National Restaurant Association to Congress: foodservice businesses need financial relief now

Pointing out that one in five U.S. restaurants has closed amid the pandemic, the National Restaurant Association is urging Congress to pass relief for foodservice businesses before it breaks for the holidays.

In a letter to Congressional leaders, the association shared new survey data it says shows an “economic free fall” has harmed 500,000 restaurants of every type — franchise, chain and independent. According to the association, 17% of restaurants nationwide — more than 110,000 — have closed this year, either permanently or for the long term. Read more.

Restaurant industry fears it’s reaching brink of collapse

California restaurant owner Angela Marsden’s emotional video has gone viral. In it, she points to a movie studio allowed to open for dining just next to her restaurant, the Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill, which was forced to shut down.

“They have not given us money and they’ve shut us down. We cannot survive, my staff cannot survive,” she said, adding she plans to continue to protest against the orders.“

Angela Marsden, California Restaurant Owner

Her struggle, though – just one of thousands documented in small towns and big cities across the country. Jeff Good co-owns & operates three restaurants in Jackson, Mississippi and spoke to CNN about the need for federal relief. Read more.

How Church’s Protected Brand Standards During a Pandemic

In early summer, Church’s Chicken CEO Joe Christina issued a challenge to his operations team. COVID-19 stretched long enough for the brand to grasp no let-up was in sight. And so Christina began thinking about one of his lead mantras since succeeding Jim Hyatt to Church’s top spot in fall 2016: This notion of becoming a “global franchisor of choice.”

Part of that directive always centered on direct support, from corporate to operator to coach and everything along the path. But one thing COVID did was strip one of the most fundamental aspects of running a multi-unit franchise from the process—actually visiting restaurants. Read more.

Entrepreneurs take long view in running one boutique resort, selling another

You would think the pandemic would be a hard time to sell or run a boutique resort. But Michael Koch and Mary Ann Muir say that’s not the case.

The brother-and-sister duo own two boutique resorts on Siesta Key. In an effort to slow down, they’re selling one — the eight-unit Siesta Palms by the Beach, listed for $3.5 million — and they plan to continue to run another — the eight-unit Siesta Key Inn. Read more.

With Technology and COVID-19, it’s How, Not If for Restaurants

Technology was a muddled and complicated arena for restaurants before COVID-19. But you generally had two choices—embrace or avoid. That’s not so much the case today. What is still valid, however, is trying to understand what fits and what doesn’t, and which paths to implementation represent the best strategy. Early on during the pandemic, operators dove just to dive, or because they had no choice. Yet on the doorstep of winter, with cases surging and no letup in sight, refining digital infrastructure becomes key. As the novelty of offering new options fades and the pool grows deeper, differentiation becomes the aim once again.

Dave Gates, the VP of restaurant development at UniFocus, who previously spent 27 years at full-service burger chain Red Robin, chatted with QSR about the biggest tech trends today and how restaurants are levering them in a COVID environment, as well as what comes next. Read more.

Making Sense of Evolving Kitchens

The kitchen has changed. In recent years, as restaurants adapted to changing consumers and looked for new methods of getting food into their hands, the back of house has evolved along with it. No longer is there simply a kitchen in the back of a serving area. The kitchen could be mobile or it may be off-site. There are kitchens designed to serve a takeout consumer and kitchens run out of the home. They are more efficient than ever, using robotics and other technologies to improve their operations. The editors of Restaurant Business this week explore the Evolving Kitchen and what its change has meant to the foodservice business. Read more.

Chef David Chang won it all on ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.’ He’s giving the $1 million to hospitality workers.

After nearly four minutes of agonizing over a $1 million question that had stumped him, the time had come for celebrity chef David Chang to take a stab at answering who was the first president to have electricity in the White House.

His guess Sunday on the revived “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” was Benjamin Harrison, who Chang admittedly didn’t know for sure was even a president. But he said going for the top prize was a chance he had to take to do his part to help out a hospitality industry that has been devastated throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Read more.

The Waterman Steele Hospitality Team helps restaurant companies connect with their customers through carefully selected markets and locations using our combined research expertise, strategic insight, and unique real estate brokerage services. We prepare the real estate so you can focus on preparing your menu. Waterman Steele Real Estate Advisors. We know hospitality. Learn more.