices of food and beverage, according to Technomic Inc.’s 2018 Healthy Eating Consumer Trend Report. Consumers are increasingly ordering menu items that meet that personal definition of health, such as food… read more

El Pollo Loco has named Hector A. Muñoz, a former executive at rival chicken brands Church’s Chicken and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, as its new chief marketing officer. Muñoz replaces Ed Valle who stepped down earlier this year after seven years with the chain. Muñoz will start Dec. 3. Muñoz joins the company from Atlanta-based Church’s Chicken, where… read more

Bob Platzer, founder of PJW Restaurant Group, the largest and most successful family-owned restaurant group in the Delaware Valley, has named hospitality veteran Jim Fris Chief Executive Officer as Platzer assumes the Executive Chairman role. The announcement comes as the restaurant group celebrates its 35th year of success. Bob Platzer and his wife Donna began in… read more

After 11 years as CEO of UNO Restaurant LLC, Louie Psallidas has stepped down from his role. Psallidas made the announcement, “A farewell to my friends at UNO,” on his Linkedln page on November 21. When I first became CEO of UNO, a wise man told me that it would be important to recognize when the… read more

Service men and women accepted into the groundbreaking program will earn a paycheck from Chili’s as they’re provided with the education and training to advance into supervisory positions for the chain. They will join the 250 Chili’s employees currently participating in the initiative, a pilot program forged by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF)… read more

One of the challenges of scaling a mid-sized restaurant chain is the notion that, well, you’re a chain. Beyond the power of recognition that crosses state lines, how do you compete with local, independent spots that appeal to the community-based diner? How do you unchain the chain, in other terms, and erase the sterile stereotype… read more

Moore’s Law was coined in 1965 by Gordon Moore and is often referenced to describe the driving force of technological and social change, productivity and growth. According to Olo founder and CEO Noah Glass, the restaurant industry is, in a way, experiencing this theory as digital ordering and delivery barrel toward an expected $200 billion of… read more

The domestic results were “slightly” ahead of the Louisville, Ky.-based pizza chain’s expectations. Speaking on the company’s third-quarter earnings call Tuesday afternoon, executives said that same-store sales improved in September from the decline of 10.5% in July and into August. Steve Ritchie, Papa John’s CEO, said that the comparable store sale and traffic improved after… read more