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Mongolian barbecue was once The Next Big Thing in the restaurant industry.

Owned by Sage Restaurant Group, The Emporium Kitchen & Wine Market offers guests a retail wine/deli component along with a polished-casual restaurant experience. The concept has two locations, both designed with their respective communities in mind.

Fondue chain The Melting Pot is naturally an experience-based concept. Historically, those experiences ran toward celebrations or romantic evenings. The chain recently rolled out a new design meant to expand on those experiences and give guests more reasons and more occasions to visit.

Austin, Texas, is called the Live Music Capital of the World. It's also home many great restaurants. Take a tour of some you shouldn't miss on your next trip.

As an expert in restaurant design, Michael Poris, AIA, is principal of McIntosh Poris Associates, a Michigan-based firm that provides architecture, interior design and urban planning services across a variety of disciplines, including hospitality, retail, residential, multifamily, commercial, adaptive reuse and institutional.

Mean Noodles — a play on the idea of “a mean bowl of noodles” and on the fact that “mean” sounds like the word for “noodles” in Chinese — is a marriage of food and design from openUU, a Hong Kong-based design firm. 

This fast-casual deli concept redesigned its prototype to emphasize connections to communities, hospitality and elevated food.

What can I do to prepare my restaurant for takeout and delivery orders?