Strong Takeout Sales Push Chili’s into Delivery

Concerns over profitability and food quality for years kept the restaurant from expanding into delivery. This summer, however, Brinker announced it will offer the service nationwide through an exclusive deal with third-party platform DoorDash. Sales in the fourth quarter ended June 26 increased 2% to $701.9 million from $688.2 million in the same period last…

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Papa John’s Continues to Reach Unprecedented Sales

Papa John’s North American same-store sales skyrocketed 33.5 percent in May, eclipsing a company record it just set in April. The figure is more than four times higher than what the company captured in January and more than six times higher than what it reached in February. The pizza chain is coming off a month…

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Popeyes and its Chicken Sandwich are Still Soaring

Popeyes took a slight dip in the second half of March, as sales ran flat, year-over-year. But the COVID-19-fueled slowdown didn’t last. The brand’s wildly popular chicken sandwich proved to be pandemic proof. Parent company Restaurant Brands International revealed in a securities filing Thursday that the chicken chain’s comparable sales jumped into the “positive low-40s”…

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The Pandemic has Cost Restaurants 5.9 Million Jobs

The industry lost three decades’ worth of employees in just six weeks as states closed dining rooms and restaurants closed their doors and laid off workers. The global pandemic and state closures of dine-in service have cost the restaurant industry 5.9 million jobs, wiping out three decades’ worth of employees in just over six weeks,…

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Ruth’s Chris is Reopening Dining Rooms, Using QR Codes for Reading Menus

Ruth’s Hospitality Group is reopening steakhouse dining rooms this month at 12 of its 86 company operated restaurants in Texas, Florida and Tennessee, the fine dining chain announced Friday during its first quarter conference call. The re-openings come as more than a dozen franchise restaurants have already reopened dining rooms at limited seating capacity ranging from 25% to…

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STK and Kona Grill Brands Begin Reopening Dining Rooms with Help of Paycheck Protection Program Loans

The parent to the STK and Kona Grill chains has reopened 11 restaurant dining rooms, following social distancing and other guidelines, with another five to return to dine-in service on Monday, officials with The One Group Hospitality Inc. said while reporting first-quarter results. An additional five to 10 restaurants are expected to reopen dining rooms…

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