restaurant industry

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Wendy's Bots Are Keeping Tabs on Customer Demand

Fast-food chain is using artificial intelligence from Palantir to keep its supply chain flowing

(Newser) - Wendy's carries out some creative promotions to compete with larger competitors like McDonald's. Now, Bloomberg reports that the fast-food chain is tapping into artificial intelligence from Palantir Technologies to keep an eye out for shortages of menu items before they happen, including this summer's wildly popular $1...

Red Lobster Is Shuttering More Restaurants

Nearly 2 dozen more around the country, amid chain's bankruptcy proceedings

(Newser) - The hope for Red Lobster that experts expressed just last month may be increasingly fading. After shuttering more than 100 of its locations earlier this summer amid bankruptcy proceedings, a recent court filing shows the seafood restaurant chain has just turned down the leases for 23 more sites and will...

Got $7? Taco Bell Wants It
Got $7? Taco Bell Wants It
Jun 28, 2024 11:09 AM CDT

Got $7? Taco Bell Wants It

'Luxe Cravings Box' joins the value-meal wars aimed at inflation-weary consumers

(Newser) - If you've been finding it hard to grab a meal for under $10, even on the fast-food circuit, Taco Bell wants a piece of your wallet this summer. CBS News reports that the Mexican-themed chain has added a new $7 value meal to its menu: the Luxe Cravings Box,...

Hooters Shutters Dozens of Locations

Chain says underperforming restaurants are being closed nationwide

(Newser) - Add Hooters to the list of restaurant chains that are shuttering sites across the nation. Nation's Restaurant News reports that about 40 Hooters have been abruptly closed recently in a wide range from Texas to Florida. The chain confirmed in a statement, saying that "like many restaurants under...

John Oliver Isn't the Only Celeb Diving Into Red Lobster
Not Everyone Is Happy With
John Oliver's Red Lobster Stunt
in case you missed it
Jun 9, 2024 11:15 AM CDT

Not Everyone Is Happy With John Oliver's Red Lobster Stunt

Kingston business owner says he'd hoped to buy equipment from the eatery that Oliver scooped up

(Newser) - John Oliver's acquisition of a Red Lobster in upstate New York had many laughing after Sunday's Last Week Tonight segment on it, but not everyone appreciated the stunt. Per News 12 , Eric Deising, owner of Deising's Bakery in Kingston, near where Oliver's new purchase is located,...

Red Lobster Shutting a Bunch of Locations
Red Lobster Opts for
the 'Best Path Forward'
UPDATED
May 20, 2024 5:34 AM CDT

Red Lobster Opts for the 'Best Path Forward'

Seafood chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

(Newser) - The whispers are now official: Red Lobster has filed for bankruptcy protection. The seafood restaurant chain announced Sunday that it filed for relief under Chapter 11, under a stalking-horse agreement in which Red Lobster will sell the business to an entity created and controlled by its existing term lenders, reports...

Judge Makes the Final Call on Whether a Taco Is a Sandwich

Ruling: Yes, it is, clearing the way for a Fort Wayne, Indiana, restaurateur to open his new eatery

(Newser) - Since before the pandemic, Martin Quintana has been trying to get zoning approval in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to open a second location for The Famous Taco, his Mexican-style eatery serving up tacos, burritos, and the like. This week, a judge finally issued a ruling that clears the path for that—...

Say Goodbye to Chuck E. Cheese's Animatronic Bands

It's part of the chain's 'most aggressive transformation' yet, per CEO David McKillips

(Newser) - The animatronic band that breaks out in song at Chuck E. Cheese locations around the US has been described as everything from "endearing" and "nostalgia-inducing" to "slightly creepy," but thanks to what CEO David McKillips calls the chain's "most aggressive transformation" yet, the band...

Restaurant Put on Blast for Health Insurance Fee on Bill
Patron Didn't Appreciate
Eatery's 4% Surcharge
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 20, 2024 4:30 PM CST

Patron Didn't Appreciate Eatery's 4% Surcharge

Fee added by Atlanta restaurant is to help cover costs for employee health insurance

(Newser) - An Atlanta restaurant is taking heat over what its owners say is an optional fee on customers' tabs to help cover employees' health insurance costs. Fox Business reports on the blowback that JenChan's Pizza and Chinese, an eatery located in the Cabbagetown section of the city, has received since...

