marketing

Olive Garden launches a holiday merchandise collection starring its iconic cheese graters

By Reyna Estrada on Nov. 16, 2023

Marketing Bites: Olive Garden, Sonic and Jimmy John’s launch holiday merchandise collections. Velvet Taco is giving away free tacos for a year to one lucky diner. And Wendy’s brings back its Frosty Key Tag fundraiser.

Marketing

What happens when promos don’t work as expected

By Peter Romeo on Nov. 14, 2023

Restaurant Rewind: If the offer proves more or less enticing than anticipated, chaos can follow. Here are some prime examples from the industry’s past.

Food

Taco Bell's newest Nacho Fries mash up 2 comfort food favorites

By Patricia Cobe on Nov. 14, 2023

Grilled Cheese Nacho Fries debut along with the inaugural Nacho Fries Lover’s Pass for Rewards Members.

Marketing

McDonald's dips its toes into footwear

By Reyna Estrada on Nov. 13, 2023

The burger giant has teamed up with Crocs on a footwear line that features iconic characters like Grimace and Birdie.

Premium

Technology

A pair of new apps wants to eliminate bad restaurant reviews

By Joe Guszkowski on Nov. 12, 2023

Atmosfy and Recs encourage personalized recommendations rather than anonymous star ratings in a direct challenge to review sites like Yelp.

Financing

McDonald's and Krispy Kreme may expand their partnership

By Jonathan Maze on Nov. 09, 2023

The burger giant has been selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts out of its Kentucky restaurants for months. Now they’re apparently talking about an expansion.

Marketing

Mellow Mushroom updates its look for the digital age

By Joe Guszkowski on Nov. 08, 2023

The pizza chain’s first rebrand in its 50-year history was designed with online ordering and Gen Z in mind.

Financing

What is the future of restaurant loyalty programs?

By Jonathan Maze on Nov. 01, 2023

A Deeper Dive: Mastercard’s Stephanie Meltzer-Paul joins the podcast to discuss loyalty programs and why they’ve become so popular in the restaurant industry.

Operations