How District Taco grew from a food cart to a franchise powerhouse

by Judy Mottl — Editor: RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com, Connect Media

District Taco, a fast casual Mexican restaurant brand, began a food cart in 2009. Now it’s a multi-unit restaurant franchise expanding its footprint in…

'It's a revolution': Jars by Fabio Viviani brings playfulness back to desserts

by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

Jars by Fabio Viviani is a dessert concept that could be coming to a town near you. Though the brand has one unit open in Chicago, it has sold more than a…

Will Japan-based Pepper Lunch dominate the US?

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

Although the Japanese-based concept has only five restaurants in the U.S., it spans nearly 500 locations in 15 countries and plans to have 100 North American…

Hawaiian fast casual loses store to wildfires, raises funds for workers

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

L&L's store in Lahaina, Hawaii was lost to flames from the wildfires and its Honokowai location is temporarily closed due to no electricity or water. Nearly 2…

3 ways Curry Up Now is cooking up change in fast casual industry

Akash Kapoor, founder of Curry Up Now, discusses how he's disrupting the industry.

Introducing FastCasual's 2023 Perfect Pitchers

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

Founders of Haven Hot Chicken, Mahana Fresh, Pizzawala, Pucci Brothers Fresh Italian and Sankranti Indian Kitchen will take the stage on Oct. 9 to pitch their…

American consumers in no mood to give up daily coffee

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Americans are still gulping down the coffee despite increasing costs and concerns about inflation.

Fazoli's exploring AI ordering at drive-thru

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

Doug Bostick, president of Fazoli’s, is testing drive-thru voice AI in 12 company restaurants.

ICXA to honor Elevate winners at 7th annual summit

by Alicia Lavay — Executive Director, ICX Association

The ICX Association will honor five companies as winners of the 2023 Elevate Awards during a ceremony at its upcoming annual conference, the Interactive…

Why McAlister's is betting on breakfast catering

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

The goals for McAlister's breakfast catering relaunch were to create exciting choices without adding new SKUs and to tackle packaging with supply chain…

Lobster rolls onto fast casual menus

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

Lobster is catching on at fast casual menus as mentions of the fare have increased 4.5% on core menus over the past year, including 9.1% in appetizers and 100…

2nd annual Pizza Leadership Virtual Summit to aid pizzeria operators with busy schedules

by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

The Pizza Leadership Virtual Summit, hosted by Pizza Marketplace and PDQ Signature Systems, offers pizzeria owners and operators learning opportunities from…

Could 1 of these 4 fast casuals be the 'next Cava?'

Placer.ai's Bracha Arnold took a closer look at the location analytics of five fast-growing dining chains to see what is setting them apart from their…

Will Panera's grocery rewards platform drive cafe traffic?

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

Panera Grocery Rewards sits at the nexus of the company’s loyalty program, CPG business and in-cafe offerings.

3 ways Sip Fresh is reinventing the fast casual beverage industry

Sharon Arthofer, founder and CEO of Sip Fresh and the first franchisee of Wetzel's Pretzels, discusses how the brand's franchising concept and unique offerings…

Shake Shack, Scooter's Coffee execs keynoting Fast Casual Executive Summit

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

Idris Stover, Shake Shack's director of diversity, equity, inclusion and culture, and Nathan Lester, senior director of drive-thru innovation at Scooter's…

Kiosks, AI keeping wait times down at Scooter's drive-thrus

Nathan Lester, senior director of Drive-Thru Innovation at Scooter's Coffee, reveals how technology helps the chain with its "scoot on through" customer…

Voice ordering at the self-service kiosk? Coming right up

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Ben Kaplan of PLNT Burger and Ken Sutton of Yobe Inc. are working on a voice solution that will allow guests to speak their order at a kiosk and pick it up in…

Fast casual PLNT Burger readies self-serve voice-order solution

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Following the pandemic, Ben Kaplan has looked to technology to restore personalization to unattended transactions, leading him to an AI-enabled voice-order…

Coffee consumption continuing post pandemic trajectory

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Coffee consumption will continue to improve for the second straight year following the pandemic. Production was hampered in 2021/2022 by meteorological…