They say lightning never strikes twice, but no one ever said cars can’t come crashing through the window of a single Wendy’s more than once. To wit: two vehicles collided with each other in Paramus, N.J. yesterday, sending them both into a Wendy’s that was hit by a car in June. [More]
fast food
Arby’s CEO Apologizes After Florida Police Officer Was Reportedly Refused Service
By 9.2.15
The CEO of Arby’s has apologized to a Florida police department after an employee at a local restaurant reportedly refused to serve a uniformed officer. [More]
McDonald’s Franchisees Vote In All-Day Breakfast, Will Start October 6
By 9.1.15
After months of speculation, testing, and fretting over egg shortages, the day is finally here: McDonald’s franchisees have cast their votes, and all-day breakfast is going nationwide. Maybe they’ll use up those margarine stashes more quickly than anticipated. The menu varies slightly according to whether the restaurant is in a “biscuit market” or a standard breakfast market, but the important part is that it’s breakfast. All day. [More]
McDonald’s Can’t Use The Word “Artisan” To Describe Limited-Edition Burger In Ireland
By 9.1.15
In a world where marketers are constantly trying to catch the attention of shoppers with products that are seen as fresh, wholesome and healthy, there are some words that perhaps used to mean something more to people than they used to. Like “artisan” — in the past, this would’ve meant a skilled worker spending time and great effort on making something. Now, that could just mean more premium ingredients on your fast food burger. But in Ireland, it’s not so easy to use such words lightly, as McDonald’s recently found out with its first attempt at an “artisan” Irish burger. [More]
Lawsuit Alleges Chipotle Misleads Customers About Use Of GMOs
By 9.1.15
Back in April, Chipotle proudly declared that it was the only major fast food chain in the country to contain an entirely GMO-free menu. Now, just four months later, a recently filed class-action lawsuit says that proclamation isn’t exactly truthful, accusing the fast casual restaurant of false advertising and deceiving diners into paying more for their food. [More]
Subway Hoping A New Look Will Help Turn Things Around In 2016
By 8.31.15
Even before the public face of Subway became embroiled in a child pornography scandal, the nation’s largest fast food chain was facing sagging sales and concerns from franchisees about management. The company is now hoping a new look and refreshed menu can help put Subway back on track.
[More]
Subway Says It Is Now Taking Android Pay, Even Though It’s Not Live Yet
By 8.25.15
After leaked McDonald’s memos indicated that Android Pay — Google’s answer to Apple Pay — would launch this week, we have another sign from the fast food industry that the debut of the mobile payment platform is imminent. [More]
Possible Food-Borne Illness Sickens 77 At California Chipotle
By 8.25.15
Health officials in Ventura County, California, are investigating a possible outbreak of a food-borne illness after dozens of people who either ate or work at one local Chipotle fell ill.
[More]
Federal Court Rules: Chicken Sandwich Not Protected By Copyright
By 8.25.15
You may recall that we recently tested various burger recipes sent in by readers. What if I took one of those recipes, slapped the name “Morranwich” on it and made it the basis of a billion-dollar burger empire? While the reader whose recipe I used for the sandwich might be really upset, they couldn’t make a copyright claim against Morranwich Worldwide (a division of Cyber Dynamics Systems Corporation) because, as precious as a sandwich recipe might be, it’s not copyrightable. [More]
New Fast Food Item Ideas Are Born In Test Kitchens, In Franchises, And Everywhere Else
By 8.24.15
Back in 1972, McDonald’s only served two meals each day: lunch and dinner. It took one enterprising franchisee to invent the Egg McMuffin, and with it, the entire fast food breakfast sandwich industry. Yet there aren’t many new menu items that survive the testing phase in the fast food industry, and a variety of factors could stop a new item on its way to international greatness. [More]
Chipotle Plans To Hire 4,000 People In Single Day
By 8.24.15
Chipotle has a plan to grow its workforce by 7%, not over the course of a year or even a few months. The burrito chain’s goal is to accomplish this feat — hiring 4,000 new employees — in the course of a single day in September. [More]
Couple Says Taco Bell Nachos Came With Extra, Unwanted Crunch: A Fake Fingernail
By 8.19.15
Here’s to hoping you’ve already eaten your lunch, because if you haven’t, you might want to do that first. We can all appreciate a crunchy serving of chips, cheese and tasty toppings, but one Florida couple says that their Taco Bell nachos came with an added bit of texture in the form of a long, acrylic fingernail at the bottom of their order. [More]
Jared Guilty Plea Could Burst Subway’s Growth Bubble
By 8.19.15
There are two pieces of Subway-related news going around this week. You’ve likely heard the first — that Subway has ended its relationship with longtime spokesman Jared Fogle as he prepared to enter a guilty plea on child pornography-related charges. The second is that the latest stats for the nation’s largest fast food chains has been released, highlighting the perilous position in which Subway finds itself, with so many stores making not that much money. [More]
Experimenting With New Ingredients Isn’t So Easy For Fast Food Chains
By 8.18.15
When I want to make a kale salad, I go to the grocery store and buy a bundle of kale. When McDonald’s wants to make some kale salads in their restaurants, they have to set up an entire supply chain for millions of pounds of kale. As fast-food customers are demanding that restaurants use recognizable, pronounceable ingredients, that makes it difficult to mass-produce food that doesn’t seem mass-produced. [More]
Arby’s Introduces Sliders That We Will Call Meat Molehills
By 8.18.15
Sure, you can go to Arby’s and order the off-menu Meat Mountain, which comes in at an estimated 1,275 calories and will probably attract some attention wherever you eat it. Or you could sample the meats available from Arby’s in a more modest way: by trying the chain’s new selection of petite “sliders,” or mini sandwiches that max out at 290 calories. [More]
Park Ranger Drives 12 Hours To Remove Fake McDonald’s “Opening Soon” Sign From Middle Of Australian Desert
By 8.17.15
Like some kind of fast food mirage rising from the middle of an Australian desert, a McDonald’s sign sat towering over the emptiness, beckoning travelers with the promise implied in its golden arches. Upon closer inspection, the sign noted that a restaurant would be “opening soon.” But almost a month after pranksters installed the sign 124 miles from the edge of the desert, the South Australian government says it sent a park ranger on a 12-hour trip to take it down. [More]
Chick-Fil-A Franchise Owner Pays Employees During 5-Month Renovation
By 8.14.15
The owner of a Chick-Fil-A franchise in Austin, Texas needed to expand his restaurant, which required closing it for a few months. Instead of letting his workers go and wishing them luck finding work elsewhere, he decided to just keep paying them for the four months that the restaurant was under renovation. Wait, really? [More]
Florida Domino’s Shuts Down Because Live Roaches Shouldn’t Be Near Food
By 8.11.15
If the thought of bugs crawling around in a restaurant kitchen near food terrifies you, it’s best to stop reading now. A Florida Domino’s had to shut down temporarily after inspectors say they witnessed more than 20 lives roaches crawling on a table on the cook’s line and hanging out in a bin of onions. [More]
