restaurant chain

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Ordering at Panera? Put Up Your Palm

Critics say chain's plan to use biometrics payment system could lead to privacy issues

(Newser) - Soon, paying at Panera Bread will be as easy as holding up your hand. That's because the bakery-cafe chain will be rolling out a palm-reading payment system over the next few months, expediting transactions but raising concerns among privacy advocates. NPR reports that the biometrics technology it plans on...

Taco Bell Considering Big Change to Its Menu

Fast-food company may permanently offer fries to compete with McDonald's

(Newser) - Taco Bell may soon be asking if you want fries with your taco—and not just on special occasions. The Mexican-inspired fast-food chain is considering making fries a permanent menu item as it aims to bring in more customers for lunch. Taco Bell launched nacho fries as a limited-time menu...

Customers Have Beef With Cracker Barrel's New 'Sausage'
Cracker Barrel's New 'Sausage'
Creates Online Ruckus
in case you missed it

Cracker Barrel's New 'Sausage' Creates Online Ruckus

Chain's ad promoting plant-based Impossible brand generates backlash from customers

(Newser) - It seemed an innocuous enough ad for Cracker Barrel. "Discover new meat frontiers," the restaurant chain announced in a Monday social media post . "Experience the out of this world flavor of Impossible Sausage Made From Plants next time you Build Your Own Breakfast." The accompanying photo...

Taco Bell's New Menu Items Feature 'Nostalgic' Ingredient

Giant Cheez-It cracker is the base for test-drive of limited-edition tostada, Crunchwrap Supreme

(Newser) - If Taco Bell happens to be sold out of the newly revived Mexican Pizza, no need to write a sad country song about it, as Dolly Parton might be wont to do . Instead, try the restaurant chain's two new menu items, both of which incorporate a Cheez-It cracker that'...

Nation's Last HoJos Closes
Nation's Last
HoJos Closes

Nation's Last HoJos Closes

The Lake George diner, serving 28 flavors of ice cream, was built in 1953

(Newser) - Once the largest restaurant chain in the US, the Howard Johnson's diners were down to their last orange roof by 2016 . Now that location, in Lake George, New York, has shut its doors. The restaurant had served visitors to the Adirondack Mountains region for nearly 70 years, per CNN...

KFC on New Chicken-Free Chicken Nugget: 'It's Time'

Chain's Beyond Fried Chicken is a plant-based chicken alternative created with Beyond Meat

(Newser) - As 2022 kicks into high gear, KFC has a "Kentucky Fried Miracle" to announce: its Beyond Fried Chicken, a plant-based chicken nugget alternative created in partnership with Beyond Meat, per a release from KFC parent company Yum Brands. Starting Monday and for a limited time, the fast-food chain will...

Fast Food Giant's Fries Are About to Be Transformed
Fast Food Giant's Fries
Are About to Be Transformed
in case you missed it

Fast Food Giant's Fries Are About to Be Transformed

Wendy's vows that its new french fries will stay hotter, crispier longer

(Newser) - In recent taste tests , Wendy's french fries have done ... OK, but not great. Those mediocre rankings may soon change, as the fast-food chain has announced it's bestowing upon its fries what CNN Business calls "a makeover for the COVID era." Wendy's President Kurt Kane revealed...

Indiana Couple Sets Cracker Barrel Record

Ray and Wilma Yoder have visited every location in the US

(Newser) - Ray and Wilma Yoder's visit Monday to a new Cracker Barrel restaurant in Tualatin, Ore., was a special one. For one thing, they were greeted with applause and flowers. That's because the Cracker Barrel visit marked not only Ray's 81st birthday, but the couple's completion of...

These Are 5 of the Unhealthiest Meals You Can Order
These Are 5 of the Unhealthiest
Meals You Can Order
in case you missed it

These Are 5 of the Unhealthiest Meals You Can Order

Including a breakfast with 1,990 calories

(Newser) - The Center for Science in the Public Interest is out with its annual list of chain restaurant "meals" that are so packed with calories they're more like a full day (or more) worth of food, the Consumerist reports. Highlights from CSPI's list of eight:
  • The highest number
...

