This fall top level executives from the country’s biggest restaurant chains will gather together for the Restaurant Executive Summit. The event, which is sponsored by Hospitality Technology Magazine, will be held the weekend of September 14^th in Chicago. The conference will give executives a chance to network, share tricks and strategies for brand management and relax with their peers.

Firehouse Subs is now using the knowledge and experience of the former Chief Operating Officer of Lonestar Steakhouse to develop new restaurants in Texas. Ryan Franklin has joined the company as an Area Representative. He’ll open his own Firehouse Subs restaurant, then he’ll be responsible for training other new franchise owners in Dallas and the surrounding area.

Fast food companies already know that some of their most regular customers are young men. However, new research shows that these men are very social media savvy and are willing to share details about their fast food experiences. Lab24 solicited intimate details about customer’s fast food favorites and ordering quirks by advertising through Facebook.

After 15 years as a high level executive in the finance department of the Chrysler Corporation, Tom Jones used his buy-out package to open his own franchise restaurant. He recently opened a Culver’s restaurant location in Madison Heights. The co-founder and current owner of the Culver’s chain, Craig Culver, visited the new location for the grand opening.

Some restaurant chains are raising their base prices up to 4% this year to compensate for higher transportation and food costs. The Texas Roadhouse chain is raising their menu prices by 1% later this summer. The price hike will also help offset the high costs of expansion. The chain is currently building and developing new locations.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is on track to use about 10 million pounds of farm fresh produce. Almost all of this 10 million pounds will come from farms within 350 miles of each restaurant location. The company began focusing on the use of local produce in 2008 and each year since then has steadily increased their use.

Outback Steakhouse made a $1 million dollar donation to a charity that works to help wounded soldiers and their families. This donation to Operation Homefront wraps up their 2011 Giving for Thanks program. The donation check was presented at a small ceremony on June 22^nd in Elliott City, Maryland. The money was raised from customer purchases off of the Red, White and Bloomin’s Menu.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has experienced explosive growth in the past year. In just 8 months the chain opened 34 stores across the country. These new locations have added jobs to struggling communities and brought new dining options to small towns. The chain also recently created a new conversion concept that helps franchisees turn old buildings into new barbecue restaurants.

Carl’s Jr., one of two chains owned and operated by CKE Restaurants, is now in Canada. The first Carl’s Jr. location opened in Kelowna, British Columbia a few days ago. The chain is planning to expand further into Canada over the next decade. The plan is to build up the number of international locations to 700 within 5 years.

Straw Hat Pizza now has a location inside Harvey’s Hotel & Casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The restaurant location is over 5000 square feet in size and seats 25 in the bar alone. While other Straw Hat locations are more family friendly, this location is a combination sports bar and pizza grill restaurant. The chain serves California style pizza and stuffed calzones.

The fast-food world has proof positive that size matters: a foot-long cheeseburger.

A cheeseburger sold as a foot-long sandwich, with three burgers and three cheese slices, is being tested at 50 Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Southern California and 50 Hardee’s units in Indiana. That’s the same chain that introduced the world to the 1,400-calorie Monster Burger and the Monster Breakfast Sandwich, with 47 grams of fat.

The move comes at a time fast-food chains are focused on concocting more items intriguingly low in price but large in size. This summer, there’s serious foot-long-on-the-cheap mania.

The Carl’s foot-long fetches $4 without lettuce and tomatoes, $4.50 with.

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Everyone could use a little more comfort these days. And just like when mom used to make her delicious grilled cheese sandwiches to ease your childhood setbacks, Carl’s Jr.® and Hardee’s® are offering some comfort food for grown-ups. Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers, launched at Carl’s Jr. in late January, feature all of the taste and comfort of those youthful grilled cheese sandwiches, but with the addition of a delicious charbroiled burger and bacon. This combination of two all-American classics has resonated so well with guests in Carl’s Jr. markets, that the Grilled Cheese Bacon Thickburger® is being introduced into sister-chain Hardee’s markets beginning today.

“The Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers evolved from our efforts to make a really good grilled cheese sandwich for our vegetarian customers,” said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing at CKE Restaurants. “Being known for our decadent burgers, we just had to see how it tasted with a charbroiled burger and bacon on it, and the result was really, really yummy. With all the dismal economic news today, it may be that this combination of two classic, all-American comfort foods just seems to hit the spot right now.”

“The Comfort Place”

To extend the comforting goodness of the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers, both Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. are embarking on a digital campaign to provide even more solace to their customers, especially their core fans of “Young, Hungry guys.” Because guys need comfort, too, starting today, visitors to the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Facebook pages can visit the new interactive application designed to provide a bit of comfort when they need it the most.

