Featured Articles

Development
Dyer Brown

Staying relevant in the ultra-competitive hospitality space means creating higher-quality experiences for patrons, according to Maxim Parkhomchuk, VP of construction and executive project manager at LOTT Restaurant Construction in Philadelphia. The LOTT team has collectively built over 400 restaurants throughout the United States since 1992.

Development

Slapfish has swum ashore in the United Kingdom, marking the fast-casual seafood chain’s first international location. The restaurant chain plans to open 25 more units across the U.K. by 2025 with franchise partner SME Group PLC, which operates nearly 100 franchise locations with various fast-casual concepts in the U.K.

Design

New York City-based Bareburger, specializing in what it calls “clean comfort food” opened a new location in New York Upper West Side neighborhood with a refreshed design in honor of the chain’s tenth anniversary.

Development

Wisconsin-based fast-casual sub shop Cousins Subs opened its first-ever airport location in Concourse C at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport with partner HMSHost.

Design

Located in Carlsbad, Calif., The Coyote is a longtime restaurant/bar/live music venue that’s a favorite with locals for its extensive outdoor seating. A dark and aging indoor dining area was being underutilized until it was renovated.  

Design
Brent White

Hot colors, hard plastic surfaces, fixed furnishings, drab dropped ceilings, bright institutional lighting — think back to just about any fast-food restaurant chain not too many years ago, and these are the design elements you’d have been likely to see. After all, the whole QSR experience was built around getting customers in and out quickly, not making them comfortable enough to hang around.