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Week in Review: Fast casual’s good year, Dave's gets sold, El Pollo Loco’s potential buyer and more

Restaurant Business

But it wasn’t quite so bad for fast-casual concepts , which outpaced other categories with 9% growth in 2024, according to Technomic. Fast-casual chicken chains, including Dave’s Hot Chicken, saw double-digit sales growth, while fast-casual pizza continued to falter. Segment leader Chipotle Mexican Grill rose to No.

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Winning with Guest Feedback: Twin Peaks’ Restaurant Turnaround Strategy for Success

Black Box Intelligence

With over 40 years in the restaurant industry Gondek joined Twin Peaks in 2016 with a clear mission. Additionally, this has solidified Twin Peaks’ position as a leader in casual dining. How do you take a struggling brand and turn it into an industry leader? A Restaurant Turnaround Strategy- just ask Roger Gondek.

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MRM Research Roundup: Delivery Fraud, the Playground Effect, and Top 100 Places to Eat

Modern Restaurant Management

Casual dining is on the rise, with spots like Chellas Arepa Kitchen (#5) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Cardelli's Italian Market Deli (#45) in Riverside, California offering budget-friendly options. Cocktails remain a driving force in fine dining and polished casual venues, reinforcing their broad appeal across different segments.

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Why Restaurants Are Going Cashless: 7 Key Benefits for 2025

Lavu

Fast-casual restaurant Sweetgreen, part of the sustainable food movement, will go cashless in all 64 locations nationwide (excluding Massachusetts, where it’s illegal not to accept cash). Between 2011 and mid-2016 alone, a Gallup survey found that the number of Americans using cash for nearly all purchases dropped from 36 to 24 percent.

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Raw and Ready: Growing a Healthy Fast Casual

Modern Restaurant Management

The owner of Delicious Raw, a healthy fast casual concept launched in 2013, is looking to grow the brand and create a one-stop-shop for healthy consumables for a broad audience. I’ve been in South Florida since 2009, but I really started coming here full time in 2016. I just fell in love with South Florida.

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Why Do Fast-Casual Restaurants Get a Pass on Appropriation?

EATER

But such is the world of giant quick-service and fast-casual business : Find interesting, “trendy,” flavorful ideas from any culture, dilute them into their most mass-marketable forms, and reap monetary gain without acknowledging the sources. To light the way , a new wave of fast casuals is actively changing the status quo.

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MRM at Five: What Issues Have Impacted Restaurants?

Modern Restaurant Management

Tableside ordering via tablets, tableside payment, POS systems designed with mobility and flexibility in mind have dominated the market growing out of the fast casual. This movement toward more sustainably sourced food in both our fast-casual and fine dining restaurants will continue to expand in the future.