Shake Shack returns PPP small business loan these restaurants couldn’t get
Burger giant Shake Shack returned its $10 million small business loan after being skewered by critics for taking money away from mom-and-pop restaurant owners struggling to keep the lights on during the coronavirus shutdown, but industry insiders called the move a lukewarm publicity stunt. “It doesn’t make them look any better. They…
Business Unusual – Danny Meyer talks restaurant industry, JK Consulting Offers Tips For Restaurant Owners
JK Consulting Offers Tips For Restaurant Owners Many restaurant owners have been asking us what they should do during this most difficult and challenging time. With already high rents and labor costs, our ability to be profitable has always been tough. Now, with Covid-19, we have to ask ourselves…
Pizza critics slam Connecticut for trying to become the pie state: ‘New York is the pizza capital’
New Haven-based Rep. Patricia Dillon and Sen. Gary Winfield introduced a bill to make pizza the official state food of the Constitution State. Connecticut should stick to lobster rolls and leave pizza to New Yorkers — or at least that’s what out-of-state critics are saying after Constitution State lawmakers made a…
Plant-based pizza, pasta and meat are on the rise, but are they healthier?
How healthy alternatives to comfort foods compare to the real thing. Alternatives to comfort food classics like pasta and pizza packed with protein and fiber are sweeping through supermarkets — and investors and shoppers are eating them up. While meatless, gluten-free and plant-based products were initially marketed to people with food allergies, the demand has…
Food delivery from ghost kitchens brings restaurant-quality food to the masses
The cost of running a restaurant in America is driving many business owners to rethink delivery. New York City-based restaurateur Barry Dry started a delivery-only burger business within his existing brick and mortar breakfast cafe Hole In The Wall to help offset the $19,000 a month he spends on rent to run two locations in Manhattan. He launched…
Taco Bell Is Pretty Serious That Its Pop-Up Hotel Won’t Be Its Last
Here’s some interesting news: Taco Bell strongly considers itself a hospitality company. The Irvine, Calif.-based restaurant chain, which began taking reservations for it’s new pop-up hotel, The Bell Hotel & Resort on Thursday, will offer 70 rooms to customers starting at $169 over a four-day period beginning on Aug. 8. While largely…
Brookfield’s New West Side Development Banks on Big Appetite for Dining
For all the attention that has been paid to Hudson Yards as a major future dining destination on Manhattan’s far West Side, it turns out the development may face some competition from its neighbor to the east, Manhattan West. This past week, Brookfield Properties, the developer of the $4.5 billion…
Chipotle is adding drive-thru lanes, but you can’t order food at them
Chipotle Mexican Grill is systematically adding drive-thru lanes to some of its new locations, but you won’t be able to place an order at any of them. The burrito chain has dealt with a very public three-year-long sales slump that crippled its stock price. To revitalize its sales and encourage…
Alta. Atla. Where Did We Make That Restaurant Reservation?
Atla, a Mexican-inspired tapas newcomer in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood, is often confused with Alta, a Mediterranean small-plates restaurant in the West Village. Alex Daniel was eager to try the ceviche verde at Atla, a Mexican-inspired tapas newcomer in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood. But when the 25 year old venture-capitalist arrived in…
How the old school Jewish deli stays relevant
2nd Avenue Deli is opening up a cocktail bar above its iconic sandwich shop Keeping this tradition alive means serving corned beef with rye cocktails. 2nd Avenue Deli, one of the few remaining Jewish sandwich shops in New York City, is opening a cocktail lounge above its Upper East Side location this…