Fans can choose to comfort themselves or a friend when activating “The Comfort Place,” an application which will post comforting messages to the designated Facebook wall for a 24-hour period. Comfort comes in the form of cheesy songs (“Love Sandwich”), words of wisdom and motivational pep talks (“You smell incredible right now. Just incredible.”), audio sound bytes (sounds of bacon sizzling), soothing photos (frolicking kittens) and humorous videos (levitating “Burguru”). Users can also invite friends to gather at their local Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s for a Comfort Session where they can take full advantage of their access to exclusive rewards and discounts on the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers.

Comfort Sweepstakes

Additionally, today also launches a 5-week sweepstakes on each brand’s respective Facebook page. Each page will give away two (2) Comfort Packages a week, ending on March 26th. The Comfort Package consists of a Happy Star™ branded Slanket®, comfortable slippers, a universal remote, a Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s gift card and a shiatsu electronic massager. One entry per fan. Contest rules are available on the Sweepstakes tab at www.facebook.com/carlsjr and www.facebook.com/hardees.

“The ‘Comfort Place’ Facebook application and sweepstakes are another way we are reaching out to our customers online,” said Brad Rosenberg, Manager of Digital Strategy and Marketing at CKE Restaurants. ”We don’t want to just broadcast messages. We aim to interact, provide fun, sharable content, and offer our fans exclusive deals and sweepstakes that they won’t find anywhere else.”

The Grilled Cheese Bacon Thickburgers feature a charbroiled 100% Black Angus beef patty, crispy bacon and four slices of melted American and Swiss cheeses on grilled sourdough bread. It is available at Hardee’s in Little Thickburger, Original Thickburger, or Six Dollar Thickburger sizes, with a starting price of $2.49. Prices may vary by location.

Commercials supporting the Grilled Cheese Bacon Thickburger will begin airing in Hardee’s markets on March 1. The entertaining ads were created by Los Angeles-based advertising agency, Mendelsohn|Zien, the agency behind many iconic ads for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. They can be viewed on both brands’ YouTube channels (www.youtube.com/carlsjr and www.youtube.com/hardees). Fans can also access the chains’ sometimes-cheesy status updates via Twitter at www.twitter.com/carlsjr and www.twitter.com/hardees.

Headquartered in Carpinteria, Calif., CKE Restaurants, Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CKR.” As of the end of its fiscal 2010 third quarter, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,147 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 14 countries, including 1,221 Carl’s Jr. restaurants and 1,913 Hardee’s restaurants. For more information about CKE Restaurants, please visit www.ckr.com.

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CKE Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: CKR) today announced the signing of an exclusive development agreement with the Mesa Group to open 25 Carl’s Jr.® restaurants in Vietnam. The Mesa Group has been granted the development rights to open Carl’s Jr. restaurants throughout the country with the first Carl’s Jr. restaurant scheduled to open in Ho Chi Minh City in April 2010.

Mesa Group has operated a range of successful businesses in Vietnam, including distribution, food & beverage, media and real estate development.

The 25 restaurant development deal is part of a greater development plan that CKE Restaurants has for the Asia region. In 2009, CKE Restaurants signed a development agreement with Star Food F&B Management Co. Ltd. to open Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Shanghai and Beijing. Currently, CKE Restaurants is actively seeking to expand its presence throughout China and Southeast Asia. CKE currently operates Carl’s Jr. restaurants in China, Singapore and Malaysia and American Samoa. Additional franchise deals in the region are also planned.

“We are very pleased to welcome Mesa Group Inc. as a part of the CKE team of operators,” said Andy Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc. “Mesa’s expertise and knowledge of the Vietnamese market, along with their extensive experience in supply chain management, distribution, and real estate, make Mesa Group the perfect partner to bring Carl’s Jr. to Vietnam. The Carl’s Jr. brand has a loyal following in Asia and we couldn’t be more pleased than to introduce our great-tasting, premium, charbroiled burgers to the people of Vietnam.”

“We are very excited to launch Carl’s Jr. in Vietnam with our great partner CKE Restaurants,” said Ms. Luu Tuyet Mai, CEO of Mesa Group. “We are determined to make Carl’s Jr. the leading quick-service restaurant brand in Vietnam by providing premium, high quality menu items, premium facilities, and exceptional customer service. We have aggressive growth plans for Vietnam with plans to open Carl’s Jr. in major cities over the next few years and pride ourselves in making Carl’s Jr. the destination of choice for consumers.”

Currently, CKE Restaurants franchises 340 international restaurants between both its Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s^® brands. The company has strategic development plans to double its International presence within the next five years.

About CKE Restaurants, Inc.

Headquartered in Carpinteria, Calif., CKE Restaurants, Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CKR.” As of the end of its fiscal 2010 third quarter, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,147 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 14 countries, including 1,221 Carl’s Jr. restaurants and 1,913 Hardee’s restaurants. For more information about CKE Restaurants, please visit www.ckr.com or www.carlsjr.com. Carl’s Jr. social media sites include www.facebook.com/carlsjr, www.twitter.com/carlsjr, and www.youtube.com/carlsjr.

