Continue to Site >>>

Emerging Brands

New brands and soon-to-open concepts worth watching

Emerging Brands

Sweetfin gets an investment from an Italian poke chain

 By Heather Lalley on Jan. 18, 2022

Poke House has taken a minority stake in the 14-unit poke fast casual based in Southern California, allowing it to speed up its growth.

Emerging Brands

How Obama's personal finance advisor is trying to change the face of restaurants

 By Heather Lalley on Jan. 18, 2022

Robbie Robinson, co-founder of the Pendulum Holdings investment and advisory group, partnered with Chopt parent Founder’s Table to bring capital to operators who typically don’t get funding.

Emerging Brands

How Hopdoddy prepared to get acquisitive

By Heather Lalley on Jan. 13, 2022

The Texas-based better-burger fast casual used the pandemic’s challenges to become leaner and stronger. Then it decided to buy a competitor and it might scoop up more.

Emerging Brands

Investors are betting big on these emerging chains

By Heather Lalley on Dec. 21, 2021

Money was slow to start flowing at the outset of 2021, but interest in emerging concepts picked up in the back half of the year.

Emerging Brands

Inside &pizza’s ambitious growth plans

By Heather Lalley on Dec. 21, 2021

The fast-casual pizza concept, which has about 60 units, plans to open 40 new stores by the end of next year. It also isn’t ruling out a possible IPO one day.

Emerging Brands

With Callaway’s backing, Five Iron Golf gets ready to grow

By Heather Lalley on Dec. 17, 2021

The tech-enabled, golf-focused eatertainment chain has 11 units now with at least five more slated for 2022.

Emerging Brands

Inside IHOP’s first Flip’d unit in NYC

By Joe Guszkowski on Dec. 16, 2021

The scaled-down spinoff will serve pancake bowls, burgers and more—mainly for takeout. It's the first of 10 slated for the Big Apple.

Emerging Brands

Honeygrow gets back into growth mode

By Heather Lalley on Dec. 15, 2021

A few years after pressing pause, closing some units, and weathering the onset of the pandemic, the buzzed-about fast-casual says 2021 was its most profitable year so far.

Emerging Brands

Impossible Foods starts a restaurant brand

By Joe Guszkowski on Dec. 13, 2021

The delivery-only Impossible Shop offers exclusive recipes and new products from the plant-based meat maker. It's being served out of Dog Haus locations in eight states.

Emerging Brands

Rice-focused Fieldtrip gets a minority investment to fuel its growth

By Heather Lalley on Dec. 03, 2021

Founders Table Restaurant Group, the parent of Chopt and Dos Toros, said the money will help the three-unit chain grow in New York City and elsewhere.

  • Page 13