The $600K gamble: Why Jae Kim nearly walked away from the Sharks

Jae Kim, founder of Chi'Lantro, joins Fast Casual Nation to share how he built a Korean-Tex Mex fusion brand from a single Austin food truck in 2010 into a…

Team Communication for Restaurant Staff: A Better Alternative to Group Texts

Group texts aren't built for restaurant teams. Here's why food service businesses are switching to dedicated team communication apps, and what to look for.

Cicis Pizza takes No. 1 spot on Pizza Marketplace's 2026 Top 100 Movers & Shakers list

by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

Cicis Pizza took home the top honors as Pizza Marketplace's annual event in Las Vegas; Moto Pizza won a tech award from XRobotics and Pizza Nova's Domenic…

How to Choose a Team Chat App for Your Business

Choosing the right work chat app for your team requires asking the right questions. Let’s dive into how to decide which team chat is best for your needs.

The Team Communication Risk Report

Most restaurants don't think about their team communication risks until something goes wrong. This report shows you exactly what those risks are, and how to…

Presented by Zenzap

Digital in the Drive-Thru: Designing Outdoor Experiences for QSR Brands

Digital menu boards at the drive-thru are no longer a luxury. In today’s competitive QSR landscape, they’ve become a requirement.

Presented by DSA Signage

How Juice It Up leads the modern beverage boom

by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

In this podcast episode, Juice It Up CEO Susan Taylor discusses how the brand has maintained its leadership in the booming beverage franchise market by…

How to knock down blocks, power up your pivot points

by Kathleen Wood — Founder, K. Wood Partners

To break through the "Founder’s pivot point," leaders must transition from micromanagement to scalability by documenting standards, delegating outcomes…

Jennifer Pecoraro-Striepling joins Portillo’s as chief development officer

March 19, 2026

Portillo's has named Jennifer Pecoraro-Striepling chief development officer. Based in Oak Brook, Illinois, the company said she will oversee development, real…

How San Pedro Fish Market built a $30M legacy

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

Speaking at the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit Tuesday in San Diego, Michael Ungaro shared the gritty, tenacious history of his family's brand …

Fueling growth from 1 cup to 100+ locations

Brandon Knudsen, co-founder and CEO of Ziggi’s Coffee, shares critical advice on how he bootstrapped Ziggi's from a single coffee shop to more than 10…

Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks Names Shawna Snyder Chief Operating Officer to Drive Strategic National Growth

Industry veteran brings decades of multi-unit growth experience as Big Dave’s builds the operational backbone to support national expansion following recent…

Papa Johns Selects Deliverect to Modernize Delivery Operations Across U.S. Restaurants

AI-powered platform unifies in-house and third-party fulfillment, powering enterprise-scale digital ordering

The accidental franchisor: Eddie Flores Jr. kicks off Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit with candid look at L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

March 17, 2026

Eddie Flores Jr. transitioned from real estate to become the franchisor of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, building a legacy based on the "aloha spirit" and family…

Measuring the impact of culture change in the workplace

by Jim Knight — Founder & CEO, Knight Speaker

To successfully transform company culture, organizations must move beyond mission statements by tracking specific metrics — such as engagement, turnover and…

Blaze Pizza partners with Reality Based Group for mystery shopping

March 13, 2026

Reality Based Group and Blaze Pizza have entered a partnership to implement a mystery shopping program across the restaurant chain's franchise locations…

Professor Green teams with Hero Brands to launch PG in UK

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

PG Fast Food is shunning the traditional burger-and-fries blueprint in favor of a "naughty but nice" menu that emphasizes choice. Offerings include the "UFO" …

Dog Haus planting flag in Mexico

March 12, 2026

Dog Haus is heading south of the border.

Toast releases Q4 trends report, February price monitor

March 11, 2026

Toast has released its Q4 2025 Restaurant Trends Report and the February 2026 Menu Price Monitor.

The New Front of House: Why Pizza’s Next Growth Era Runs on Self-Order Kiosks + Intelligent POS Systems

Easy-to-use kiosks fully integrated with a modern POS system have emerged as the most efficient and cost-effective solution to the challenge of front-of-store…

Presented by INFI, HungerRush