Tagged Articles

Ruby’s Diner Moving Forward

Recognizing demographic realities, this retro diner chain is moving beyond its 1940s design to the broader appeal of the late ’50s and early ’60s.

Mi Vida Makes Waves at D.C.’s New District Wharf

The opportunity to snag a spot in a prime urban waterfront redevelopment project doesn’t come along every day. When one did, Washington, D.C.-based KNEAD Hospitality + Design didn’t hesitate. 

Project Profile: Firepoint Grill

Comfortable, Modern Design on Fire

4 Rivers Smokehouse is on a Mission

This BBQ chain made its first move outside of Florida by turning an old firehouse in Atlanta into a restaurant.

El Five Is a Vibrant Feast for the Senses

Justin Cucci really didn’t want to do another restaurant. He and his team at Edible Beats had already developed four Denver hot spots, each a unique concept and all involving demanding, multiyear adaptive reuse projects. He felt he had neither the time nor the energy for another one.

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Dallas Makes Uptown Moves

Moving a flagship location while at the same time introducing a bold new look isn’t without stress for the team involved or without risk for the concept. But when that flagship’s original trade area starts shifting, when its first-generation look begins to feel dated, and when a stellar piece of real estate beckons from across town, the case for making such a move can be compelling.

Fazoli’s Takes the Next Step Toward Revival

Any concept with with the staying power to last 27 years is going to experience some ups and downs. Fazoli’s, an Italian fast-casual chain out of Lexington, Ky., is no different.

Main Event Ups Its Game

Needing to keep its base of affluent, in-the-know guests coming back, this entertainment concept has rolled out its second new design in less than 10 years.

Project Profile: Eberly

Many a great restaurant concept idea is hatched over drinks. In the case of Eberly, a contemporary American restaurant in Austin, Texas, creative inspiration sprang not from booze-fueled collaboration on a cocktail napkin but from the beauty and backstory of an actual bar.

Burger 21 Finds Its Niche

This better-burger chain has introduced a new prototype to emphasize food quality and its 21 burger recipes.

Coming Back from Disaster

Your restaurant is in tatters, utilities and cell service are out, there’s water everywhere, your POS system is torched, customers are displaced, and payroll’s due next week. Sound like one big, nasty nightmare?

Glamour in the Desert: The Drum Room

Three handcrafted drumheads, evoking the spirit of traditional Native American tribal drums, line the back bar wall and help to convey the concept’s theme. 

Tony Roma’s Focuses on Experience

Competition for the dining dollar is fiercer than ever. High-quality options are available from a multitude of restaurants; grocery stores have entered the fray with hot and cold bars and even cooked-to-order offerings; takeout-only businesses specialize in pre-portioned meals for the calorie-conscious; and mail-order services give people all the ingredients they need to make a delicious meal at home. With so many choices available to consumers, offering good food in a

Midcentury Meets Mediterranean at La Sirena in NYC

Finding restaurants with large, comfortable alfresco dining spaces in New York City is no small task. So when word leaked that La Bottega, an Italian restaurant fronted by an expansive outdoor plaza at the Maritime Hotel, would be closing, Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group (B&BHG) jumped at the opportunity. 

Cowboy Chicken Goes from Kitsch to Cool with New Prototype

When Dallas-based Cowboy Chicken launched its franchise program in 2009, the company set a goal of growing into first a regional and then a national brand. The chain’s menu, featuring wood-fired rotisserie chicken, fit right in with the growing fast-casual sector and a burgeoning consumer desire for wholesome, authentic food.

Nomad Pizza Steps on the Gas

A former food truck opens its fourth location with an ambitious adaptive reuse project.

Mr. Gatti’s Goes Back

The 47-year-old pizza chain’s new prototype follows the old pizzeria model.

Noodles & Company Embraces Change with New Prototype

This fast-casual chain managed internal and external relationships to update its look.

Quiznos Grill Heats up New Dayparts

The sandwich chain moves seamlessly from daytime to nighttime with its new fast-casual concept.

C-Store Design Impacts Customer Purchases

Convenience store design impacts consumer perceptions and purchases of foodservice items, Technomic finds.

Project Profile: The Dabney

This James Beard semifinalist restaurant celebrates mid-Atlantic cooking in an environment that emphasizes tradition.

Tony Roma’s Updating Its Flagship

Romacorp, the parent company of Tony Roma’s, plans to redesign the concept’s flagship store in Orlando. When completed, the operation will measure 8,800 square feet and have seating for 120 people.

Project Profile: Ninebark Napa

Quick, creative makeover yields a fresh look for a hot new chef-driven restaurant

Project Profile: Newk’s Eatery

This fast-casual chain’s new prototype emphasizes the concept’s food-driven approach while addressing operational concerns.

Spanish-Inspired Estrellón Shines Bright

Chef Tory Miller, the James Beard Foundation’s 2012 Best Chef–Midwest, has added another star to his constellation of concepts in Madison, Wis. His fourth restaurant, Estrellón, opened in late summer, bringing a menu of tapas, small plates, charcuterie and paella to the city’s downtown in a comfortably sophisticated space.

Restaurant Profile: Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar

New Design Brings the Brand Home

In Cuba, “paladares” represent a unique and much-loved form of hospitality: Essentially, they’re small, comforting restaurants that operate out of people’s homes. When partners Elie Weiss and Andy Himmel launched their first restaurant in Cleveland in 2007, they took the Paladar name as a way to represent the vibrant Latin cuisine and cultural experience on which they wanted to build their brand.

Zaxby’s Hatches New Retro Farmhouse Design Prototype

Georgia-based fast-casual chicken phenomenon Zaxby’s will get a new look, just in time for its 25th anniversary this year. Operating as a big company with a small-company culture, the primarily franchised concept has seen rapid growth and expansion in the past two decades, but the last two years have been particularly productive.

Project Profile: America Eats Tavern

Originally conceived as a temporary collaboration with the Foundation for the National Archives’ “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” exhibit in Washington, D.C., America Eats Tavernnow has a permanent home. Created by multiconcept operators chef José Andrés and Rob Wilder of ThinkFoodGroup, the restaurant opened in June at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the D.C. suburb of Tysons Corner, Va., a fitting locale for an upmarket concept celebrating Americana

Project Profile: Nico Osteria

Industrial-Chic Design Sets the Stage for One Off Hospitality’s Hotel Restaurant Debut

Restaurant Profile: Shake Shack

Union Square Hospitality Group Takes its Roadside Shack Out for a Spin on Jersey's Route 17