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casual_dining

Food

Chili's takes shot at the Big Mac with new Big Smasher burger

 By Joe Guszkowski on Apr. 29, 2024

The burger mirrors McDonald’s signature sandwich in almost every way and continues Chili’s efforts to steal share from fast-food chains.

Operations

After a long winter, spring brings signs of life to Applebee's and Outback

 By Joe Guszkowski on Apr. 26, 2024

Data from Placer.ai shows that full-service traffic perked up in March after a difficult end to the year.

Marketing

There's enough color in TGI Fridays' past for a month of Sundays

By Peter Romeo on Apr. 25, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: With the casual-dining greybeard set to begin a new chapter as a British-owned concept, it’s a good time to remember the brand’s decidedly American past.

Marketing

New research shows a wait for a table can be a potent restaurant draw

By Peter Romeo on Apr. 25, 2024

A Penn State study found that a queue of fellow customers is taken as proof a patron has chosen the right place to eat.

Financing

Proposed TGI Fridays sale is no home run, but has promise for both sides

By Joe Guszkowski on Apr. 19, 2024

The $220 million all-stock deal would get Fridays’ owner TriArtisan out of its decade-long investment and give the struggling chain a like-minded partner in franchisee Hostmore, experts say.

Operations

Here's what we learned at the Restaurant Leadership Conference

By Jonathan Maze, Joe Guszkowski, Patricia Cobe and Lisa Jennings on Apr. 18, 2024

Kiosks’ benefits aren’t on the labor line, casual dining does some soul searching and you can’t eat ice cream while on the phone are among the lessons from the three-day event.

Financing

Red Lobster is struggling to pay its bills, vendors say

By Joe Guszkowski on Apr. 18, 2024

Credit data confirms the seafood chain has a large number of overdue balances as it reportedly considers a bankruptcy filing.

Financing

In Red Lobster, a symbol of the challenges with casual dining

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 17, 2024

The Bottom Line: Consumers have shifted dining toward convenience or occasions, and that has created havoc for full-service restaurant chains. How can these companies get customers back?

Financing

Higher prices and more locations drove chain restaurant sales last year

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 16, 2024

Technomic Top 500: Chain restaurants continued to record strong growth last year, but mostly without higher traffic. And there were wide variations in performance throughout the ranking.

Financing

Podcast transcript: Puttshack CEO Joe Vrankin

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 11, 2024

A Deeper Dive: The chief executive of the minigolf-centric restaurant chain discusses how the chain focuses on higher-quality games and food.

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