Although Chipotle CEO and co-founder Steve Ells apologized yesterday to customers who have gotten sick from eating at the chain recently — whether from E. Coli or norovirus — it’s worth remembering that there are some folks who’ve had to wait a bit longer for that mea culpa. [More]
restaurants
Chipotle Has Been Making Customers Sick Since The Summer, Company Says “There Really Wasn’t A Pattern”
By 12.11.15
Chipotle’s Bad Year Continues With Closure Of Seattle Restaurant For Repeated Violations
By 12.11.15
Not even two months after Chipotle temporarily closed 43 restaurants in the Pacific Northwest amid an E. coli outbreak that resulted in 52 sick customers in nine states — and the same week that a Boston Chipotle had to be shuttered after being linked to around 80 illnesses — the burrito chain has had to shutter a Seattle eatery after being repeatedly flagged for serious health violations. [More]
Chipotle CEO Apologizes For Making People Sick: “We Are Going To Be The Safest Place To Eat”
By 12.10.15
After Chipotle customers all over the country have fallen ill from eating at the chain’s restaurants, founder and co-CEO Steve Ells says he’s sorry the restaurant has caused so many to become sick, and promised to implement new food safety guidelines to help prevent such outbreaks from happening in the future. [More]
Police: Father & Son Team Stole $41K Worth Of Chicken Wings From Their Employer
By 12.8.15
Some days you just need to start off with some news about meat theft, and today is one of those occasions: a father and son team near Syracuse, NY have been accused by police of pilfering about $40,000 worth of chicken wings from the restaurant where they both worked as cooks. Update: the dad in this duo had committed prior crimes against meat. Last year. [More]
McDonald’s Offering Table Service, New Menu At California Restaurants
By 12.1.15
Walk in to just about any McDonald’s in the country and you’ll be faced with the same process: wait in line to order your meal, recite your desired order to the person manning the register, wait a bit longer at the counter for your food to be prepared, and amble around the restaurant to find seating. While this tried-and-true method has worked for decades, the Golden Arches is apparently ready to change things up and show its fancier side by testing table service at hundreds of locations in California. [More]
NYC’s Salt Warning Labels Set To Debut At Chain Restaurants This Week
By 11.30.15
Menus at New York City’s chain eateries will be getting a makeover this week, as the city’s rule requiring warning labels for particularly salty menu items goes into effect. [More]
Dunkin’ Donuts Now Testing Mobile Ordering, Delivery Service In Certain U.S. Cities
By 11.18.15
After announcing this summer that it would be dipping its toes into mobile ordering as well as mulling the idea of offering delivery service, Dunkin’ Donuts says it’s testing both features at various markets around the country now. [More]
Urban Outfitters Venturing Into Food Business With Purchase Of Italian Restaurant Group
By 11.16.15
Urban Outfitters has become known for its wide variety of kitschy, unique and sometimes offensive clothing, housewares and other accessories. Now, it appears the retailer wants to be known for something entirely different: food. [More]
Taco Bell Promises To Use Only Cage-Free Eggs In All U.S. Locations By End Of 2016
By 11.16.15
Another day, another national restaurant chain announcing changes in how it sources its food: Taco Bell is saving itself a spot in the cage-free henhouse, pledging today to use only eggs from cageless chickens in all U.S. restaurants by the end of 2016. [More]
Amazon Expanding Restaurant Delivery Service To All Prime Now Markets
By 11.12.15
Just two months after launching the Prime restaurant delivery service in Seattle, Amazon plans to rapidly expand the service to 20 major cities already served by its quick-delivery Prime Now program. [More]
Joe’s Crab Shack Tests No-Tipping Policy, Raises Server Wages To $14/Hour
By 11.10.15
Joe’s Crab Shack will become the first national full-service chain to test a no-tipping policy, following in the footsteps of several prominent New York-based restaurants that ditched gratuity last month. [More]
Panera Pledges To Move To Only Cage-Free Eggs By 2020, Wants You To Eat More Plants
By 11.5.15
As consumers continue to lean toward food options they see as healthier and more sustainable, Panera Bread is touting updates to animal welfare program. One big pledge the soup and sandwich chain is making: it’ll use only cage-free eggs in its supply chain by 2020. [More]
Restaurant Critic Rails Against “Stupid And Broken” Star-Rating System
By 10.27.15
We’ve said before that star ratings for restaurants are often arbitrary and may not be an accurate representation of the review’s content or of other diners’ standards. You might think that critics who get paid to give such ratings would defend the practice, but at least one of them has come out swinging against the stars, bells, and other dingbats he and his fellow reviewers are often compelled to use. [More]
McDonald’s U.S. Sales Go Up For The First Time In Two Years
By 10.22.15
McDonald’s finally has some good news: after years of sliding sales and recent store closures, among other troubling signs, the Golden Arches has managed to see in an improvement in its U.S. stores for the first time in two years. [More]
Amazon Expands Restaurant Delivery Service To Portland, OR
By 10.20.15
Consumers in Portland, OR, hungry for a nice dinner, but too tired to actually head out into the world, can now order via Amazon’s newly expanded Prime restaurant delivery service. Using the Prime Now mobile app, members of Amazon’s $99/year subscription program can view participating restaurants, browse menus, place orders and track the status of their delivery. Once an order is placed, Amazon delivery drivers pick up and deliver the food within an hour or less. The service first launched last month in Seattle. [Amazon] [More]
Why Lower Gas Prices Are Really Good For Restaurants
By 10.19.15
When gasoline prices fall, that means that consumers who drive have more money to spend on things other than fuel. The JPMorgan Chase Institute, a global economics think tank affiliated with the bank, analyzed their customer credit and debit card data to figure out what we did with all of those savings. It may not surprise you that most of it didn’t go into our retirement accounts. [More]
Parent Company Of 13 Prominent NYC Restaurants Decides To Eliminate Tipping
By 10.14.15
Union Square Hospitality Group isn’t a household name nationwide, but it’s the parent company of 13 prominent restaurants in New York City. It was also previously the parent company of burger chain Shake Shack, which has since left the nest as a separate company. Today, USHG announced that they’re going to eliminate tipping in all of their restaurants, instead raising prices to give all employees a raise. [More]
Johnny Rockets Going Ahead With Kiosk-Powered Fast-Casual Restaurants
By 10.8.15
Do you enjoy the pseudo-diner experience of the chain Johnny Rockets, but want your food faster? Last year, we learned that the chain was working on a fast-casual concept that would expand the brand away from standalone restaurants with waitstaff. The first of those restaurants is here: It’s called the Johnny Rockets Burger Factory, and it’s in Buffalo, NY. [More]
