casual dining

Leadership

Famous Dave's parent hires global development expert to lead franchising

By Joe Guszkowski on Sep. 24, 2021

Manny Packing was most recently director of international real estate and construction for Inspire Brands.

Financing

Amid pandemic uncertainty, Darden finds less is more

By Joe Guszkowski on Sep. 23, 2021

Olive Garden’s parent has hit on a more streamlined business model that it intends to take beyond the COVID era.

Premium

Leadership

Finding handcuffs, new CEO of Genghis Grill's parent aims to free his team

By Peter Romeo on Sep. 22, 2021

Jimmy John's vet Gregg Majewski intends to bulldoze what's been holding back the industry's largest collection of stir-fry concepts for decades.

Workforce

How Cracker Barrel plans to shake the staffing slump

By Joe Guszkowski on Sep. 21, 2021

Labor challenges contributed to a difficult summer at the chain, but it has a few reasons to feel optimistic.

Leadership

Dave & Buster’s CEO Brian Jenkins to retire

By Heather Lalley on Sep. 21, 2021

Jenkins, who helmed the eatertainment brand through the depths of the pandemic to a record-setting quarter, will stay on as an advisor with the chain until the end of November.

Emerging Brands

Texas Roadhouse to speed growth of Jaggers brand with franchise deal

By Joe Guszkowski on Sep. 20, 2021

It has partnered with the Dallas-based Saxton Group to open 10 locations of the fast casual in Texas and Oklahoma.

Emerging Brands

How Sam Fox went from college dropout to one of the country’s most successful restaurateurs

By Heather Lalley on Sep. 09, 2021

In the nearly 30 years since opening his first restaurant, Fox has become a concept developer whose ideas regularly get scooped up by big-time investors and chains.

Financing