Food & Beverage News

St. Louis-based ASI LLC saw big changes in 2019 and the first part of 2020, enabling the company to provide its commissary, supplier and retail clients with even better food safety audit and other services, said Tyler Williams, vice president of operations. “The two main areas that we’ve had our largest strides in are our…

In light of all that has happened in our industry, in our communities, and in our businesses during this unprecedented time, I know it is sometimes hard to know what tomorrow brings. Having said that, I am confident that the passion, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit that has made this industry great for so many years…

Fast-casual Mexican chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill is permanently closing about 7% of its units, pulling out of Colorado and Florida because of the impacts of the coronavirus on its business, the company confirmed. The Carlsbad, Calif.-based brand, which has approximately 170 locations, will close six stores in Colorado and six in Florida. “Unfortunately, due to the…

Bloomin’ Brands Inc., parent to the Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Kitchen and other brands, has reopened dine-in capacity at about three-quarters of its U.S. restaurants and expects to have some indoor seating at “substantially all” of its domestic dining rooms by the end of June, the company said. The Tampa, Fla.-based casual-dining company, which also…

Earl Enterprises, the parent company of Buca di Beppo, Earl of Sandwich and Planet Hollywood, has confirmed the purchase of Bravo Cucina Italian and Brio Tuscan Grille respaurants in a deal that will bring back 4,000 employees left in “limbo” since FoodFirst filed for bankruptcy, Robert Earl, chairman of Earl Enterprises, said. Orlando-based Earl Enterprises said: “We…

Early investments in being “employee focused” has helped &Pizza weather the pandemic with about 90% of workers employed, 85% of the 50-unit chain’s restaurants open and “putting up a fair amount of profit,” said CEO Michael Lastoria on Friday. Tender Greens tapped its solid relationships with farmers and other foodservice businesses and had success offering…

Darden announced that dine-in traffic at flagship brands Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse has led to an improvement of more than 10 percentage points in same-store sales. As of Sunday, 49 percent of dining rooms were open in a limited capacity. The company expects more than 65 percent to be open by the end of…

Restaurants have had to adjust to a completely new set of circumstances since the novel coronavirus pandemic struck in mid-March, and most of them are still trying to build back sales that were devastated as dining rooms were required to close and people were told to stay home to avoid contracting or spreading the virus.…

Major restaurant chain customer transactions have continued improving as more dining rooms reopen. Transactions were down 18% year-over-year in the week ended May 31, up 3% from the previous week, according to data from NPD. Transactions at major full-service chains were down 37% year-over-year, a 15% improvement from the prior week. Quick-service restaurant chain transactions declined…

Krystal filed for bankruptcy in January and was put up for sale as part of the reorganization process. Fortress emerged as the successful bidder of the business. Thomas Stager was named president of Krystal, effective immediately. He replaces Tim Ward, former president and chief operating officer. Mr. Ward, along with former chief financial officer Bruce Vermilyea, are…