Original ChopShop expanding Texas footprint

June 3, 2020

Scottsdale, Arizona-based Original ChopShop, a lifestyle brand featuring protein bowls, salads, sandwiches and fresh juice, is opening a location this month in…

Consumers leaning into order pickup

June 3, 2020

When it comes to digital restaurant orders, consumers prefer picking them up compared to delivery and are ordering more meals online than ever primarily due to…

Judge requiring Panera franchisee to pay $4.6M to managers

June 3, 2020

Panera Bread's largest franchisee, Covelli Enterprises, must pay $4.6 million to more than 900 assistant managers who alleged Fair Labor Standards Act and Ohio…

What Captain D’s can teach chefs about mixing batter

by Sam Eppehimer

Larry Jones, VP of Construction with Captain D’s, shares how blender failures inspired it to look for new mixing solutions.

Restaurants coming to the rescue amid COVID-19

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

Restaurants all over the United States are doing their best to provide meals, supplies and funds to employees, frontline workers and members of their…

Luna Grill hires 'head of People'

June 3, 2020

A week after announcing that it had hired Michelle Goncalves as its VP of Culinary, San Diego-based Luna Grill has named AJ Kamra its first-ever head of…

Starbucks offering unpaid leave to under-scheduled employees

June 3, 2020

Although Starbucks has reopened more than 85% of its U.S. stores, reduced hours are affecting many employees and has sparked the chain to offer unpaid leave to…

Cousins Subs welcomes Wisconsin franchisees

June 2, 2020

TMart Operations I, LLC, owned by Jeremy and Sarah Alsaker, now owns the Cousins Subs location in Lodi, Wisconsin.

Teriyaki Madness launches company to help franchisees manage operations

June 2, 2020

Denver-based Teriyaki Madness has launched an affiliated restaurant management company — Restaurant Sherpas — as a  solution for absentee and semi-absentee…

Fat Brands saddles up to Texas

June 2, 2020

FAT Brands Inc., parent company of Fatburger and Buffalo's Express, opened its first co-branded Fatburger and Buffalo's Express Monday in Texas. Located in…

Paris Baguette eyeing Canada

June 2, 2020

Paris Baguette, which has nearly 85 corporate and franchise bakery-cafes in the U.S. and more than 3,500 internationally, is hoping to expand into Toronto. 

The Hummus & Pita Co giving away 3-unit franchise deal

June 2, 2020

The Hummus & Pita Co. is giving away a three-unit franchise deal to help expand the brand.

&pizza CEO calls for action re: black deaths in police custody

June 2, 2020

The highly socially active pizza brand, &pizza, is taking a firm stance with regards to its leader's views concerning the recent deaths of black…

Louisville police fatally shoot restaurant owner amid protests

June 2, 2020

Police shot and killed David McAtee, the owner of YaYa's BBQ in Louisville, early Monday, according to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. State and local police…

Following COVID-19: How the virus is affecting the fast casual industry

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

FastCasual is doing its best to track how restaurants are handling the crisis and will update this story as we gather more information.

With dine-in permitted at more US restaurants, transactions improve

June 1, 2020

Out of the more than 1 million restaurants that were in business as of this year in the U.S,, the NPD Group estimated Monday that nearly 320,000 were now…

Muscle Maker Grill opening 4 on-campus locations

June 1, 2020

Muscle Maker Grill is opening four locations at Northern Virginia Community College. The menu will vary from campus to campus and include traditional Muscle…

Torchy's Tacos reopens nearly all dining rooms

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

CEO of Torchy's Tacos GJ Hart said he is seeing promising numbers in stores where the company has reopened dining rooms in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and…

Fat Brands reports wider Q1 loss amid COVID-19

June 1, 2020

Fat Brands Inc., the owner of eight fast casual restaurant brands, including Fatburger and Elevation Burger, reported a wider loss in the first quarter as the…

&pizza gives employees involved in activism paid time off

&pizza takes an active stance on employee activism during a time of national protests around George Floyd's death in Minneapolis.