Restaurants Continue to Pursue Growth Through Franchising   Wednesday September 01, 2010

“A focus on growing the franchise system allows franchisors to spend less on restaurant-level operations and redirect capital toward systemwide marketing and brand initiatives,” says Darren Tristano, EVP at Technomic. The findings are part of the 2010 Technomic/Restaurant Finance Monitor Top 400 Restaurant Franchise Company Report, produced by Technomic in conjunction with Restaurant Finance Monitor. Other findings include: * The Top 400 restauran... [click here view entire article]

Tootie Pie Gains Equity Stake   Wednesday September 01, 2010

“This transaction is significant on many fronts,” said Don Merrill, President & CEO. “Not only are we getting the critical financing that we need at an important time in the life of the Company, but we are gaining the support of an outstanding group, known for their brand building and sales expertise.” Advertisement Terms of the transaction are available in the Company’s 8K, which was filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissio... [click here view entire article]

Is it a bar or a restaurant?   Wednesday September 01, 2010

There’s a fundamental shift that seems to be going on in restaurants. As with life, things keep getting more casual and the line between a bar and restaurant continues to blur. I realize nothing emerges in a vacuum. The trend is a result of several parallel threads coming together. During the dot-com boom last decade we saw the emergence of the large restaurant lounge; many new restaurants of that era gave over large amounts of space to the bar because young affluent... [click here view entire article]

McLane lands Yum distribution deal for Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut llals   Tuesday August 31, 2010

Unified Foodservice Purchasing Co-op LLC, the exclusive purchasing agent for Yum! Brands Inc., has signed a distribution deal that makes Temple, Texas-based McLane Foodservice Inc. the exclusive provider of products to Yum’s A&W, KFC, Long John Silver’s, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Louisville-based Yum (NYSE: YUM) is one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, with 37,000 restaurants in ... [click here view entire article]

Logan's Roadhouse agrees to be bought by Kelso   Tuesday August 31, 2010

Restaurant chain Logan's Roadhouse Inc. said Monday it agreed to be bought by an affiliate of Kelso & Co., a private equity firm. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed. Logan's is owned by private equity firms Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co.; Black Canyon Capital; Canyon Capital Advisors, a Los-Angeles based alternative investment manager and members of Logan's management. Logan's, based in Nashville, operates 188 ... [click here view entire article]

Colorado schools fail inspection mandate   Tuesday August 31, 2010

Federal regulations require school lunchrooms be inspected at least twice a year by local health authorities but more than half of all Colorado schools fail to meet that mandate. Many aren’t inspected even once a year. It’s a record that put Colorado in the bottom five of all states in 2008-09, the most recent year available, when an average 29.5 percent of schools nationwide fell short of the required number of inspections. The reason so many sch... [click here view entire article]

'Super-sized' fits even regular food portions at restaurants   Tuesday August 31, 2010

Portions at popular chain restaurants are often super-sized servings, even when they are offered as a single entree or regular-sized meal, a new report says. Many hamburgers, steaks, bagels and pasta entrees are at least two times bigger than the government's definition of a serving, according to nutritionists with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-D.C.-based consumer group. This is a trend that diet experts have been not... [click here view entire article]

‘A’ Grades Have Gone to Almost Half the Restaurants With Full Inspections   Friday August 27, 2010

So far, New York City’s restaurants seem to be earning an A for effort, according to the city’s health department. Since July 28, when the department rolled out its new letter-grade rating system, 48 percent of the 250 restaurants that have gotten an initial inspection — and, when needed, a reinspection — have earned A grades. Another 31 percent earned B grades. The C rating was given to 12 percent of restaurants, and 8 percent were closed until they could correct he... [click here view entire article]

Giving students a better school lunch   Friday August 27, 2010

The people making lunch in this big commercial kitchen are pros; some of them serve thousands of diners a day. But they're not all comfortable using a knife to peel a butternut squash or chop fresh parsley. They work in school cafeterias, "lunch ladies" who are not all women and who would like to be seen more as lunch teachers contributing to the overall education of the children who eat their food. They have been trained in food safety but not al... [click here view entire article]

US restaurant traffic growth to lag population   Thursday August 26, 2010

Growth in visits to U.S. restaurants will lag population expansion over the next decade as aging Baby Boomers -- key restaurant customers -- cut back on meals away from home, market research firm NPD Group said on Wednesday. Traffic to U.S. restaurants is expected to be up less than 1 percent a year from 2009 to 2019, while U.S. population growth is expected to be 1.1 percent a year over the same period, said NPD. NPD expects 64.8 billion visits t... [click here view entire article]

FDA Releases Draft Calorie Labeling Rules   Wednesday August 25, 2010

Tuesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a preliminary draft of the restaurant menu labeling rules that will go into effect on March 23, 2011. The FDA is inviting comment from the public on the proposed rules. The agency is also inviting public recommendations to help determine the amount of time it should hold off enforcing the new rules, allowing the many companies affected to fully comply. fettucine-alfredo-featured.jpgA section of the health care le... [click here view entire article]

New Orleans Five Years Later: Cajun cooking   Wednesday August 25, 2010

First Hurricane Katrina, then the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It's been one devastating blow after another for New Orleans. But one thing the city refuses to give up on is food. Post-oil spill, is that famous Cajun cooking safe to eat? Food is an enormous part of the culture in the unique city. The first question a tourist will ask is "Where do I eat?" It's not surprising that since Hurricane Katrina, the city has really leaned on its restaurants fo... [click here view entire article]

Sliced Bagels, Taxes on Top    Wednesday August 25, 2010

What's the tax on a bagel? It depends how you slice it—or in the case of New York, if you slice it. State tax officials, under orders from cash-strapped Albany to ramp up their audit and compliance efforts, have begun to enforce one of the more obscure distinctions within the state's sales tax law. In New York, the sale of whole bagels isn't subject to sales tax. But the tax does apply to "sliced or prepared bagels (with cream cheese or other topp... [click here view entire article]

Hold the hijab   Tuesday August 24, 2010

Minnie Mouse doesn't wear a hijab, at least not in Anaheim, and Mickey goes without a yarmulke. On these points, most people would agree: When a job requires a specific costume or uniform, it is the employer's prerogative to determine what accessories are appropriate. For less exotic jobs, the rules become less clear. We could certainly sympathize with Disneyland if it prohibited turbans on the workers who buckle visitors into the Matterhorn ride, lest the headgear r... [click here view entire article]

What to know about the great egg recall   Tuesday August 24, 2010

The incredible edible egg is starting to seem like a cup of poison these days, what with a recall of half a billion of the poor things. At this scale, all the numbers that fly around the story are staggering: The recall is tiny compared to our total production of eggs, which is something like a hundred billion. Still, as many as 39,000 people may have been sickened with salmonella ... and right about here is where most brains will usually do two things -- turn to mush trying to imagine ... [click here view entire article]