restaurants

Charlotte, N.C. — Bojangles has named senior restaurant executive David Whitaker as its new chief operating officer. He will join Bojangles on May 2, succeeding Brian Unger, who is retiring after 3 years at Bojangles and a career in the restaurant business that spans four decades. “I can’t say enough about Brian’s contributions to Bojangles,” says Jose Armario, CEO of the Southern food chain known for its chicken, biscuits and legendary tea. “He represents the very best in our industry and has helped our company navigate the past few years …

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— By Aliyah Kaye Crawley —   How is inflation affecting the restaurant industry?     Inflation impacts everyday decisions in restaurants: how they price their food, what type of service they provide, which menu items they can afford to serve, etc. The fiscal conservatism that comes with inflation can also negatively impact a restaurant’s overall brand image, if marketing and maintenance are allowed to slide. This was discussed in Retail & Restaurant Facility Business’ February 2021 article titled “Maintain Your Brand,” written by Trip Jobe of the strategic marketing …

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Columbus, Ohio — Sunny Street Café, the Columbus-based breakfast and lunch restaurant chain, reported double-digit growth in 2021 — despite the pandemic — and is debuting an energetic new design that provides an even brighter spot for guests to dine, with enhancements to the concept’s interior and exterior dining. The reworked layout comes equipped with a designated to-go area featuring built-in shelving for organizing delivery and third-party pickup, allowing for less disruption to the dine-in experience. In addition, the service area now showcases the café’s expanded beverage program, which includes …

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Atlanta — Church’s Chicken™, one of the largest quick-service chicken restaurant chains in the world, has hired a franchise industry veteran, Frank Costello, for the position of vice president of U.S. franchise development. Costello joins the brand with years of impressive leadership and advisory experience, including being a former multi-brand franchisee, and will support the brand’s expansion goals as it seeks to become the global franchisor of choice. Most recently, he was senior director of franchise development for TBC Corp., owned by Michelin/Sumitomo Tire. “I’m honored and excited to join …

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Los Angeles — FAT (Fresh. Authentic. Tasty.) Brands Inc. has opened Fatburger’s first theme park location at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J. The restaurant marks the second Fatburger in the state. “We have been exploring opportunities to make this growth move for some time and are pleased that we are able to make our foray into this space with such a strong partner as Six Flags,” says Jake Berchtold, chief operating officer of FAT Brands’ fast casual division. The first Fatburger opened in Los Angeles 70 years ago, …

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Salt Lake City — In preparation for rapid growth, Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Restaurant has launched a comprehensive rebrand that includes a brand-new prototype. The brand has 18 restaurants scheduled to open nationwide by the end of 2022, all of which will feature Mo’ Bettahs’ latest rebranding. This will bring the brand to more than 50 units throughout the western U.S. with 20+ units planned for 2023. Mo’ Bettahs debuted its updated design elements and branding — with a fresh new logo that alludes to the movements of the ocean …

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Los Angeles — FAT (Fresh. Authentic. Tasty.) Brands Inc. has hired its first chief information officer, Michael G. Chachula. Chachula joins FAT Brands with over 25 years of senior management experience in business and technology and will be focused on delivering scalable, sustainable and efficient technology platforms across the portfolio and franchise system to aid in the growth of the company. A seasoned executive with experience across the financial services, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and hospitality industries, Chachula has a track-record of identifying and implementing innovative technological solutions that drive further …

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— By David Tracz — Modern restaurant design and its evolution.   If there is one common experience that (most) humans share a love for, it’s probably food — especially when that food is cooked by someone else. Enter: the restaurant industry. It’s one of the most fast-paced, efficient and timely fields that everyone plays a part in, whether as a consumer, chef, server, manager or restaurateur. If you’re looking for a sign of the times, you can usually find it reflected in the variety of restaurants lining the sidewalks. …

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New York City — The Halal Guys has cooked up authentic beef, chicken and falafel on the streets of Manhattan since 1990. Today, the brand has partnered with another iconic New York franchise, the New York Yankees baseball team. The partnership introduces two new carts inside of Yankee Stadium. “As we look back on our history as a single cart on the corner of 53rd and 6th, we are honored to celebrate this triumphant moment partnering with the New York Yankees,” says Ahmed Abouelenein, CEO of The Halal Guys. “We’ve …

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Winston-Salem, N.C. — SWIPEBY, a holistic off-premises platform for curbside, pickup and delivery, has launched an initiative to start deploying its technology platform at convenience stores for ordering and in-store pickup as c-stores work to take back ownership of off-premise purchasing using the ordering platform that has been proven in the restaurant space. The effort is underscored by a deployment of the platform at Quality Marts in Winston-Salem, N.C., this month and other c-store chains in New England and the West Coast over the next few months. This is the …

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