Meet the Robots That Will Be Making Our Food

Chains such as Sweetgreen are turning to automation to cut costs and speed up service

(Newser) - The new workers at restaurant chains like Sweetgreen require an entirely different type of employee training, and definitely won't fit in the typical uniforms. The company is going fully in on automating their salad prep, the Wall Street Journal reports, and while depending on machines to handle soft and...

South Park Creators' Eatery Outlaws Tipping

At Colorado's Casa Bonita, servers and bartenders will instead make $30 an hour

(Newser) - In September 2021, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of the animated sitcom South Park, purchased Casa Bonita, a sprawling 52,000-square-foot Mexican restaurant in Lakewood, Colorado, that was featured in one of the show's episodes. The pair shuttered the eatery, which had declared bankruptcy before they purchased it,...

Big Cause of Food Poisoning Outbreaks: Sick Workers

Researchers suggest paid sick leave might make restaurants safer

(Newser) - Providing restaurant workers with paid sick leave could make restaurants safer places to eat, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers say. According to a report released this week, around 40% of food poisoning outbreaks with a known cause were linked to sick or infectious workers. Researchers studied food poisoning...

Restaurants Are Ditching QR Code Menus
Customers Reject
a Pandemic-Era
Restaurant Staple
in case you missed it
May 28, 2023 12:10 PM CDT

Customers Reject a Pandemic-Era Restaurant Staple

Eateries are ditching QR code menus

(Newser) - We all got used to an avalanche of changes in our daily routines during the peak of COVID, including ways in which to safely dine in public once lockdowns were lifted. Now, one of those eating-out protocols is falling by the wayside: Restaurants are starting to ditch scannable QR codes,...

Restaurant and Chill? Subscriptions Are Expanding

It's not just Netflix anymore

(Newser) - Consumers are willing to pay monthly subscription fees for streaming services, pet food, and even toilet paper. And as the AP reports, now some restaurants are betting they'll do the same for their favorite meals. Large chains like Panera and PF Chang’s, as well as neighborhood hangouts, are...

Restaurant Axed Reservation After Staff Looked Up Group

Metzger Bar and Butchery in Richmond had been slated to serve the Family Foundation

(Newser) - Prior to December, Metzger Bar and Butchery in Richmond, Virginia, was likely best known for being helmed by Top Chef alumna Brittanny Anderson. But it's entered the national spotlight over its refusal to host a private event for a conservative Christian group. That group, the Family Foundation, published a...

Restaurant Takes Day Off After Customers Make Staff Cry
Restaurant Takes Day Off After
Customers Make Staff Cry
in case you missed it
Jul 17, 2021 1:50 PM CDT

Restaurant Takes Day Off After Customers Make Staff Cry

One patron told a server, 'I hope you get hit by a car'

(Newser) - It’s not news that people sometimes aren’t at their best at a restaurant. But telling a server you hope they get hit by a car is a special level of unkind. That sort of behavior—things that made the staff cry—is why a Massachusetts restaurant shut down...

Restaurants Struggle to Keep Ketchup in Stock

Thanks, COVID

(Newser) - In the grand scheme of a pandemic, it's not so bad. Still, the Wall Street Journal reports on an unexpected hiccup related to COVID—a ketchup shortage. The issue is most pronounced for restaurants scrambling to find supplies, particularly of ketchup packets, which are deemed safer than shared bottles....

'Year-End Victory' for Restaurants May Not Please Servers

Labor Dept. says employers can mandate tipped workers share their tips

(Newser) - New changes to Labor Department rules are being called a "year-end victory" for the restaurant industry, per the National Restaurant Association—though servers who rely on tips to boost their sub-minimum-wage pay may not be giving it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Fox Business reports on a revision made final Tuesday...

NYC Restaurants Consider a Ban of Their Own

Unhappy about suspension of indoor dining, owners discuss not serving Cuomo or de Blasio

(Newser) - The coronavirus restrictions on restaurants have sparked large demonstrations in New York City, and now a group of restaurant owners is considering a more targeted response. After a ban on indoor dining was reinstated, there's talk in the industry of implementing a ban on Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor...

Cuomo Reinstates City's Indoor Dining Ban

Growing hospitalization rates in New York concern governor, de Blasio

(Newser) - Rising hospitalization and coronavirus positivity rates have triggered a shutdown on indoor dining at New York City restaurants, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday. The ban will take effect Monday, WNBC reports. Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledged that the suspension of indoor dining will be painful, saying resumption last month brought...

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