Tagged Articles
Q&A
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High-Tech Hospitality, Mastered
Restaurants are finding great new ways to enhance the guest experience using technology. For some, that means more customer-facing tech tools; for others, it’s all about behind-the-scenes solutions that facilitate exceptional, high-touch service. Such is the case at Single Thread.
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Q&A with Doug Miller, CEO of Gyro Shack
In 2009, the first Gyro Shackopened in Boise, Idaho, operating out of less than 200 square feet.
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Dunkin’ Donuts Opens First Hard Rock Hotel Location
Dunkin' Donuts opened a location inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. This new restaurant marks the first Dunkin' Donuts to open inside a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino but is the brand’s 27th restaurant to open in Nevada.
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Q&A with Jennifer Durham, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, Checkers & Rally’s Restaurants, Inc.
Known for its iconic red, white and black double drive-thru buildings, Checkers & Rally’s Restaurants, Inc., moved away from a retro image in 2012 to a more contemporary approach to its look with the debut of its Model 3.0 prototype. The update helped propel growth, and by the end of 2016, Checkers & Rally’s had added 176 new restaurants and 175 new franchisees.
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Q&A with Won Fun and 2Fun Chinese Founder Austin Baker
From the proprietor behind the successful Bar Marta in Chicago comes a new venture in the city’s food-centric West Loop. Won Fun is the ground-floor modern Sichuan restaurant that seats 60 people, and 2Fun Chinese is the lively upstairs lounge that seats 140 customers and offers dim sum, snacks and a DJ booth, complete with karaoke on Tuesdays. The concepts reside in a
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Rapper Ludacris Partners on Airport Restaurant
Actor/rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Jackmont Hospitality have partnered to open a restaurant at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
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Design Market: 3 Boston Restaurants You Must See
Boston’s dining scene has exploded in recent years, and the design — not just the food — of its newest and trending places continues to test creative limits. Here we look at one design that pays homage to Boston’s supper club past while still being thoroughly modern and another that perfects the aesthetic of a modern sushi bar.
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Smashburger, Gatti’s Pizza Announce University Locations
“Better burger” chain Smashburger announced that it has opened two new locations on college campuses.
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How to Create a Facility Maintenance Program
To keep a restaurant humming, every aspect of operations needs to run smoothly and efficiently. Just one detail gone awry — the refrigeration, HVAC or hood system going out, for example — could force a shutdown and affect the bottom line. Even a broken grill could upset customers and keep them from returning. Whether you handle it in-house or work with an outside facilities maintenance contractor, setting up a facility maintenance program to
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Buzz, Designed & Built: A Q&A with John Sofio from Built, Inc.
Artist, builder and designer John Sofio founded his Los Angeles-based design/build firm Built, Inc., in 1995, performing primarily residential work. Having friends in the nightclub business, he was soon recruited for commercial projects and got hooked on hospitality.
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Reader's Choices: Douglas Fu
As project manager and senior designer at Puccini Group, the global hospitality concept and design firm headquartered in San Francisco, Douglas Fu has designed and managed large-scale hotel and restaurant design projects from Southern California to Ras al-Khaimah. In addition to his nearly 20 years of experience designing hospitality interiors, Doug is a self-proclaimed foodie and the proud father of two amazing
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Old Crow Takes Flight with Kicked-Up Design
Transforming a restaurant from one distinctive brand to a very differently themed establishment is hard enough. Try renovating the space while keeping the old business open.
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Q&A with Ty Neal, Co-Founder, Matchbox Food Group
Ty Neal, his brother Mark, and partners Drew Kim and Perry Smith, who left the company in 2012, opened the first Matchbox restaurant on H Street in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown district in 2003. They rehabbed an old building themselves, transforming it into what would end up being the prototype for a casual-dining brand with staying power and growth potential.
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Uncle Maddio's Pizza Opens First Maryland Restaurant
Uncle Maddio's Pizza continued its expansion throughout the Northeast with its first Maryland restaurant in Frederick.
