Restaurant Dive

“Loss Or Celebration Outcome Support,” or “L.O.C.O.S.,” will activate globally and comes as the brand looks to expand its loyalty program.

Few kitchens cook from scratch today, meaning important techniques and methods could be lost as young chefs work with pre-made ingredients, says Clementine co-owner and pastry chef Elise Russ. 

CEO Max Wetzel said the chain expects to open 175 units this year and has a pipeline of over 900 units to open after 2026.

The next QSR growth frontier? Your confirmation screen. Turn transactions into profit.

Email builds awareness. SMS drives action. For restaurant marketers, the pairing is hard to beat.

The brand is preparing for scalable growth with a new store prototype as more consumers opt for bagels for breakfast and beyond.

Mas Restaurant Group divested all of its Ohio restaurants to Southpaw just weeks after it sold 44 of its Texas units to Ghai Restaurant Group.

Estepp Energy plans to add the New Orleans java brand’s beverages to seven stores through a combination of full cafés with drive-thrus, end-cap locations and in-store counters.

While it has operated in c-stores for 26 years, the Texas-based QSR chain is now ramping up its convenience retail presence as part of a broader growth strategy.

With 300,000 fewer young workers in the labor force than in 2025, restaurants in seasonal markets could have a tough time finding workers, the National Restaurant Association said. 

Russell Holland, who has served as interim CDO since February, will support the chain’s aggressive growth as it expands past 1,000 units.

Operators need support built around how restaurants actually make and spend money, and that troubleshoot when those two things fall out of sync, writes Toast’s Michel Rbeiz.

The drive-thru coffee chain has reached 777 units so far and has more than 250 stores in its pipeline, gaining on its rival’s footprint of nearly 1,200 stores.

Menu prices were up only 3.5%, down from a 4% increase at the beginning of the year. 

Premium add-ons, generous portions and better experiences are helping boost sales at chains like Chili’s, despite the challenging consumer environment.

The restaurant’s Google star rating is up 4% year over year, but the company has yet to return to sales growth after the fall out from a botched rebrand attempt last year.

With two concepts in one, franchisees have a larger menu, bigger storefronts and other opportunities they wouldn’t have had with a single brand.

The bubble tea brand has standardized its supply chain playbook by moving to a direct franchising system, according to Alan Davis, director of supply chain for the Americas.

The chain has already hired 150 assistant general managers as part of its Flavor Your Future platform to develop a deep bench of future general managers.

The National Restaurant Association is urging the Trump administration to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement and take a do-no-harm stance on tariffs.