Development

According to Yogi Berra, “The future ain’t what it used to be.” As it turns out, he could have been talking about today’s restaurant industry. For decades, the restaurant of the future was expected to be more of the same, tweaked a little here and there but essentially featuring no significant advances. When the future arrived, it was what it used to be.

While 87 percent of consumers order ethnic food or food with ethnic flavors, just 32 percent of them are willing to pay extra for “authentic” ethnic fare, according to a new report from market-research firm Technomic’s 2018 Ethnic Food & Beverage Consumer Trend Report. 

Jamba, Inc. will push its convenience-driven formats in the Dallas-Fort Worth market with three new openings.

With 30 locations nationwide, dine-in theater concept Studio Movie Grill (SMG) is expanding globally with new locations recently opened in North Carolina, Florida and California as well as two new overseas locations in Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

Pokéworks signed its first master franchise agreement to take the fast-casual chain outside the U.S. and into Mexico.

The Brass Tap signed a five-unit development deal in Modesto, Calif.

San Francisco-based SAJJ Mediterranean, a fast-casual specializing in customizable Middle Eastern cuisine, has aggressive plans for the next year, including the opening of three locations in California.

PJ's Coffee of New Orleans, a New Orleans-based coffeehouse that positioned itself as “a southern hospitality experience,” signed a multi-unit agreement to bring five locations to Maryland, northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. within the next four years.