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Designing on Trend: A Q&A with Stacy Garcia
Originally a pattern designer, Stacy Garcia founded LebaTex in 1999. The company produces commercial-grade textiles.
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Q&A with Lee Karlins, director of operations at Stillwaters Tavern
Owned and operated by 2BHospitality (Robert Sanderson, Dyce Craig) in St. Petersburg, Fla., Stillwaters Tavern is a modern American eatery designed and built by Robert Reid Architects, TWT Construction and T2theS Design + Build that features a menu by Executive Chef Jeffrey Jew.
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Q&A with Dara Maleki, Founder, President and CEO of The Pizza Press
You go to a thousand of these; they all have the same seats, same chairs, same menu board. It becomes a little too much over time. Am I just stepping into a different color theme and a different logo?”
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Q&A with Jeff Sturgis, Chief Development Officer, McAlister’s Deli
A long-time franchising veteran of foodservice and non-foodservice concepts, as well as a former independent franchise consultant, Jeff Sturgis signed on with McAlister's Deli as chief development officer last September.
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Q&A with Tiffany Toliver, Director of Development for World of Beer Franchising
Founded in 2007, World of Beer (WOB) began as a retail store but became a neighborhood gathering spot for beer lovers.
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Q&A with Michael "Bug" Deakin, Owner of Heritage Salvage
Heritage Salvage is a reclaimed building materials and custom design and build shop on three acres in Petaluma, Calif. It offers roughly 250,000 board feet of wood in its yard, which includes flooring, siding, beams, ceiling treatments and architectural elements.
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Q&A with Sumeet Mittal, Architect AIBC, LEED AP Vice President - Construction & Facilities Earls Kitchen & Bar
Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Earls Kitchen & Bar is a well-established premium casual dining concept with more than 60 units throughout Canada. While it has dipped its toes into U.S. waters during the past decade, the 30-year-old privately owned company's presence here to date has been minimal — just 4 units by the end of 2013. That's about to change, however. Earls has kick-started development in key U.S. markets, beginning with
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Q&A with Jonathan Benjamin, Vice President of Franchise Sales, Corner Bakery Café
Corner Bakery Café is on a roll. The Dallas-based chain, purchased in 2011 by Roark Capital Group, is in the midst of an aggressive franchising drive that last year saw it open 20 new restaurants and more than double the number of area development agreements signed in any previous year.
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Interview with an Expert: Hit the Mall
Shopping and dining go hand in hand, whether it's a quick lunch at the food court or capping off a day of retail therapy with dinner at a full-service restaurant. Shopping center developers are increasingly savvy to the fact that the right restaurant mix creates an environment that draws customers and keeps them on the property as much for food and entertainment as for merchandise.
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Q&A with Joe Wegrzyniak, Director of Construction, Jersey Mike’s Subs
When Joe Wegrzyniak joined Jersey Mike's Subs 5.5 years ago, the Manasquan, N.J.-based chain had about 375 locations and was developing new stores at a rate of 35 per year. Today, Jersey Mike's has roughly 575 locations and will complete 100 new units this year alone.
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Branding Matters: An Interview with Karen Brennan
Having helped shape some 50 different brands "from the inside out" over the past 25 years as a senior marketing and development executive, a consultant and National Restaurant Association (NRA) Marketing Executives Group (MEG) board member, Karen Brennan knows a thing or two about branding.
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Q&A with Richard Phillips, Vice President of Development, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit
Richard Phillips played baseball in college and had dreams of turning pro. But when a blown shoulder dashed those hopes, he turned to construction, a trade he’d learned and developed a passion for while helping put himself through school. By 2007, he’d secured a position at the Dallas-based national general contractor for Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, a family-owned chain with Texas-sized expansion plans.
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Real Estate: What Restaurateurs Need to Know Now
Still sitting on the development sidelines? Don't wait too long, advises Marty Kotis, president of Kotis Properties, a Greensboro, N.C.-based commercial real estate development firm that specializes in restaurants. Kotis, who also serves on the board of the Council of International Real Estate Brokers, says the market is heating back up. rd+d asked for an update and advice on how to get the best deals.
