New York legalizes to-go cocktails through 2025

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the state's budget deal, which also establishes a reform commission designed to modernize New York's alcohol regulations, on Saturday.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Updated April 12, 2022

Chick-fil-A awards $24M in college scholarships to nearly 12,700 employees

More than 2,200 of this year's scholarships were funded from sales of its bottled sauces, introduced in 2020 and sold at select retailers.

By Alicia Kelso • April 7, 2022

House passes bill that would inject $42B into Restaurant Revitalization Fund

If H.R. 3807 passes the Senate, the 177,000 restaurants that were approved for but didn't receive RRF grants will be in a queue to receive funding, legislators said on a call hosted by the Independent Restaurant Coalition.

By Emma Liem Beckett • April 7, 2022

Long John Silver's pays $200K to settle teen's sexual harassment, retaliation claim

After a 17-year-old worker complained of a manager sending her explicit videos and propositioning her, the company refused to investigate and ultimately fired her, EEOC alleged.

By Laurel Kalser • April 7, 2022

House, Senate introduce bills adding $40B to RRF

The House is expected to vote on a $42 billion refill bill this week, while Sen. Benjamin Cardin introduced a similar bill to add $40 billion to the RRF Tuesday.

By Emma Liem Beckett • Updated April 6, 2022

Howard Schultz suspends Starbucks share repurchase program

The move will let the chain invest more profit into employees and stores "to create long-term value for all stakeholders," Schultz wrote on Monday. 

By Alicia Kelso • April 5, 2022

Foodservice added 250K jobs in first 3 months of 2022

Employment in the sector still lags behind February 2020 levels by about 820,000 jobs, but this is the smallest gap to date between pre-pandemic and current job levels.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • April 4, 2022

Yelp partners with Hazel Analytics to expand health scores on its platform

Hazel Analytics will incorporate data from health departments across 48 U.S. states to facilitate health scores across Yelp's nearly 700,000 pages.

By Alicia Kelso • March 31, 2022

Sbarro adds same-day pay option for employees

The pizza chain hopes provider DailyPay will bolster recruitment and retention efforts by helping workers avoid payday bills and overdraft fees. 

By Alicia Kelso • March 23, 2022

DC Attorney General sues Grubhub over hidden fees

The complaint alleges Grubhub offered delivery from over 1,000 District restaurants without their consent, but Grubhub denies violating local laws.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • March 22, 2022

11th Cir. OKs 'Salt Bae' restaurant's compensation scheme

The case hinged on whether a nonvoluntary "service charge" added to a customer's bill should be treated as a tip.

By Emilie Shumway • March 21, 2022

Starbucks shareholders urge for 'neutrality' in face of union's spread

Seventy-three shareholders representing $3.4 trillion in assets are concerned with the optics of alleged retaliatory firings and "captive audience meetings."

By Emma Liem Beckett • March 17, 2022

7 details restaurants need to include in sexual harassment policies

With Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, it's time to develop new restaurant and bar policies and take a harder look at existing ones, writes Jarrett Wagner, a risk control representative at Society Insurance.

By Jarrett Wagner • March 17, 2022

EEOC sues Chipotle over sexual harassment in Washington state

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges several female employees were sexually harassed from October 2019 to June 2020.

By Alicia Kelso • March 15, 2022

In absence of RRF, restaurants can use tech to boost recovery

A provision that would refill the Restaurant Revitalization Fund was nixed from the final version of the omnibus spending bill, but operators have the tools they need to thrive, writes Ben Pryor, head of innovation for SpotOn.

By Ben Pryor • March 10, 2022

Starbucks union wins 3 more stores in Buffalo elections

The coffee chain's union organizers have secured more momentum than expected, but still face more than 100 elections and "a war of attrition," according to a labor expert.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • March 10, 2022

Congress should double down on the Restaurant Revitalization Fund at this critical juncture

Restaurants have survived but need more help in this "New Hospitality" era, writes Chris Comparato, CEO of Toast.

By Chris Comparato • March 7, 2022

Starbucks Workers United wins first store election outside of Buffalo

With national political momentum and more than 100 stores organizing, Starbucks Workers United's movement continues to grow after a location in Mesa, Arizona, voted yes. 

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Feb. 25, 2022

California's $15 minimum wage begins this year. Debate on the next increase has already begun.

Advocates say the change is needed to keep up with living costs, but one management-side attorney said municipal governments may struggle to adapt.

By Ryan Golden • Feb. 25, 2022

Checkers & Rally's to deploy Valyant AI at franchisee drive-thrus

Valyant's conversational artificial intelligence, called "Holly," is currently used at 12 of the chain's franchised restaurants. The chain will deploy Presto's AI at all of its corporate units. 

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Feb. 23, 2022

Chipotle hikes executive pay ties to DEI, environmental targets

Annual bonuses will be impacted by up to 15%, up from 10% in 2021.

By Emma Liem Beckett • Feb. 23, 2022

Starbucks union drive tops 100 stores, Arizona ballot count postponed

The Starbucks Workers United movement is still too small to bring corporate to the bargaining table on a national scale, experts say, but its momentum may spark change.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Feb. 17, 2022

White Castle brings cooking robot to 100 more restaurants

The burger chain will soon use Miso Robotics' Flippy 2 robot, which can perform the work of a whole fry station, at nearly one-third of its units. 

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Feb. 15, 2022

91% of NYC restaurants say permanent outdoor dining is 'very important' to future survival

Mayor Eric Adams and the NYC Hospitality Alliance, along with nearly 70% of the city's residents, support creating a permanent outdoor dining program, a NYCHA survey finds. 

By Alicia Kelso • Feb. 14, 2022

7shifts raises $80M to grow workforce management tech

The company will use the latest round of funding to double the size of its team and build more products to support and expedite restaurant HR processes.

By Alicia Kelso • Feb. 11, 2022