— By Katie Lee — Pasadena, California-based Dog Haus is entering new markets through franchising and partnerships with Kitchen United and Live Nation. Dog Haus is an emerging new restaurant concept that, frankly, isn’t that new. But it is
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Syracuse, N.Y. — Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. has named Timothy J. LaLonde as interim chief financial officer, interim treasurer and interim vice president. The company is conducting a search for a permanent CFO to replace the late Paul R. Flanders,
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Irvine, Calif. — Juice It Up!, one of the nation’s leading handcrafted smoothie, raw juice and superfruit bowl chains, has appointed Susan Taylor as vice president of operations. Leveraging over 26 years of experience in the restaurant industry, Taylor has
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Charlotte, N.C. — Bojangles’, Inc. has hired Jose R. Costa as its first chief development officer, reporting to CEO Jose Armario. In this new role, Costa will be responsible for driving the overall unit growth of the company, recruiting new
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Las Vegas — Potbelly Sandwich Shop has signed a franchise agreement to open 10 shops in the Las Vegas market. Eric Persson, an experienced, multi-brand restaurant operator and owner, will be bringing Potbelly to the area. The deal marks the
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Dallas — Fuzzy’s Taco Shop has named Jessica Wescott as chief financial officer. She previously served as the executive vice president of finance for the Baja-inspired franchise. Wescott began her career in wealth management before moving into the franchising world
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Atlanta — Erik Hess joins the Moe’s Southwest Grill® brand with more than 25 years of global experience in the food and beverage industry. Hess will be leading as president of the Moe’s brand, a fast-casual Mexican concept with more
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Sacramento, Calif. — Round Table Pizza® has reopened its first location to undergo a complete redesign to embody Round Table’s recently updated logo and brand identity: “Pizza Royalty.” The Round Table store, located at 398 Florin Rd. in Sacramento, Calif., is the first location
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Atlanta — Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a leading national fast-casual cafe concept, is opening its 800th location. The location will open on September 6, 2019 in Arlington Heights, Ill. This milestone opening comes on the heels of a tremendous growth year
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Orlando, Fla. — MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes, a fast-casual “better burger” chain founded in Plano, Texas, in 2007, is set to have two openings in late 2019 and early 2020 in Orlando, Fla. The Orlando openings mark the second
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Houston — Atlanta-based Tin Drum Asian Kitchen, a Pan-Asian restaurant that transports its guests to a street side café in Asia, complete with hawker style cuisine and atmosphere, will open the first of five restaurants in Houston this year. Tin
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Chicago and Salt Lake City — Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a Chicago-based multi-concept restaurant group, and Grubhub, the nation’s leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace, are partnering to offer Whole30 Delivered, Whole30’s first-ever branded restaurant. This delivery-only restaurant concept from Whole30,
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Conshohocken, Pa. — Saladworks has appointed a new chief executive officer, Kelly Roddy, effective August 1, 2019. He brings 30 years of industry experience to the brand. As former president of Schlotzsky’s, Roddy has demonstrated focus on unit level economics
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The Colony, Texas — Quest Resource Holding Corporation, a national leader in environmental reuse, recycling and waste disposal services, has added Buffalo Wild Wings, one of the largest American casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise, which is owned by
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Greensboro, N.C. — John Young has been named vice president of technology and transformation at Biscuitville Fresh Southern®. Most recently, he was global information officer for Static Control Components, a manufacturing company based in Sanford, N.C. Earlier in his career,
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Chicago — Offshore, a 52,300-square-foot rooftop deck, has opened on the third floor of Chicago’s Navy Pier. The Guinness Book of World Records has named the establishment “the world’s largest rooftop deck.” KOO, a Chicago-based architecture and commercial interior design
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Canton, Mass. — Baskin-Robbins, the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, has signed a multi-unit agreement to develop 10 new locations across Upstate New York, including in Syracuse and the Southern Tier, in addition to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa. With
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Louisville, Ky. — Yum! Brands, Inc.’s board of directors has unanimously elected David Gibbs as chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2020, and appointed him to the company’s board, effective November 1, 2019. Gibbs, who currently serves as Yum! Brands’
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Louisville, Ky. — Pizza Hut will close as many as 500 dine-in stores over the next 24 months as part of a broader strategy to bolster its delivery and carryout services, company executives said during the second-quarter earnings call. Food
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Los Angeles — California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) has appointed Scott Hargrove as executive vice president and global chief marketing officer. Since joining CPK earlier this year, Hargrove is leading marketing and growth efforts of the 240+ unit worldwide restaurant brand
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Chicago — Potbelly Corporation, a neighborhood sandwich shop concept, has signed three new franchise agreements. Over the last 6 months, the company signed franchise agreements that, when fully built out over the coming years, will nearly double its franchise footprint
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Calabasas Hills, Calif. — The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Fox Restaurant Concepts (FRC) and the remaining interest in North Italia, reinforcing its leadership position in experiential dining. The transactions will be completed for $308
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Houston — The Rustic plans to bring its farm-fresh fare and Texas-sized selection of wine, spirits and beer, served alongside live music 7 days a week, to the west side of Houston. Located at 1121 Uptown Park Blvd. in Houston’s
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New York City — Mamoun’s Falafel, the fastest growing Middle Eastern fast-casual restaurant in North America, has opened its fifth location in New Jersey, with plans for two more to open by the end of the year. The new restaurant,
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Fort Myers, Fla. — GATES Construction has completed multiple projects at Daniels Marketplace located at the crossing of Daniels and Six Mile Cypress parkways in Fort Myers, Fla. The project buildouts include Club Pilates, Paradise Grill, Tide Dry Cleaners, Uh-Maze
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Louisville, Ky. — Yum! Brands, Inc. has appointed Taco Bell division and Pizza Hut division chief executive officers, who each will assume global responsibility for driving their respective brand’s growth strategies, franchise operations and performance. Now, each of the company’s
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Orlando, Fla. — Another Broken Egg Cafe® has doubled in size over the past 5 years; recently it signed nine new deals from successful multi-unit franchisees and plans to operate 300 cafes by 2025. These franchise groups plan to open
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