Chicago-based Craveworthy Brands expanded its restaurant portfolio with the acquisition of Fresh Brothers Pizza in November.

Scott and Adam Goldberg founded Fresh Brothers in Southern California in 2008, offering Chicago-style tavern pizza, but with a focus on fresh ingredients. There are currently 22 locations of the chain in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange County offering vegan and gluten-free options, as well as those with gluten, meat, and cheese. Fresh Brothers also offers salads, baked wings, sweet and savory dough knots, and sliders.

Washington, D.C.-based private investment firm Blue Marlin Partners and Dallas-based private equity firm Trive Capital partnered to acquire a majority stake in Mo’Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food from Savory Fund. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mo’Bettahs was founded by Hawaiian-born brothers Kimo and Kalani Mack in 2008 in Bountiful, Utah. In 2018, it was acquired by Savory Fund, a private equity firm that invests in emerging restaurant concepts. Both Savory and the Mack brothers retained minority stakes following the Blue Marlin/Trive deal.

Chuy’s Holdings Inc. shareholders voted Oct. 10 on the announced sale to casual-dining powerhouse Darden Restaurants Inc.

Chuy’s, a casual-dining Tex-Mex concept, had 101 units.

Darden Restaurants Inc., parent to such casual-dining chains as Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, agreed to buy Chuy's Holdings Inc. in a $605 million deal.

Orlando, Fla.-based Darden, which last acquired the fine-dining Ruth’s Chris Steak House a year ago, and Austin, Texas-based Chuy’s said the deal called for Darden to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Chuy's for $37.50 per share.

Thrive Restaurant Group acquired the 29-unit fast-casual Modern Market Eatery brand from Butterfly Equity.

Wichita, Kan.-based Thrive operates more than 200 restaurants in 18 states, including Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill franchised units, Bakesale, Carlos O’Kelly’s, HomeGrown and Qdoba.

The Belmar, N.J.-based acai bowl chain Playa Bowls was acquired by the private equity firm, Sycamore Partners, for an undisclosed sum from Tamarix Equity Partners and other investors.

Playa Bowls was founded on the Jersey Shore in 2014 and grew to 250 locations over the last decade, with a menu focusing on smoothie bowls, juices, cold brew, and smoothies. It was one of Technomic's top 10 fastest-growing chains in 2023.

Flynn Group LP, the franchise operator, has acquired Wendy’s restaurants in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

San Francisco-based Flynn Group in 2023 has invested in Wendy’s in Australia and in May acquired Wendco (NZ) Ltd., the sole franchisee of the brand in New Zealand.

Red Lobster was bought out of bankruptcy by its creditors, led by Fortress Credit Corp.

That was the casual-dining chain’s intention when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May, after years of troubled sales and a reportedly botched all-you-can-eat shrimp promotion that cost it millions of dollars.

MOD Pizza, one of the once-growing group of fast-casual pizza concepts, agreed sell to Elite Restaurant Group, the companies announced in July.

Bellevue, Wash.-based MOD Super Fast Pizza Holdings LLC said Chatsworth, Calif.-based Elite Restaurant Group had acquired 100% MOD’s equity in a merger agreement between the company and an Elite affiliate. Terms were not disclosed.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and is creating a new experiences division of the motion-picture company, the company announced in June.

Culver City, Calif.-based Sony Pictures, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corp., said Michael Kustermann will remain as CEO of the Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse and head the new experiences division. Terms of the deal were not immediately released.

Brix Holdings LLC, the multi-brand franchising portfolio group and parent company of Friendly’s, Orange Leaf, and Red Mango, in May announced the final acquisition of Clean Juice for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition of the 75-unit USDA-certified organic juice bar franchise was first announced in April, and now the finalized deal brings the Brix portfolio up to eight brands and more than 325 locations.

Restaurant Brands International Inc. completed its acquisition of Carrols Restaurant Group Inc., its largest Burger King franchisee in the United States, for about $1 billion and planned to invest an additional $500 million to reimage 600 Carrols restaurants.

Toronto, Canada-based Restaurant Brands International, which offered $9.55 a share in the all-cash transaction that was announced in January, said the $500 million reimaging was part of its “Reclaim the Flame” plan, announced in fall 2022. It will accelerate the reimaging before the company refranchises the majority of the acquired portfolio to new or existing smaller franchise operators over the next seven years.

Tijuana Flats was acquired by a new ownership group in April. It closed 11 restaurants and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company said Friday.

The Maitland, Fla.-based fast-casual concept said TJF USA LLC had sold to Flatheads LLC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

One Group Hospitality Inc., owner of the STK and Kona Grill concepts, acquired Safflower Holdings Corp, the parent to the Benihana teppanyaki brand and RA Sushi, in a $365 million deal, the company said in March.

Denver-based One Group said the deal was financed with $160 million in preferred equity and part of a new $390 million term loan and credit facility. The preferred equity was primarily issued to Hill Path Capital.