Julie Littman

This story was originally published on Restaurant Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Restaurant Dive newsletter

Bryan Brown will help advance the fast food giant’s NEXT strategy, which includes restaurant redesigns and improved hospitality.

Visits at quick-service chains had their worst month so far this year in May, with a dip in short visits of 6.8%. But full-service traffic was up modestly, according to Placer.ai data.

The answer to repeat customer visits isn’t more loyalty tiers or programs, but deploying guest data to enhance experiences and remember preferences, writes Guestologie’s Ryan Volberg.

Since 2006, the soon-to-be public fast casual chain has grown systemwide sales at a compound annual growth rate of 20%, but that’s far from its only bright spot.

Investors are anticipating strong valuations from the sandwich chain, especially after Black Rock Coffee’s successful 2025 debut.

This story was originally published on Restaurant Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Restaurant Dive newsletter

The food hall company has raised over $2.8 billion since 2021 and could file for an initial public offering as early as next year.

This story was originally published on Restaurant Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Restaurant Dive newsletter

This move is part of a performance review of the parent company’s owned portfolio that identified 68 underperforming locations across multiple brands.