This week on Extra Serving, a Nation’s Restaurant News podcast, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches and Leigh Anne Zinsmeister spoke about the latest in restaurant earnings, including Sweetgreen and Wendy’s latest quarterly reports.   It’s been another week of earnings over here at NRN and the editors have prepared remarks on the second quarterly earnings, focusing on two brands with the biggest news: Wendy’s and Sweetgreen. Wendy’s announced that it would be downsizing its partnership with Reef after last year proclaiming it would be opening 700 new ghost kitchens with the brand. On the other hand, Sweetgreen, much like companies in the tech sector, laid off 5% of its corporate staff. The team discussed these bits of news and how they impact the industry.   Plus, the team talked about Chipotle’s latest workplace saga. After a months-long investigation, New Yor City Mayor Eric Adams and city officials came to an agreement with Chipotle to give 13,000 workers $20 million over scheduling and labor violations. This is the largest settlement of this nature in New York City’s history. The team discusses how this news could impact the whole industry.   This week’s interview is Matt Harding, executive chef of Piada Italian Street Food, who spoke with Joanna Fantozzi about the future of the brand. ...

On this week’s episode of Extra Serving, a Nation’s Restaurant News podcast, NRN editors Holly Petre and Sam Oches talk about the “earnings palooza” of the past week. Several more brands reported over the last week including Papa Johns, Noodles & Company, Portillo’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, Tim Horton’s, Popeyes, Firehouse Subs, The Habit Burger Grill, Starbucks, and Denny’s. Oches and Petre talked about the themes consistent throughout the second week of earnings, including menu price increases, inflation, and labor woes. The two also discussed the return of Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza, the shining star of the Yum Brand’s second-quarter results. The LTO is returning to the menu fulltime beginning Sept. 15 and the two talked about what it means both for the brand and for consumers.  This week’s interview is with Green District, a healthful chain in Kentucky that’s attempting to bring healthier food to the middle of the country. ...

This week on Extra Serving, a Nation’s Restaurant News podcast, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches and Bret Thorn discussed the news that the Small Business Administration had $180 million in undistributed Restaurant Revitalization Fund money left. The National Restaurant Association revealed this money in a letter to the SBA asking for it to be distributed to restaurants after a June report released in July showed that the government agency still had money left to distribute. The team discussed what this could mean for restaurants. Also, the team discussed menu price hikes. Two of the largest chains — McDonald’s and Chipotle — announced they would be raising menu prices as part of their Q2 earnings. With inflation still on the rise, the team discussed what this impact could have on customers and how this will impact sales. This week’s interview is Anita Adams, CEO of Black Bear Diner, who spoke with Ron Ruggless about the chain’s growth plans. ...

This week on Extra Serving, a Nation’s Restaurant News podcast, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches and Leigh Anne Zinsmeister discuss the leaked video of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz saying that he would close “many more stores.” The video, which was leaked by a conservative Canadian blog, shows Schultz getting progressively angrier as he speaks about closing stores and the state of homelessness in the country, blaming city governments for inaction. The team discussed what the store closures mean in the wake of Starbucks’ unionization efforts, with almost 200 stores now unionized. Also, the team discussed Chipotle’s closure of its first store to vote on unionization. The first Chipotle store set to vote to unionize was closed due to a lack of staff, according to Chipotle, but workers are accusing the company of union-busting. The team talked about what it means for the future of unions at the fast-casual giant. Finally, the team spoke about Domino’s lagging quarterly results. While they were not terrible, they were a dip for the company that saw double-digit increases throughout the COVID pandemic. While a negative 2.9% decline in domestic same-store sales may not look too bad, it reflects a wider pattern and the team discussed what that means and why it could possibly impact the whole industry. This week’s interview is David Birzon, CEO of Snooze, an A.M. Eatery. He sat down with Bret Thorn as part of our Snapshots of Success series where the two discussed the brand’s new virtual brand, Bodegga. ...

Welcome to another episode of Extra Serving, a Nation’s Restaurant News podcast featuring Holly Petre, Joanna Fantozzi, Leigh Anne Zinsmeister and Bret Thorn. In this episode, we’ll cover: Dave & Buster’s new C-suite; McDonald’s buying out one of its franchisees; and Starbucks closing stores due to health and safety concerns. Plus, hear an interview with Brett Schulman, CEO of Cava, on the chain’s new menu offerings and growth plans. If you’re a franchisee, feel free to contact Joanna at [email protected] or Holly at [email protected] We’d love to have you on the pod or featured in Joanna’s franchise column. ...

This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a product of Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches, Leigh Anne Zinsmeister and Bret Thorn discussed Subway’s biggest menu overhaul in the chain’s history. The editors decided to discuss the news on everyone’s minds: Subway’s menu overhaul, our most-read story of the week. The largest menu overhaul in 60 years of Subway’s existence changed up the way customers can order from Subway. The update focuses on predesigned sandwiches and moves away from the unlimited customization that Subway became known for. The editors discussed what it means for the customization movement that Subway first started, and that Chipotle took the reins on in recent years. Next, the team discussed Amazon’s minority stake in Grubhub. The tech giant took over a 2% stake in delivery company Grubhub this week. With the possibility of a sale in the future, what does this mean for the two companies? The team discussed.  This week’s interview is with Roberto DeAngelis, chief experience officer for Friendly’s, who spoke about the family-dining chain’s new menu offerings, including fig jam and frico. ...