About Mesa Group Inc.

MESA was founded in 1991 as a distribution company in Vietnam, and has since expanded into food and beverage, media, and real estate development. MESA has over 1,500 employees with offices throughout Vietnam, and is ranked in the top 100 private and public companies. MESA has the largest distribution infrastructure and operations in the country, a high growth food and beverage business, a well-known and high quality media operation, and a large and attractive real estate development portfolio. For more information about MESA, please visit www.mesa.vn.

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Carl’s Jr. has created the ultimate comfort food, Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers™. Starting today, fans of the cheesy, gooey comfort food can try one of the new Carl’s Jr. Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers, which features all the comfort and deliciousness of the grilled cheese sandwich mom used to make, with the addition of a delicious charbroiled burger and bacon.

“The origin of the new Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers is actually kind of a funny story,” said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing at CKE Restaurants. “We were initially working on menu items we could offer for our vegetarian customers and made a really good grilled cheese sandwich. But, being Carl’s Jr., a chain known for its decadent burgers, someone suggested that we try it with a charbroiled burger patty and bacon for our carnivorous customers and the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers were born. With four slices of melted American and Swiss cheeses on grilled sourdough bread, it really delivers on the idea of a grilled cheese sandwich combined with a bacon cheeseburger. It’s delicious … and we’ll still make a really good grilled cheese sandwich for our vegetarian customers if they want one.”

The Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers are available at Carl’s Jr. as a single burger, double burger or Six Dollar Burger™ version, and sell for $2.49, $3.49 and $4.49, respectively. Prices may vary.

The new burger will be promoted through clever ads created by Los Angeles-based advertising agency Mendelsohn|Zien, the firm behind many iconic ads for Carl’s Jr. and sister chain Hardee’s. Stay tuned to the Carl’s Jr. Web site, social media pages (www.facebook.com/carlsjr and www.youtube.com/carlsjr) and Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/carlsjr) for details on the upcoming ad campaign.

Carl’s Jr. is celebrating more than 65 years in the quick-service industry. What began as a lone hot dog cart in Los Angeles, Calif. in 1941 is today an international organization that employs nearly 30,000 people worldwide. Carl’s Jr. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CKE Restaurants, Inc. of Carpinteria, Calif. As of the end of its fiscal 2010 third quarter, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,147 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 14 countries, including 1,221 Carl’s Jr. restaurants and 1,913 Hardee’s restaurants.

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geoVue, a leading provider of location intelligence solutions, announced that CKE Restaurants, Inc., parent company of the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. restaurant chains with over 3,000 locations nationwide, has chosen to renew their contract with geoVue through 2012.

CKE first chose geoVue in 2006 after a review of other GIS and market analytics providers. Their goal was to grow both of their brands in existing markets, as well as expand into new markets. CKE found geoVue’s flexibility to tailor solutions to their business to be exactly what they needed. “We reviewed other vendors and discovered pretty early that geoVue was the right fit for us,” says Mike Sawyer, Market Planning Manager for CKE. “Other GIS vendors and mapping software vendors have a cookie-cutter approach, which works for some, but we found there is so much more opportunity with being able to get customized information, maps & reports, and working with a provider who really understands our business. It’s what separates geoVue from the other vendors.”

CKE also considers their use of geoVue’s solutions an asset when it comes to attracting new franchisees. With geoVue’s systems in place, CKE can offer franchisees a valuable service to help them make the best site selection and market development decisions. “What it does at the end of the day is reduce our franchisees’ risk of development. Our franchisees know they can rely on good information, and on a timely basis from CKE,” states Sawyer.

Jim Stone, President & Founder of geoVue, has worked closely with Sawyer and CKE management. “geoVue is very pleased to be able to continue this mutually beneficial relationship with the CKE organization. They are advanced users of our software, and we have worked closely with CKE in developing the next generation of our software. Our goal is to deliver to our customers what they need to help grow their business, and we couldn’t do it without close collaboration with customers like CKE,” states Stone. “We look forward to working with CKE for many years to come.”

geoVue is the leading provider of location optimization and modeling solutions for retail, restaurant and service-based chains and franchises seeking to maximize return on capital investment. geoVue’s solutions automate and improve the store development process, from ranking, prioritizing and selecting markets, to opening new locations, to closing underperforming locations. geoVue’s deep domain expertise has helped leading chains nationwide optimize store networks and maximize ROI. Learn more at www.geovue.com.

Headquartered in Carpinteria, Calif., CKE Restaurants, Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CKR.” As of the end of its fiscal 2010 second quarter, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,140 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 14 countries, including 1,212 Carl’s Jr. restaurants and 1,915 Hardee’s restaurants. For more information about CKE Restaurants, please visit www.ckr.com.