How Cafe Rio's 'chief people officer' recruits, retains top employees

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

CPO Andy Hooper chats about how the recipe for the chain's success is more than just serving burritos and making money. Hint: It's about giving employees a…

Franchising Focus: HuHot is still family owned, growing strong

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

The business has grown to nearly 60 units partly because every decision is made with the franchisees, said Laura Sporrer, director of franchise development.

Infographic: March Madness fans go mad for gluten-free options

To see how gluten-free options are taking over at arenas, check out this infographic designed by Maui Wowi.

Caging your losses: How controlling loss can offset costs of using cage-free eggs

While restaurant owners and operators can try to pass price increases to customers, recent media reports suggest that although consumers are willing to pay…

Chipotle 'Not dialing back food-safety efforts'

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

Chipotle's Chris Arnold said the chain is not dialing back food-safety efforts.

Pizza restaurants celebrating 'National Pi Day'

by Travis Wagoner — Editor, Networld Media Group

March 14 might be best known as the annual celebration of everyone's favorite mathematical constant, but it's an important day for pizza lovers, too.

Restaurants 'wearing the green' on St. Patrick's Day

by Travis Wagoner — Editor, Networld Media Group

St. Patrick's Day translates into a huge marketing opportunity for restaurant operators.

Pei Wei CMO opens up about chain's growth spurt

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

Fueling the growth is a new loyalty campaign, a more customizable menu, a localized restaurant marketing program and a refresh of some of the chain's older…

Restaurant Analytics: Making fast casual brands grow even faster

Today, it's both possible and essential to get outside, unbiased, data-driven information about the present and future of your business.

5 ways customers judge your brand

Expert describes five ways customers are judging your fast casual brand.

NYC surpassing salt ruling?

by Wade Winters — V.P. Supply Chain, Consolidated Concepts

Although chain restaurants in New York City are required to put a saltshaker icon on menu items that contain more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium, a Manhattan…

5 mistakes you're making with your loyalty platform

By carefully vetting loyalty strategies and course correcting to improve results, fast casuals can effectively interact with customers and create experiences…

Restaurants celebrating Leap Year with offers for 'Leap Day' babies

by Travis Wagoner — Editor, Networld Media Group

Restaurants are celebrating Leap Year this year with offers for "Leap Day" babies, those born on Feb. 29.

How 2 fast casuals mastered training to enhance customer experience

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

Training can range from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand annually per employee based on the type of restaurant, location and management style of…

5 things to consider before measuring customer behavior via mobile

Mobile interaction allows consumers to engage more naturally at times that are comfortable and appropriate for them and to share their experiences with others…

Starbucks, loyalty experts defend changes to rewards program

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

Many Starbucks fans are angry about the changes and sharing their rage via Twitter, but loyalty platform experts agree that the move was smart for the coffee…

5 considerations before going green

Before you make the leap to a greener restaurant, here are five important things you should know.

Franchising Focus: Why Smiling Moose Rocky Mountain Deli is overhauling brand identity

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

To reach its growth goal of 100 units by 2020, Smiling Moose Rocky Mountain Deli is embarking on a complete brand overhaul, including a major menu update and a…

3 dont's when it comes to your restaurant design

Within the competitive and seemingly bottomless fast casual market, entrepreneurs are increasingly finding that the basic template design no longer yields the…

5 Tips to turn BoH staff into customer-experience superheroes

Use these tips to transform your back-of-house staff into customer-experience superheroes — cape optional.