71 stories · last 7 days by relevance
Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers plans to open around 60 locations in 2026, nearing 600 total units, with new building formats enabling expansion into different real estate types.
Golden Chick is launching a new marketing campaign, loyalty program, and digital-first strategy to compete in the competitive chicken tender category.
Thanx has integrated its first-party ordering system directly into Square's POS platform, combining Thanx's ordering interface with Square's commerce infrastructure.
Despite access to unprecedented guest data, restaurants struggle to retain customers, suggesting that loyalty programs alone may not drive repeat visits without translating data into personalized expe
Pizza Ranch has selected NCR Voyix to manage restaurant operations across its system, signaling a shift toward modernizing point-of-sale and back-office infrastructure.
Nearly half of U.S. diners switched their favorite restaurant last year, up from 33 percent the prior year—a shift that signals growing customer volatility and potential vulnerability in restaurant lo
Wendy's is investing in digital sales, AI-powered ordering, and menu innovation to address weak customer traffic.
Restaurants are treating in-store audio as a trackable engagement channel alongside other customer touchpoints like loyalty programs and mobile apps, signaling a shift toward measuring and optimizing
Eric Knott, who scaled PDQ as COO before becoming CEO of Kansas City-based Tiki Taco, joined Restaurant Tech Trends to discuss growth discipline learned from both successes and failures.
Quick-service restaurants are receiving a higher share of citations in AI search results compared to fast-casual chains.
Pokeworks is seeking real estate in Texas as part of an expansion effort.
Bad Ass Coffee is expanding through nontraditional unit formats, a strategy that signals growing operator interest in flexible, lower-overhead coffee concepts beyond traditional standalone cafes.
Major restaurant groups are expanding into Boston, signaling confidence in the market's growth potential and dining demand.
Birdcall is pursuing Midwest expansion supported by technology and real estate capabilities.
Texas Roadhouse, headquartered in Kentucky, has become a major presence in Texas and expanded nationally.
Boka Restaurant Group is expanding beyond Chicago by opening Momotaro and Alla Vita in Nashville, along with a new cocktail bar called Middleman to connect the concepts.
Restaurant operators are adopting voice AI technology to capture phone call data as a way to recognize and engage customers across locations, suggesting the phone channel may become a key loyalty and
Domino's is expanding its global presence while prioritizing digital ordering channels.
Restaurant technology adoption remains a critical challenge; even sophisticated software fails to deliver value without consistent team engagement, according to a discussion with Decision Logic's CEO
Restaurant operators in major U.S. metros are paying elevated commercial real estate costs for dine-in space even as delivery orders grow, creating a potential mismatch between lease expenses and cust
MarginEdge added real-time cost management, AI forecasting, and back-office automation capabilities to its platform.
Restaurant brands are increasingly centering their apps around loyalty programs, personalization, and direct customer engagement rather than just order-ahead convenience, signaling a shift toward usin
Social-first growth playbook — organic content scaled The Taco Spot to 400-unit pipeline, showing how brands can use owned channels to accelerate franchising velocity.
Restaurants are increasingly treating catering as a dedicated sales channel rather than an ad-hoc service, suggesting a shift toward more systematic catering operations and revenue capture.
Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii is opening its first New Jersey location in Wall on July 18, signaling the brand's geographic expansion beyond its traditional Hawaiian market.
Commerce media platforms struggle with measuring ad impact due to probabilistic attribution and modeled incrementality, but in-store data offers a potential solution to verify whether digital ads tran
Australian café chain Two Hands Hospitality has signed a lease for its first Kansas City location, continuing geographic expansion beyond its existing markets in New York, Texas, Tennessee, and Colora
ezCater is positioning its platform to help restaurants access workplace catering demand through enhanced connectivity features.
Placer.ai released its June 2026 mall traffic index, tracking retail foot traffic momentum as the year progresses.
Operators who share physical space face pressure to align menus across brands, raising operational and brand-consistency questions.
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation partnered with American Express and Resy to launch a free leadership development program featuring James Beard Award-winning restaurateurs as
AmRest is continuing international expansion while reinforcing its restaurant platform.
A podcast episode explores how restaurants can use guest recognition and personalization technology to improve customer loyalty, addressing what the source frames as widespread guest retention challen
Edgy marketing campaigns produce mixed results across brands like Liquid Death, Pepsi, Burger King, and Starbucks South Korea, with experts attributing outcomes to whether a brand has built sufficient
Marco's Pizza's chief development officer and his father, a commercial real estate enthusiast, collaborate on the chain's expansion strategy, suggesting family involvement in site selection and growth
A New York-based apartment seller completed a $27.5 million 1031 exchange into a five-property Florida portfolio anchored by 7-Eleven, Chipotle, Wawa, and Starbucks locations, reflecting a broader shi
Resy faces criticism over its reservation platform interface, signaling potential friction in how diners book at restaurants and suggesting the market may be opening to alternatives.
A Toast survey of 1,466 U.S. adults found that 64% of guests discovered new restaurants in 2025, suggesting diners are increasingly balancing exploration with loyalty to established favorites.
Peter Piper Pizza is testing a redesigned prototype location in Mesquite, Texas that combines its longstanding family appeal with modern digital features and expanded adult amenities, signaling an eff
Virtual brand operator insights on scaling ghost-kitchen concepts — useful for brands testing delivery-only extensions, but niche unless you're actively exploring the model.
POS and kitchen automation platform announcement — vendor content marketing with no named restaurant partner or adoption data.
Mike's Hot Honey launched a multichannel soccer-themed campaign as part of its "Drizzle The Mike's" platform, which aims to position the brand around culturally relevant moments.
Canadian chain expansion into US signals growth opportunity, but story lacks specifics on brand, unit count, or strategy relevance to operators.
Shipley Donuts is entering Ohio for the first time with three locations planned in Cincinnati, signaling expansion into a new regional market.
Food and beverage franchises are opening locations in convenience stores, expanding beyond traditional retail channels.
Wingstop, a Dallas-based restaurant group, will open its 100th location in Wichita next week.
Chuy's Holdings Inc is pursuing expansion to strengthen its brand presence.
International expansion of unspecified chain — lacking brand clarity, financial scale, or operator benchmark value.
Birdcall, a chicken chain, is planning to expand into Ohio as part of a broader Midwest growth strategy.