Lisa Jennings

The Grammy-nominated celebrity will also become a franchisee, expanding the brand into South Florida.

After seven quarters of growth, the fast-casual chain's double-digit comparable sales are continuing into the third quarter. Now, it's really about more than closing bad restaurants.

Cracker Barrel has appointed David Deno as its new CEO, effective August 10th. Deno brings over 30 years of restaurant industry experience, most recently serving as CEO of Bloomin’ Brands before his 2024 retirement. He succeeds Julie Masino, who led the company since July 2023 and will remain as an advisor through October. The leadership change comes as Cracker Barrel continues recovering from a rebranding controversy that significantly impacted customer traffic.

The quick-service smoothie concept is exploring extensions to the menu in four markets

Create Restaurants Group just made its third U.S. acquisition with the purchase of Hazelwood Food and Drink. What to expect? Not much

The fast-casual chain plans to keep a support center in St. Louis, where the brand was born. But many team members will be asked to move north.

The fast-casual sandwich chain is set to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange after pricing its shares at $23.

It was still the restaurant industry's biggest IPO. CEO Charlie Morrison sees plenty of room for growth ahead, and he shared how the fast-casual sandwich brand is targeting younger consumers.

Chipotle registered its strongest same-store sales growth since 2024. The brand reported a 2.2% increase in Q2, driven by a 1% increase in transactions and a 1.2% increase in average check. The company caught momentum from its honey chicken launch in April, as well as resonate marketing such as its World Cup BOGO and enhanced rewards program. The fast-casual Mexican chain raised its full-year same-store sales guidance to the low-single-digit range, from flat in April.

The Week in Restaurants: This week’s episode of the weekly restaurant news discussion podcast looks at the management change at Cracker Barrel, Starbucks’ earnings, and Jersey Mike’s IPO.