Bloomin’ Brands lays off 100 corporate employees

The cuts at its Tampa, Florida, support center represent a 17% reduction and follow corporate layoffs at Dine Brands, Starbucks and Denny’s.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 21, 2025

Church’s Texas Chicken appoints CEO

Roland Gonzalez, who served as COO for the past two years, takes over at the chain as it aims to grow systemwide sales from $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 21, 2025

Explore the Trendline➔

Back-of-house Technology

From voice AI at the drive-thru to robot-powered makelines, restaurants are investing in technology solutions to optimize kitchen operations and reduce employee turnover. 

By Restaurant Dive staff

Shake Shack to open kitchen innovation lab in Atlanta this year

The company will test equipment and layouts at the lab without having to build new restaurants, accelerating the rollout of processes and optimizations.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 20, 2025

What’s behind Potbelly’s unit growth momentum

The chain, which has signed over 300 store deals since it began accelerating franchising in 2022, aims to grow from roughly 440 units to over 720.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 19, 2025

Dine Brands opens first US dual-branded Applebee’s/IHOP restaurant

The company will debut a total of 15 co-branded units stateside through 2026, bringing its total count of global co-branded units to nearly 30.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 19, 2025

Torchy’s Tacos hires GoTo Foods vet as CEO

Paul Macaluso, who most recently served as president and CEO of Another Broken Egg Cafe, joins the brand as it invests in tech ahead of a growth push.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 19, 2025

Wendy’s hits the gas on drive-thru AI, digital menu boards and kiosks

Early results revealed this technology has simplified ordering and helped free up employees to enhance the customer experience. 

By Julie Littman • Feb. 13, 2025

Wendy’s will expand chicken, beverages and value in 2025

The burger chain will also enhance its loyalty platform with limited-time offers only available through the app.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 13, 2025

Denny’s to increase store closures

The chain expects to shutter 70 to 90 restaurants in 2025 due to low volumes and lease expirations, compared to 88 store closures last year.

By Julie Littman • Updated Feb. 18, 2025

EG America names new head of branded QSR operations

The retailer has appointed a leader for its department that recently launched three fresh restaurant concepts.

By Brett Dworski • Feb. 12, 2025

From vending machines to airports: How CPK is reaching more diners

California Pizza Kitchen is also investing in a virtual brand partnership and expansion of consumer packaged goods to reach more diners.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 12, 2025

Tropical Smoothie Cafe hires Baskin-Robbins vet as COO

Jonathan Biggs joins the company during a rapid growth period. The chain also promoted Chris Sasser to CFO and Karen Wickliffe to general counsel.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 11, 2025

Inside Golden Corral’s complete tech overhaul

CIO Dawn Gillis said the buffet chain’s new tech infrastructure, built by Qu, will help it double off-premise sales this year.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Feb. 11, 2025

McDonald’s looks to loyalty to recapture traffic after disappointing quarter

The chain aims to reach its goal of 250 million 90-day active MyMcDonald’s Rewards users and $45 billion in annual systemwide sales by 2027.

By Bryan Wassel • Feb. 10, 2025

NRA: 95% of restaurant operators say diners are more value-conscious

Forty-seven percent of operators are planning to offer discounts or value promotions this year, per National Restaurant Association research.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 10, 2025

Panera Bread hires Dunkin’ vet as CIO

Santhosh Kumar, who spent almost two decades in IT roles at Dunkin’, will develop and deploy tech across the chain’s 2,200-plus cafes.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 7, 2025

One-third of independent restaurants expect sales declines from tariffs

Comparatively, 40% of small business owners expect no sales impact from U.S. tariffs on China and potential tariffs on Mexico and Canada, according to an Alignable survey.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 7, 2025

Chipotle builds 2025 around ‘total guest experience,’ CEO says

The company will continue to roll out kitchen equipment and mobile order-focused Chipotlanes to keep order throughput high.

By Bryan Wassel • Feb. 6, 2025

NRA: Traditional restaurant sales will surpass $1.1 trillion in 2025

The entire foodservice industry will reach $1.5 trillion in annual sales despite labor and food cost challenges thanks to pent-up diner demand, the National Restaurant Association predicts.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 6, 2025

Chipotle’s LTOs drove 7% same-store sales bump in 2024

Chicken Al Pastor and Smoked Brisket boosted traffic at the chain, which plans to roll out Chipotle Honey Chicken — its best-performing test LTO — this year.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 5, 2025

Boston wants delivery firms to give drivers liability insurance

Under the proposed ordinance, aggregators like DoorDash and Uber Eats would need to meet data-sharing requirements to obtain an operating permit.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Feb. 5, 2025

Waffle House adds 50-cent surcharge due to egg shortage

Egg prices are expected to rise 20% this year due to the impact of bird flu, and operators and chains are finding ways to make up the cost.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 4, 2025

McDonald’s sales are still sluggish 3 months after E. coli outbreak

While value offerings are helping improve sales, some franchisees have yet to fully recover their visits and sales comps as of January, a BTIG report finds.

By Julie Littman • Feb. 4, 2025

Just Salad hires marketing, CX and development chiefs

The appointments come shortly after the chain opened its first drive-thru restaurant as part of a growth push.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Feb. 4, 2025

How 3 rising pizza chains are plotting 2025 expansion

Marco’s Pizza, Mr Gatti’s and Donato’s are poised for growth this year as segment leaders face sluggish performance.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Feb. 3, 2025