Wolfgang Puck’s newest restaurant, CUT, has added an interactive wine list accessed by iPad to the Las Vegas location. Wait staff hands customers an iPad that displays listings of all spirits, beverages and wines offered by the restaurant. Smart Cellar designed the software that helps both guests and sommeliers choose the best wine for each meal choice.
Atlantic Lottery’s Coasters are unique entertainment locations that seamlessly combine gaming opportunities and a friendly bar atmosphere. Buzztime, a leading producer of electronic bar games, is adding their specialty game devices to nine Coasters locations in New Brunswick, Canada. The company has even added a new game with French text to make Coasters customers excited about playing Buzztime games.
Saladworks, a national fresh tossed salad chain, has been named one of the top 10 Best Franchise Deals. This award was bestowed upon the company by QSR Magazine. A feature piece in the June issue of the magazine explains the many reasons for choosing Saladworks, including unit volume sales of over $800,000 on average and low start up costs.
Quiznos is developing a new partnership with the convenience store chain Hess to open over 50 new locations in Florida gas stations. Quiznos is expanding into joint positions like this one to take advantage of pre-existing retail spaces. Building new locations from the ground up wastes money and space if there is already a built, finished space ready for the chain’s newest location.
Projections developed by the National Restaurant Association show that restaurants will add 425,000 new jobs this summer. This would amount to a 4.6 percent increase over the job totals measured in March. Summer employment hasn’t been that high since 2007, the year before the current economic recession began.
Seasons 52, a chain restaurant that combines fine dining with a full service piano bar, has chosen the next location to expand. Kansas City will soon be home to a new restaurant in the Country Club Plaza Shopping Center. This will be the 24th location for the Seasons 52 chain, and is slated to open in early 2012.
Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop has been a East Coast favorite for many decades, but they’ve announced plans to greatly expand their current menu. New items will include a wide range of salads to offer deli lovers an alternative to their famous sandwiches. The salads are topped with the same freshly prepared meats as the sandwiches, as well as gourmet toppings.
Food Network’s “Outrageous Foods” will feature the Muskegon eatery Bernie O’s Pizza. This will be the second Food Network appearance for a restaurant in the town. The newest episode of “Outrageous Foods” showcases the Firebird, a 28-inch pizza topped with the spiciest ingredients including minced jalapenos, hot sauce, breaded chicken and an extremely hot chili powder.
The Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurant in Oviedo is holding an anniversary celebration this Thursday. One lucky winner will walk away with a new 42-inch flat screen television. Customers can also win other prizes, including gift certificates and free food. Everyone is welcome to enjoy a $1 barbecue sandwich starting at 11 am and ending at 1 pm.
Brinker International is repaying stock dividends of $0.14 on June 30th after a strong first quarter. The Board of Directors for the company has also freed up $250 million in funding to repurchase a large amount of the company’s common stock. The company operates over 1500 Chili’s locations and is a minority owner of Romano’s Macaroni Grill.