America's 3 Unhealthiest Meals

Check to see if your favorite chain restaurants are on this 'yummy' list

(Newser) - Jayne Hurley and Bonnie Liebman of the Center for Science in the Public Interest note it's not easy to win top "honors" in the category of "Xtreme Eating." But never fear: The winners of their "Worst Chain Restaurant Meals of the Year" "have what...

Sbarro Ready for Chapter 11, Round 2

Exiting bankruptcy in 2011 didn't appear to take

(Newser) - If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again: Probably not advice you'd want from your bankruptcy attorney, but Sbarro is getting ready to undergo its second round of Chapter 11, reports the Wall Street Journal . The pizza chain, which is carrying some $140 million in debt and...

Starbucks Is America's New No. 3 Chain, Unseats Wendy's, Burger King
 New No. 3 US Chain: Starbucks 

New No. 3 US Chain: Starbucks

Unseats Burger King, Wendy's

(Newser) - The Whopper and the Frosty have officially been replaced by the Frappuccino: Starbucks is now the nation's No. 3 chain, having leapfrogged in front of burger giants Burger King and Wendy's, who, according to one researcher, have been struggling to find "their niche." In terms of...

Panda Express May Open in ... China

But chain's 'Chinese' food is very different from traditional fare

(Newser) - Panda Express is weighing an expansion to China—but it could be tough sell for the Chinese food chain, given that American-style Chinese food here is “very alien” in China, writer Jennifer 8. Lee tells NPR . Indeed, American-Chinese food is a cuisine all its own, she notes. Take General...

And the No. 1 Fast Food Chain in the World Is ... Subway, Not McDonald's
And the No. 1 Fast Food
Chain in the World Is... 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

And the No. 1 Fast Food Chain in the World Is...

...not McDonald's, but Subway

(Newser) - McDonald’s may be just about as American as apple pie, but when it comes to global dominance, Subway wins. The sandwich chain has passed Mickey D’s to become the world’s largest restaurant chain, the Wall Street Journal reports. At the close of 2010, Subway’s worldwide locations...

Free Food Contests Pay Off for Chains

Advertising exposure trumps paltry cost of gift certificates

(Newser) - That year’s worth of free food you just got from a Denny’s or Chick-Fil-A promotion isn’t hurting the chains a bit—in fact, it’s the most effective advertising they do. For one, you don’t actually get a year’s worth. It’s usually just a...

Panera Will Post Calorie Counts

Gets the jump on potential calorie posting law

(Newser) - Panera Bread customers around the country soon will be able to tally calories for their smokehouse turkey panini and broccoli cheddar soup with just a glance at the menu board. The firm announced today that it will be the first nationwide chain to voluntarily post calorie information at all of...

Shh! Secret Restaurant Menus
 Shh! Secret Restaurant Menus 
mcgangbang, anyone?

Shh! Secret Restaurant Menus

Fast-food places have plenty of little-known options

(Newser) - In-N-Out Burger’s “secret menu” (veggie burgers, etc.) has gotten way too famous to really be considered a secret anymore—but Coupon Sherpa rounds up little-known items at other fast-food joints:
  • Chili’s: Though it’s not on the menu anymore, you can in fact still order the
...

Taco Bell Unveils Jaredesque Diet

But experts are skeptical about 'Christine' and 'Drive-Thru Diet'

(Newser) - Want to lose weight? Then run for the border, hit Taco Bell’s Drive-Thru Diet menu, and knock off 54 lbs in two years. Or at least that’s what happened to Christine, a Jared Fogle knockoff featured in new Taco Bell ads as a devotee of the chain's Fresco...

Rolling Stone Gets Into Restaurant Biz

Hollywood lounge plans to outclass Hard Rock; chain possible

(Newser) - Aiming to sidestep the pitfalls that have bedeviled countless other entertainment-industry players, Rolling Stone magazine is opening its own Hollywood restaurant. “We've been looking for the ideal opportunity to expand the Rolling Stone brand," co-founder Jann Wenner tells the Los Angeles Times . And no, it’s not because...

Sure, We Read the Calorie Charts—Then Eat More

Customers say they seek guidance from signs, but receipts tell a different story

(Newser) - A new study casts doubt on the effectiveness of calorie-counting charts in fast-food restaurants. Half of those surveyed in New York City say they noticed the charts, and about 28% say the information influenced their orders for the better. But a look at overall customer receipts shows people are ordering...

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