The Argonne Capital Group has acquired 40 IHOP chain restaurants. The restaurants are mainly located on the West coast in seven states including California. This bumps the number of Argonne or partner controlled IHOP franchises to 254. Argonne’s affiliate Neighborhood Restaurant Partners also owns 8 Applebee’s restaurants in Texas.
GrubHub.com is a service designed to help customers order food and schedule pick-up with their favorite restaurants. Current customers include Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and later this year the restaurants managed by OLO Online Ordering system will be integrated as well. The combination of the two online ordering services will help customers find even more food ordering options in their area.
Eat24Hours.com, a food delivery ordering service, has developed their new mobile platform to help smart phone users order their favorite take out. The website currently offers services for 7,000 restaurants in 400 cities. Users have placed 2 million orders through the service since its launch in 2009.
Gourmet salad chain Tossed is now spreading to the rest of the country after a franchise agreement with Los Angeles investors. The chain focuses on healthy meal options like fresh salads, sandwiches and gourmet crepe wraps. The restaurant has been around since 1998, but this is their first expansion into the franchise restaurant industry.
Saladworks, the nation’s largest chain restaurant focused on custom tossed salads, is bringing the price on their popular Sophie’s Salad to $6.99 for the month of April. The salad features spring greens, green apple, grilled chicken and blue cheese. Topping out at 300 calories, the salad was featured as a limited time offer, but quickly became popular enough to make it onto the permanent menu.
Noodles & Company has signed a new agreement with the Prairie Pasta Company to open new locations in Fargo, MD. The company was one of the fastest growing fast casual chains of 2010. Seven more Noodles & Company locations will be opened in the next five years through out South and North Dakota by the franchise group.
To help dieters and health conscious customers who are counting calories, Planet Smoothie has highlighted 20 different smoothie options that fit under the 300 calorie mark. The high number of low calorie smoothies is made possible by the stevia and agave blend that Planet Smoothie uses in place of sugar. Flavors include Grape Ape, Lunar Lemonade with Strawberries and Mediterranean Monster.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe is currently running a new contest that promises to reward one customer a week with a tropical vacation. The contest will run until May 1st. Each purchase will give customers a scratch off card with a chance to win a Club Med Resort stay. Every card will contain a prize ranging from discounts to free flip flops or Hawaiian shirts.
The newest health conscious fast casual chain, Energy Kitchen, has signed a development agreement to open three locations in the Washington, D.C. Area. The president of the Manhattan based company plans to open 1,000 locations over the next decade. The D.C. expansion will be handled by a veteran franchise owner currently operating other chain restaurants in Maryland.
Big Al’s Steaks, a chain restaurant focusing on Philadelphia style cheese steaks, is currently operating three locations in Palm Beach, Florida. They have announced plans to open a fourth in the new few months. The chain also offers beer and hand blended milkshakes to go with their cheese steak sandwiches.
Nevada is now home to two new Famous Dave’s BBQ restaurants. One is located in Reno, and the other in Henderson. Sonoran Barbeque Nevada manages the Henderson location, and Savory Investments is responsible for the Reno branch.