Food & Beverage News

El Pollo Loco has named Hector A. Muñoz, a former executive at rival chicken brands Church’s Chicken and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, as its new chief marketing officer. Muñoz replaces Ed Valle who stepped down earlier this year after seven years with the chain. Muñoz will start Dec. 3. Muñoz joins the company from Atlanta-based Church’s Chicken, where…

Bob Platzer, founder of PJW Restaurant Group, the largest and most successful family-owned restaurant group in the Delaware Valley, has named hospitality veteran Jim Fris Chief Executive Officer as Platzer assumes the Executive Chairman role. The announcement comes as the restaurant group celebrates its 35th year of success. Bob Platzer and his wife Donna began in…

After 11 years as CEO of UNO Restaurant LLC, Louie Psallidas has stepped down from his role. Psallidas made the announcement, “A farewell to my friends at UNO,” on his Linkedln page on November 21. When I first became CEO of UNO, a wise man told me that it would be important to recognize when the…

Service men and women accepted into the groundbreaking program will earn a paycheck from Chili’s as they’re provided with the education and training to advance into supervisory positions for the chain. They will join the 250 Chili’s employees currently participating in the initiative, a pilot program forged by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF)…

One of the challenges of scaling a mid-sized restaurant chain is the notion that, well, you’re a chain. Beyond the power of recognition that crosses state lines, how do you compete with local, independent spots that appeal to the community-based diner? How do you unchain the chain, in other terms, and erase the sterile stereotype…

Moore’s Law was coined in 1965 by Gordon Moore and is often referenced to describe the driving force of technological and social change, productivity and growth. According to Olo founder and CEO Noah Glass, the restaurant industry is, in a way, experiencing this theory as digital ordering and delivery barrel toward an expected $200 billion of…

The domestic results were “slightly” ahead of the Louisville, Ky.-based pizza chain’s expectations. Speaking on the company’s third-quarter earnings call Tuesday afternoon, executives said that same-store sales improved in September from the decline of 10.5% in July and into August. Steve Ritchie, Papa John’s CEO, said that the comparable store sale and traffic improved after…

The Starbucks experience in China is different. Perhaps the biggest difference: Chinese customers can get their Frappucinos delivered to their homes. The delivery option is possible because of a partnership with e-commerce platform Alibaba that rolled out in August, connecting it with the company’s online marketplace, delivery and logistics networks and on-site mobile apps and…

Yum China Holdings, Inc., and Taco Bell Corp. have opened the first Taco Bell restaurant in China. Taco Bell’s first restaurant in China is part of the brand’s global growth strategy of reaching 1,000 restaurants internationally by 2022. Currently, Taco Bell operates more than 7,000 restaurants in the world with more than 300 in 26…

Tony Lowings has been promoted to chief executive officer of the KFC division at Yum! Brands, Inc., effective Jan. 1, 2019. Mr. Lowings currently is president and chief operating officer for the KFC division. In his new role, Mr. responsible for driving KFC’s brand strategy and performance of the chain’s more than 21,000 restaurants around…