Operations

  • fireside
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    Permission granted by Fireside Market
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    Fireside Market launches food-focused c-store design

    The 9,700-square-foot store in Slinger, Wisconsin, features a drive-thru and will serve as a model for future locations, a spokesperson said.

    By Brett Dworski • Oct. 15, 2025
  • An image of a building with red and orange signage. The sign says El Pollo Loco.
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    Courtesy of El Pollo Loco
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    El Pollo Loco opens 500th restaurant

    The Colorado Springs location is the third in Colorado and shows the chain’s rapid expansion outside of its home state of California.

    By • Oct. 15, 2025
  • Homeroom Restaurant in Oakland, California Explore the Trendline➔
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    Permission granted by Homeroom
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    Trendline

    Independent restaurants

    Dining room refreshes, menu innovation and other unique offerings can help independents stand out from competitors, win new customers and keep existing ones coming back. 

    By Restaurant Dive staff
  • An image of a white building with First Watch signage
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    Permission granted by First Watch
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    How First Watch’s expansion is outpacing casual dining growth

    The breakfast chain recently reached 600 units and anticipates opening nearly 60 restaurants in 2025 — making it one of a handful of casual chains to boast positive unit growth this year.

    By • Oct. 15, 2025
  • A diamond sign with red and blue and a white words that say "Domino's"
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    Domino’s posts biggest US comparable sales growth in 6 quarters

    The chain has had two consecutive quarters of growth driven by deal promotions and the popularity of Parmesan Stuffed Crust.

    By • Oct. 14, 2025
  • An evening image of a building that says Papa Murphy's
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    The image by Rick Obst is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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    Papa Murphy’s shutters underperforming stores

    The take-and-bake pizza chain has faced significant competition from other pizza brands that have invested heavily in aggressive marketing campaigns.

    By • Oct. 14, 2025
  • Food worker in a blue shirt hands a takeout bag to a customer.
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    Smallhands Creative

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    Sponsored by Toast

    How 75% off-premise traffic is reshaping restaurant operations

    Here’s what the off-premise evolution means for operators—and how they’re adapting to succeed.

    Oct. 13, 2025
  • Toast for Hotel Restaurants
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    Permission granted by Toast
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    Restaurants battered by inflation, turnover: report

    Improving profits and traffic are the main strategic goals for restaurant leaders in 2025, according to a Toast survey.

    By • Oct. 9, 2025
  • An image of a red sign with white logo that says "Wendy's." Above the sign is an cartoon image of a girl with red hair and pigtails with blue bows.
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    Wendy’s to invest at least $20M to boost AUV

    After same-store sales dropped two quarters in a row, the burger brand shifted money from development funds to in-store labor and equipment.

    By • Oct. 9, 2025
  • One of Serve Robotics' delivery robots.
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    Courtesy of Serve Robotics
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    Serve Robotics partners with DoorDash

    The companies will initially deploy bots in Los Angeles, where DoorDash is already offering bot delivery with Coco, and where Serve works with Uber Eats.

    By • Oct. 9, 2025
  • A close up image of a wrap with chicken.
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    Permission granted by Potbelly
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    Potbelly adds wraps to core menu

    The chain will offer two signature wraps and allow guests to make any sandwich into a wrap in its latest menu innovation.

    By • Oct. 8, 2025
  • A worker uses a Square tablet.
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    Courtesy of Square
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    Square debuts voice ordering, boosts AI assistant

    As tech firms compete to build up an all-in-one restaurant management platform, features like back-office AI and phone ordering could become important points of competition. 

    By • Oct. 8, 2025
  • Aerial photograph of a Cracker Barrel sign.
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    Cracker Barrel traffic nosedived after logo backlash

    Visits dropped by 10% in the weeks following the chain’s logo reversal, only improving to a 7% dip in the last week of September, according to Placer.ai.

    By • Oct. 7, 2025
  • A person stands in a parking lot with a blurred building with Swig signage in the background.
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    Courtesy of Swig
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    Swig plots aggressive growth with new president, franchise chief

    The dirty soda brand promoted Todd Smith from chief commercial officer to president and hired Shannon Swenson as chief of franchise partnerships.

