Milwaukee — Seattle-style teriyaki restaurant Teriyaki Madness is planning its first foray into Wisconsin, with five new locations set to open by the end of 2020, plus a sixth in Illinois. The first shop will open at 920 S. Moorland Rd. in Brookfield in mid-September, with additional shops set to open in Hales Corners, Wauwatosa, Germantown and Pewaukee, Wis., and another to open across the Illinois border in Rolling Meadows later this year. Milwaukee-based FirstPathway Partners is responsible for bringing the restaurants to the area, which will be operated through …
restaurants
Atlanta — A new food hall is coming to Colony Square, the 50-year-old mixed-use destination undergoing a massive $400 million transformation at the corner of 14th and Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta. The food hall will open this spring and is being carefully crafted to align with the way people want to dine post-pandemic. Politan Group will operate the food hall known as Politan Row at Colony Square, according to project developer North American Properties (NAP). The founder and CEO of Politan Group, Will Donaldson, launched the company in 2014 …
Louisville, Ky. — Papa John’s International, Inc. has signed its largest traditional store development agreement in North America in over 20 years, accelerating growth of the Papa John’s brand in the Philadelphia area. Under the agreement, HB Restaurant Group, which currently owns 43 restaurants in the Mid-Atlantic area and has been a Papa John’s franchisee since April 2019, is to open 49 new stores in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey between 2021 and 2028. “Papa John’s has long offered franchise investors one of the fastest paybacks in our industry. Recent …
Auburn, Ala. — Chicken Salad Chick, a Southern-inspired, fast-casual chicken salad restaurant concept, will be expanding in North Carolina with its newest restaurant in Cary. Marking the brand’s first restaurant in the greater Raleigh area and first in the Triangle region, the Cary opening comes just a month after the recent opening in High Point and highlights Chicken Salad Chick’s continued development in North Carolina. The Cary restaurant will celebrate its grand opening on September 22. Chicken Salad Chick is closely following North Carolina’s state and local guidelines for COVID-19 …
Chicago — Top Chef winner and former executive chef of Michelin-starred Spiaggia and Café Spiaggia Joe Flamm will open his debut restaurant in Chicago’s Fulton Market District in early 2021. The highly anticipated restaurant will be named Rose Mary. “Rose Mary is the culmination of everything I have done with my career,” says Flamm. “But more importantly, it’s the culmination of my personal journey thus far. It’s a marriage of who I am, what I’ve learned, and the person I’ve built a life and a family with.” Rosemary, known as …
Lexington, Ky. — Sales at franchised A&W restaurants soared 12% in July, the third straight month of double-digit same-store sales growth. July’s success follows a 15% jump in May and 16% in June. In addition to a rebound in traffic, overall system sales are being bolstered by the strong openings of five restaurants this year. Since franchisees acquired the company from YUM! Brands in 2011, average unit sales have increased by 38%. “Several factors explain why A&W is doing so well,” says CEO Kevin Bazner. “First is the brand itself. …
Milford, Ohio — Penn Station East Coast Subs is updating its 35-year-old brand with the rollout of PS 2020, which includes a restaurant redesign and certain menu changes and additions. The first restaurants with the new menu and design opened late last year, and all restaurants in the system now have the new menu. “We spent the better part of a year gathering data, interviewing guests and franchisees, and speaking with crew members about the new layout and our menu changes,” says Craig Dunaway, president. “From the data analysis, interviews …
East Rutherford, N.J. — Mamoun’s Falafel, New York City’s oldest falafel restaurant and the fastest growing Middle Eastern restaurant chain in North America, has opened a new location in East Rutherford, N.J. It is the fourth of 25 Mamoun’s Falafel franchise locations coming to New Jersey as part of a deal with Prospect Capital Restaurants. Located in a 2,000-square-foot space at Rutherford Commons at 150 Route 17 in East Rutherford, the new restaurant joins Mamoun’s corporate locations in Hoboken and Princeton and three other locations run by franchisees, Prospect Capital …
Newport Beach, Calif. — Mountain Mike’s Pizza, a leading family-style pizza chain for over 40 years, has opened its Newport Beach/Mesa, Calif., location, the first to showcase the brand’s completely updated restaurant design and refreshed guest experience. Located on the border of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, this new Mountain Mike’s is the first of two planned Orange County (OC) locations, with the second scheduled to open in Huntington Beach late summer. Newport-Mesa marks the second OC location with one currently operating in Lake Forest. The Newport-Mesa restaurant is located just a few …
Rosemont, Ill. — US Foods Holding Corp., a leading foodservice distributor, has launched US Foods Ghost Kitchens, a program designed to guide restaurant operators every step of the way when opening their own operation, helping them easily add a new revenue stream. With the addition of this program, US Foods customers now have access to exclusive resources developed to streamline the process of starting a ghost kitchen, including proprietary technology to help identify menu opportunities, a detailed playbook to guide decision-making, dedicated marketing support, webinars and one-on-one consultations with US …