Nation’s Restaurant News teams up with Datassential and its Firefly data platform to present a look at the restaurant landscape that tracks the performance of the largest 500 chains.
Pittsburgh is not known for setting culinary trends, but some restaurant operators in the area are well ahead of the curve. Eat’n Park, a 79-unit family-dining chain based there, rolled out espresso machines in 2003, shortly after improving the...
WARNING. THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE SIZZLING WITH DETAILS OF THIS YEAR’S HOT CONCEPTS! AWARD WINNERS—IGNORE THEM AND YOU COULD GET BURNED.These six Hot Concepts! honorees and one Hot! Again recipient, selected by the editors of Nation’s Restaurant...
In the foodservice industry, there usually is no chicken-or-the-egg question of what comes first between a successful restaurant concept and the complex operating model that grows it to a national chain and sustains its market share. Typically...
Restaurateur Jeff Sinelli signs his e-mails “best wiches,” and like the play on words in his chain’s name—Which Wich—there’s a double entendre there. The 38-year-old entrepreneur loves creating brands. Sinelli sold an earlier concept...
When Jack Mazur, a lifelong wine aficionado, decided to “do something fun” with his life, he didn’t just sit and sip a fine vintage. He created a wine bar, bistro and retail concept aimed at demystifying wine, educating consumers and providing an...
The idea behind Granite City Food & Brewery—that people like good food and good beer—is not unique. But the system by which the 19-unit brewpub chain delivers its made-from-scratch desirables is, company officials say. Through a...
Restaurant managers look for lots of qualities when hiring servers, but Dennis Maneefuangfoo, senior director for 12-unit Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ, is partial to foot speed. Fleet feet, he says, are an absolute necessity in this service-intense...
In the winter of 2003, neighbors of restaurant industry veteran Russell Bry might have wondered why, several times a day, he dashed from his two-car garage to his house 50 feet away—through snow—carrying piping hot pizzas, pasta dishes and all...