    By • Oct. 7, 2025
  • Fiserv Clover point of sale CardFree mobile ordering payments
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    Bruce Bennett via Getty Images
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    Dunkin’ hits 10K stores in the US

    The coffee chain is the latest brand to pass this milestone, joining Starbucks, McDonald’s and Subway in an elite — but sometimes troubled — cohort.

    By • Oct. 7, 2025
  • An image showing some of Dunkin's branding pasted on the side of a building.
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    Courtesy of Dunkin'
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    Dunkin’ changes its rewards redemptions, again

    A Restaurant Dive analysis of new discount rates shows the coffee chain has largely made it more expensive to redeem items.

    By • Oct. 6, 2025
  • A promotional image of one of Starbucks' AmazonGo Locations
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    Courtesy of Starbucks
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    Why mobile-order and pickup-only restaurants fail, according to experts

    Starbucks learned the hard way that customers care more about experience than efficiency. 

    By Michael Brady • Oct. 6, 2025
  • A Cracker Barrel sign hangs on the outside of a restaurant.
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    Cracker Barrel sacks brand consultancy, shuffles leadership

    The chain fired the firm that advised it on its recent logo and restaurant refresh after significant consumer pushback led to a strategy reversal.

    By • Oct. 3, 2025
  • An image of a brown building with two trucks out front. Signage says Razzoo's Cajun CAfe
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    Permission granted by Razzoo's Cajun Cafe
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    Razzoo’s Cajun Cafe goes bankrupt citing competitive pressures

    Aggressive marketing and value-oriented promotions from Applebee’s and Chili’s contributed to the decline in sales, according to court filings.

    By • Oct. 3, 2025
  • A car sits underneath Taco Bell's new drive-thru camera stations, which are decorated in neon signage
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    Permission granted by Taco Bell Corp.
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    Chick-fil-A wins on order accuracy, experience at the drive-thru

    QSR speed of service improved slightly, but mobile orders, app payments and customizations have created more complex transactions, Intouch Insight’s yearly drive-thru report revealed.

    By • Oct. 2, 2025
  • An image of different DoorDash pages on a smartphone.
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    Courtesy of DoorDash
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    DoorDash’s 3 biggest consumer updates

    Diners can view videos from merchants, find restaurants on Yelp to order from and receive AI-powered, personalized recommendations.

    By • Oct. 2, 2025
  • A Qdoba storefront
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    Retrieved from Qdoba on October 02, 2025
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    Q&A

    Qdoba’s new CMO on turning the fast casual chain into a national brand

    As it rapidly expands, the chain looks to raise awareness with its first national marketing campaign, newly appointed CMO Jon Burke explains.

    By Chris Kelly • Oct. 2, 2025
  • A man stands on a stage talking
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    Julie Littman/Restaurant Dive
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    9 restaurant industry trade shows to attend in 2026

    Next year is jam-packed with restaurant conferences and trade shows that will cover key topics for the sector, ranging from franchising and menu development to economic forecasts.

    By Restaurant Dive Staff • Oct. 1, 2025
  • An image of three red robots with two eyes on a street.
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    Permission granted by DoorDash
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    Why DoorDash built its own delivery robot

    Dot, a robot that can traverse bike lanes, parking lots and sidewalks, opens up an untapped logistics model alongside a new autonomous delivery platform.

    By • Oct. 1, 2025
  • An image of three smartphones with DoorDash app images seen
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    Permission granted by DoorDash
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    DoorDash launches dine-in rewards, reservations

    With its new “Going Out” tab, guests can book reservations, earn in-store rewards and access exclusive offers from partner restaurants.

    By • Sept. 30, 2025
  • An image of a white and red restaurant with Krystal on the signage
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    Permission granted by Krystal
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    SPB Hospitality appoints GJ Hart as CEO

    Hart, former Red Robin CEO, succeeds Josh Kern and will oversee a slimmer multi-brand platform that recently offloaded non-core brands.

    By , • Updated Sept. 29, 2025