Sep. 16, 2010 at 11:34 a.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Food,
Franchises,
Restaurants,
Updated
By Chicago Tribune
The parking lot at the new Chick-fil-A restaurant in Aurora briefly turned into a campground, with the chain offering the first one hundred people in line a one-year supply of 52 meals coupons on Thursday. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
Employees in crisp red shirts performed a variety of final tasks as the legendary chicken chain prepared to debut its first Chicago-area outlet at 6 a.m. Thursday at the Westfield Fox Valley Mall property on Aurora’s far east side.
An unofficial pre-opening on Wednesday drew dozens of Chick-fil-A fans from the Chicago area and beyond, lured by the prospect of free once-a-week meals for a year. The firm traditionally gives away coupons to the first 100 customers. Get the full story>>
Sep. 16, 2010 at 6:00 a.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Restaurants
By CNN
IHOP has filed a lawsuit against a church group called the International House of Prayer claiming that the group is illegally using the pancake house’s famous acronym.
The legal flap started earlier this month when the International House of Pancakes filed the lawsuit in a federal court in California. Get the full story »
Sep. 15, 2010 at 8:33 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
By Dow Jones Newswires
Wendy’s is making its next push behind salads by cutting the serving in half, hoping to keep sales of its upgraded salads strong by offering them at a lower price.
Wendy’s, a unit of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc., later this month will add half-sized versions of its new higher-end salads, which come in varieties like Apple Pecan Chicken and BLT Cobb, for $3.99. It’s also adding a “Pick 2” menu where, for $4.99, customer can add-on items like a baked potato, small chili, a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, chicken wraps or drinks that normally cost between $1 and $1.49. Get the full story »
Sep. 14, 2010 at 4:23 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants,
Retail
By Emily Bryson York
Last month Starbucks rolled out a “simplified” drive-through menu which removed the company’s small-sized drink, referred to as a “tall.” But the experiment will be short-lived. Starting Thursday, the company will update drive-through menu boards again, to indicate the tall size is still available.
“We want to be sure there is no confusion and that our menu reflects a range of price points,” spokeswoman Deb Trevino wrote in an email. “We listened to feedback and starting Thursday the 16th, stores will be updating their drive-through menu boards, highlighting that tall size is available.” Get the full story »
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Ad showing corpse holding a hamburger. (PCRM ad)
McDonald’s Corp. is the target of a new television commercial set to air in Washington, D.C., Thursday that blames the burger giant for heart disease.
In the commercial, produced by the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a woman weeps over a dead man lying in a morgue. In his hand is a hamburger. At the end, the golden arches appear over his feet, followed by the words, “I was lovin’ it,” a play on McDonald’s longtime ad slogan, “I’m lovin’ it.” A voiceover says, “High cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart attacks. Tonight, make it vegetarian.” Get the full story »
Sep. 10, 2010 at 1:22 p.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Food,
Restaurants
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Brown’s Chicken and Pasta has agreed to be sold at auction as a going concern to speed its contentious bankruptcy proceedings.
Sep. 10, 2010 at 11:30 a.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Food,
Investing,
Restaurants
By Reuters
(Reuters/Molly Riley/Files)
Moody’s Investors Service said on Friday it may raise its ratings on McDonald’s Corp. due to solid operating performance and growth prospects.
Moody’s placed McDonald’s A3 senior unsecured rating, the seventh-highest rating, and Prime-2 short-term commercial paper rating on review for possible upgrade.
“The review for possible upgrade reflects McDonald’s solid operating performance achieved through various strategic initiatives such as new product innovation, cost savings, re-imaging and new restaurant growth,” Moody’s analyst Bill Fahy said in a statement. Get the full story »
Sep. 9, 2010 at 11:47 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Franchises,
Personnel moves,
Restaurants
By Associated Press
Burger King’s soon-to-be new owners have named a former Latin American railroad executive to be CEO of the fast-food chain after the $3.26 billion deal goes through.
The appointment of Bernardo Hees by 3G Capital is a signal that the investment firm is serious about expanding the Burger King brand further into Latin America and elsewhere abroad. Get the full story »
Sep. 9, 2010 at 7:11 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
By Associated Press
Fast-food giant McDonald’s says a key revenue figure rose 4.6 percent in the U.S. in August, as customers continued to come in for its frappes and smoothies. The world’s largest hamburger chain says overall its August sales at restaurants open at least 13 months climbed 4.9 percent.
Sep. 8, 2010 at 9:47 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Litigation,
Restaurants
By Becky Yerak
Groupon has filed a trademark and copyright infringement case against two Australian businesses that it claims use “confusingly similar terms” while providing “identical services” to the Chicago-based daily deal site. Get the full story »
Sep. 8, 2010 at 9:38 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
By Wailin Wong
A New York-based Web start-up specializing in restaurant discounts and reservations is expanding into Chicago, hoping to give restaurateurs and diners an alternative to daily deal sites such as Groupon.
VillageVines officially launches in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C. on Sept. 15. In the meantime, Chicagoans can sign up for the site starting today. When the site goes live, members will be able to log in and book a reservation through an online calendar that lists available restaurants and dates. VillageVines charges $10 per reservation and typically offers 30 percent off the check. Get the full story »
Sep. 7, 2010 at 5:41 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
By Associated Press
Burger King's new blueberry muffins. (AP/Burger King)
Burger King is introducing nine new breakfast items including blueberry biscuits and pancake platters and planning a major breakfast marketing blitz — all with an eye toward eating up some of McDonald’s morning business.
The chain said the move Tuesday is its biggest introduction of new items at one time ever. It also includes iced coffee from Seattle’s Best. Get the full story »
Sep. 3, 2010 at 9:58 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Media,
Restaurants
By Michael Oneal
A McDonald's double cheeseburger. (Kevin Pang/Tribune)
Oak Brook-based McDonald’s Corp. came in last in a new Consumer Reports rating of fast-food burgers, the magazine said Friday.
Burger King and Wendy’s fared a little better, but the top honors went to smaller regional chains like California’s In-N-Out Burger and Virginia-based Five Guys Burgers and Fries, which has several locations in Chicago. Get the full story »
Sep. 3, 2010 at 5:59 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
By Tribune staff report
Chick-fil-A has planned grand opening activities Sept. 16 for its new restaurant opening in Aurora, its first store in the Chicago-area.
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A is moving ahead on three other restaurants in the suburbs. Next year, Chick-fil-A is planning to open its first restaurant in the city of Chicago, followed by one or two more by the end of 2011. Ultimately, the company hopes to have 25 restaurants here in five years. Get the full story »
Sep. 2, 2010 at 8:28 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Franchises,
M&A,
Restaurants
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Burger King's Miami headquarters. (Joe Raedle/Getty)
Burger King Holdings Inc. confirmed that New York-based 3G Capital Management has signed a deal to buy the company for $24 a share.
The total deal, including both equity and debt, is around $4 billion and is expected to closed before the end of the year. Burger King said it may solicit better offers through mid-October. Banks are expected to finance about $2.8 billion of the total deal value. Get the full story »
