Starbucks said this week that it is permanently closing 16 locations in various markets over safety concerns and is instituting new strategies to ensure the well-being of employees inside its cafes. The coffee giant said it would close locations in the Seattle area, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Portland, Ore. The locations are set… read more

McDonald’s USA LCC, through its Black & Positively Golden movement, surprised its Future 22 leaders with $10,000 each, totaling $220,000, during an event in their honor at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, La. The Chicago-based company launched the Future 22 program earlier this year “It’s a platform that McDonald’s wanted to tap into in… read more

Throughout the course of Dave & Buster’s $835 million deal to acquire fellow food-and-games brand Main Event, the companies have touted the millions of dollars in “synergies” the pairing creates. On Tuesday, Dave & Buster’s Chairman (and former interim CEO) Kevin Sheehan said some Dave & Buster’s centers could be converted into Main Event units. After such… read more

Jill McDonald will be returning to McDonald’s as executive vice president and president, International Operated Markets (IOM), effective Sept. 5. In her new role, Ms. McDonald will oversee the restaurant chain’s five largest wholly-owned international markets and its IOM business unit, which consists of the company’s remaining wholly-owned international markets. Ms. McDonald has been chief… read more

Condado Tacos has opened three new restaurants in three consecutive weeks to reach 35 company-owned and operated locations in total, encompassing 13 markets and seven states. With four more new restaurant openings this year, all in the fourth quarter, and an estimated 12–15 to open in 2023, Condado Tacos continues to grow at a record… read more

Success in the restaurant world, as with any industry, requires a depth of knowledge across a breadth of spheres and specialties. I’ve always envisioned the complexities of the restaurant business model as a three-dimensional Venn diagram encompassing the economics of food, real estate, and hospitality, with overlapping affinities of cooking, culture, and consumer. A jumbo-sized… read more

It must be prime season for sub chains to upgrade their menus, as tiny Quiznos just joined giant Subway in a rollout of new items. Earlier this month, the newest of Quiznos 255 U.S. locations, a unit in Hobbs, N.M., launched an expanded menu with globally inspired flavors. The restaurant also updated its equipment, adding flat… read more

Portillo’s Inc. will be entering the Texas market in the fourth quarter, but as it breaks ground on its first unit in the state it is building brand awareness and whetting the appetites of future customers with its Beef Bus. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based Portillo’s, which has 71 units and went public last year, uses the Beef… read more