In 2015, USA Today wrote an article asking, “Is Anthony’s the best pizza chain in America?” The story described the experience: “Imagine pizza so good that seasonal snowbirds from New York—the most pizza-defensive city in the country—liked it so much they imported it from their winter stays in Florida. If you think of a chain… read more

Wayne Jones visited 38 Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza locations before signing on as chief executive in 2017, succeeding founder Anthony Bruno. Each stop tugged at his roots. Jones grew up in California, with little money, and got into restaurants so he could eat. And there was a local pizza place where the owner would put… read more

China has just about everything you’d want in a restaurant market: a massive population with a growing middle class, pioneering concepts that have shown it is accepting of Western cuisine and, of course, roads that aren’t pockmarked by too many competitors. None of that is likely to change because of a lingering trade war between that… read more

Much of the research into and news coverage of the growing plant-based food industry has focused on retail sales and new products on supermarket shelves, but foodservice channels are increasingly becoming a key focus of plant-based culinary innovation. Plant-based protein shipments to foodservice outlets grew 20% last year, according to NPD Group. The growth comes… read more

KeyBanc analyst Eric Gonzalez says Popeyes stores sold about 1,000 chicken sandwiches a day before the new product sold out. Sandwich sales also accounted for about 30% of Popeyes sales in the time it was available while store traffic doubled, Gonzalez adds. Popeyes officially launched its chicken sandwich on Aug. 12 but it wasn’t until… read more

Last year, the James Beard Foundation (JBF) announced its multi-year Waste Not initiative, which encourages chefs and home cooks alike to adopt more full-use cooking methods. “Around the world, we waste more than 40 percent of the food we produce,” says Katherine Miller, vice president of Impact for JBF. “This means we also waste the… read more

The quick-service restaurant made the commitment in 2014 and arrived at the mark early, serving no antibiotics chicken since May 2019. Packaging at more than 2,400 restaurants will change in October to reflect the commitment to customers. “We know consumers care about how their food is made and where it comes from, including the use… read more

As of today, it’s announcing that it’s buying Apprente, a startup building conversational agents that can automate voice-based ordering in multiple languages. If that sounds like a good fit for fast-food drive thru, that’s exactly what McDonald’s leadership has in mind. In fact, the company has already been testing Apprente’s technology in select locations, creating voice-activated… read more

Huddle House Inc. agreed to buy 342 Perkins Restaurant & Bakery locations, the company said. The Atlanta-based family-dining brand said it expected the deal to close on Oct. 21. Terms were not disclosed. In early August, Perkins & Marie Callender’s Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection and closed 29 Perkins Restaurant & Bakery and Marie Callender’s… read more

New York state regulators have called for capping the commissions paid by full-service restaurants to third-party deliverers at 10%, a major first step in regulating the fees charged by the services. The New York State Liquor Authority (NYSLA) issued what’s called an advisory to its leadership, asking them to take up the matter during a… read more