Olive Garden

Brad Blum named CEO of Bravo, Brio

The two casual Italian brands will be the nucleus for a new company run by the former Olive Garden chief, with financial backing from Brazil-based GP Investments.

Leadership

Darden CEO Gene Lee named IFMA foodservice operator of the year

The longtime casual-dining veteran was chosen for the Gold Plate Award from among eight leaders named as the best within their respective market segments.

Leadership

3 restaurant leaders being put to a test

By Peter Romeo on Apr. 04, 2018

Situations at Applebee's, Dunkin' and Darden will be true tests of some promising leaders' mettle.

Emerging Brands

Darden decides to drop a brand

By Peter Romeo on Mar. 20, 2018

Remaining restaurants will be converted into Eddie V's restaurants.

This week’s 5 head-spinning moments: Starbucks experiments

By Peter Romeo on Mar. 15, 2018

The folks in green aprons are changing roles in what the company calls Deployment 2.0, and that's just one of the developments that turned heads in the restaurant industry this week.

Consumer Trends

Yelp users’ favorite casual chains

By Peter Romeo on Mar. 05, 2018

A new analysis also shows what differentiates a good user-generated review from a negative one.

Operations

Delivery backlash and 4 other head-spinning moments

By Peter Romeo on Feb. 23, 2018

The dash for off-premise business is taking a detour around third-party delivery. Meanwhile, Amy Poehler isn't making restaurateurs laugh, R&D kitchens are cooking up some unusual new products, and the drug epidemic is prompting some controversial changes in operations.

Marketing