2020 Fast Casual State of the Industry now available

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

This year’s Fast Casual State of the Industry report reveals how nearly 200 fast casuals are coping with the pandemic, and also polls them on the usual…

Restaurants adapt to short, long-term impact of COVID-19

by Fast Casual

The short-term impacts of COVID-19 have been tremendous on restaurant customer behavior. Luckily, restaurants have adopted many tactics to handle both the…

Conquering catering with Dickey's CEO

Since launching Big Yellow Box, a self-contained catering option for smaller groups of up to 12, the catering option has seen an average weekly increase in…

Cheba Hut bracing for winter during the pandemic

Cheba Hut’s Chief Relationship Officer Seth Larsen shares insight on how his brand has amended its restaurants to prolong outdoor dining as well as the ways…

Dining during the pandemic: 4 Do's and don'ts for restaurant operators

by Dirk Izzo

Restaurants are well-accustomed to following strict public health guidelines from all forms of government, local to federal. Health inspections and regulatory…

Leave your concrete bunker: 3 things every restaurant should do NOW

Matt Harding, SVP of Culinary and Menu Innovation at Piada Italian Street Food, offers three lessons to help restaurant leaders make it through these…

Chef: 'Pasta can be a fast food'

Cosmo Magliozzi, the founder of Pasta 78, a fast casual pasta concept in Arizona, reveals how his brand can churn out fresh pasta in 4 minutes.

How Urban Plates negotiated for more outdoor space

John Zagara, the co-founder of Urban Plates, reveals how he secured more space from his landlords to expand patios at 10 of his locations amid COVID-19.

Fast Casual Top 100 brands share these 3 traits

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

For the past 14 years, FastCasual has recognized the industry's leading brands in its annual Fast Casual Top 100 Movers & Shakers report. Sweetgreen, a…

Chef gives 4 reasons to get on board with seafood

By Chef John Livera, consulting chef for Norwegian Seafood Council and president of Red Barn Kitchen in the Decatur Municipal Airport Seafood delivers on…

Why Dog Haus hearts virtual kitchens (and why you should, too)

Nearly 18 months ago, Dog Haus started developing virtual brands for an August 2020 launch, but COVID-19 forced an earlier debut. Dog Haus' Hagop Giragossian…

It's time for all-things pumpkin — again

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

As the pandemic keeps us all in a constant state of upheaval, it's therapeutic to know that we can still count on a few things. I'm looking at you, pumpkin…

Consumers are ready to dine in but won't ditch to-go, delivery

by Carl Van Ostrand — VP of Consumer Insights, DISQO

Although the onset of COVID-19 made in-person dining impossible in March and April, consumers are starting to show interest again but aren't cutting cut back…

Poll reveals 3 things customers expect during COVID-19

by Ido levanon — CEO, Dragontail Systems

Nearly half of U.S. customers polled said they faulted the restaurant if they placed an order through a delivery app and had a poor experience.

Al fresco dining: Are you leaving money on the table?

by Steve Starr — Chief, starrdesign

Part One of our series on outdoors space, we tasked restaurant operators to answer several questions about their outdoor dining space. Part 2 will feature…

3 ways to retain, acquire customers

by Matt Drewes — Owner, DRMS Marketing

Restaurants across the country are bracing for a second wave of state-mandated closures as coronavirus cases surge again. Still recovering from the first wave…

How to guarantee ROI on your outdoor dining space

by Steve Starr — Chief, starrdesign

As the pandemic progresses, the notion of outdoor dining spaces driving is more important than ever. One blogger shares everything he knows about customers…

Wing Zone CEO on why sales are up 35%

Matt Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Wing Zone, discusses how the brand's in-demand, delivery-centric model has allowed for groundbreaking success, resulting…

Mobile is moving in: Is your network ready?

by Jeff Bradbury — Sr. Director, Marketing, Hughes

With mobile applications becoming increasingly instrumental to near-premise and on-premise operations, it's important to consider whether the enterprise…

Nekter CEO reveals strategy leading to increased sales amidst pandemic

Technology may seem like a luxury to most new business owners, but Nekter CEO Steve Schulze said the chain wouldn't be growing in the midst of the pandemic…