The US Food and Drug Administration on Sept. 18 announced the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at providing temporary relief from enforcement of certain regulations and deadlines to food manufacturers struggling to adjust operations and procedures to ensure food is directed safely and in the quantities and forms required during the coronavirus (COVID-19)… read more
Barry McGowan has been CEO at Fogo de Chão since December 2018 and was a big part of the steakhouse chain’s effort to market to Millennials, but fine dining has taken a huge hit during COVID-19, and Fogo de Chão is no exception. The Plano, Texas-based fine-dining chain focused around churrascaria currently has 57 units… read more
For hundreds of years, individuals known as alchemists searched in vain for the mythical Philosopher’s Stone, a substance that was imagined to have the properties essential for turning basic medals into gold or generating the elixir of immortal life. Today’s equivalent search is for that one leadership style capable of turning crisis into survival and… read more
U.S. Representatives ask Federal Trade Commission to Probe Third-Party Delivery Operators, Franchisors U.S. Representatives from three states also ask the FTC to take a closer look at franchisor/franchisee relationships; Grubhub says their mission is to drive orders to restaurants. Congressional leaders from Washington state, Illinois, and Pennsylvania took aim at third-party delivery operators this week,… read more
Before the pandemic, New York City’s Times Square was bustling with office workers, theatergoers, and tourists. But pandemic restrictions have FORCED Bradway to go dark and dining rooms to remain closed. New York City has banned indoor dining since March and plans to start allowing indoor dining at up to only 25 percent capacity at… read more
Despite economic challenges, hundreds of thousands of startups are launching across the country. The number of business applications filed in the United States in the week ended Aug. 29 exceeded 101,600, up 62% over the prior-year period, according to US Census Bureau data. Drexel Food Lab, a product development and culinary innovation center at Philadelphia-based… read more
The uncertainty about when the economy and life will get “back to normal” weighs heavily on everyone. When might “normal” happen? One US public health expert expects it will take until fall 2021 — after the majority of the population is vaccinated and protected — for life to return to pre-COVID normalcy. A Fall 2019… read more
Casual dining giants like Applebee’s and Outback Steakhouse have been squeezing quite a bit of juice out of this channel since the early 2000s. No doubt the casual dining segment has had the curbside market cornered, offering a convenient and speedy occasion for fast food-fatigued consumers. However, Covid-19 has changed that. Curbside is now everywhere as restaurants,… read more
Corner Bakery Café was founded in 1991. With a heightened number of office closures due to COVID-19 sagging traffic, Corner Bakery Café tapped DLA Piper as restructuring counsel, Debtwire, citing two sources familiar with the situation, reported. The fast-casual engaged Stifel as its investment banker to explore strategic alternatives, one of the sources added. This… read more
Sam Wong remembers hearing about the chicken concept Pollo Campero nearly 20 years ago. He was told that customers were waiting hours just to get into the restaurant. At first, Wong wasn’t buying the hype. So he drove 65 miles to Los Angeles to get a firsthand impression. As it turns out, the hyperbole was… read more