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☆ Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer invests $20 million in indoor golf experience company Five Iron
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

That led Meyer to take a lesson with a golf pro on an indoor simulator, an experience that eventually led him and his investment firm, Enlighted Hospitality Investments, to make a $20 million minority investment in Five Iron Golf, an indoor golf and entertainment company. Five Iron Golf, founded in 2017, has grown as it has looked to appeal to several types of golfers, according to CEO Jared Solomon. "The core of Five Iron Golf is to be the best place for the serious golfer as well as the entertainment-type person," Solomon said. But the amount of people who are only playing golf on courses is decreasing, down 9% from the previous year. In fact, there are more players now playing at golf entertainment venues like Topgolf , standalone driving ranges, and businesses like Five Iron Golf with simulator and screen golf setups than there are players playing on a course, according to the NGF data.

Persons: Danny Meyer, hasn't, Meyer, we've, Jared Solomon, Solomon Organizations: Shake, Enlighted Hospitality Investments, National Golf Foundation Locations: U.S

☆ Panera Bread reportedly files to go public again through IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Panera Bread has confidentially filed to go public again, the Financial Times reported. The restaurant chain, known for its soups, sandwiches and bagels, has been signaling for months that it's looking to go public through an initial public offering. In May, Panera announced a CEO transition and said the leadership changes were "in preparation for its eventual IPO" — amid a two-year IPO drought that ended in the fall. Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava , whose chair is Panera founder Ron Shaich, was among the trickle of companies that went public this year. JAB also tried to take Panera public again that year.

Persons: Panera, Ron Shaich, Panera isn't, Shein confidentially, Skims, Danny Meyer's Organizations: Financial Times, Investors, Bloomberg, CNBC, Yum Brands, Panera's, Financial, CNBC PRO Locations: Cava, Rye

☆ Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich says most CEOs end up regretting taking companies public
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich led a public company for more than two decades, but that doesn't mean he's a fan of initial public offerings or Wall Street. Ironically, Panera Bread is mulling an IPO, but Shaich, who is no longer involved with the chain, directs his advice toward founders. Even as Au Bon Pain bought St. Louis Bread Company, renamed it Panera Bread and then shed Au Bon Pain to focus on Panera's growth, Shaich's company was publicly traded. "The reality is for 90% of the CEOs that take a company public, they live to regret it," Shaich told CNBC. "Cava is a company that will succeed as a public company.

Persons: Ron Shaich, Shaich, Cookie, Bon Pain, Louis, Cava, Brett Schulman, Sweetgreen hasn't, Panera, Danny Meyer's Organizations: III Holdings, Louis Bread Company, CNBC, Wall Street Locations: Cava

☆ I visited Chip City and could see why this cookie chain backed by Shake Shack's founder is rapidly expanding to new cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Chip City has a goal to open 40 locations by the end of the year. The cookie chain is known for its unique and seasonal flavors. Then in 2022, Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer and his investment firm, Enlightened Hospitality Investments, poured $10 million in Chip City to help the company open more locations. Crumbl is much larger in comparison, with 800 store locations, though Chip is showing that perhaps slow and steady wins the race. I visited the Astoria, Queens, flagship store to see why the cookie chain is so popular.

Persons: Chip City, —, Peter Phillips, Teddy Gailas, Phillips, Danny Meyer, Meyer, Chip Organizations: Service, Food Institute, Shake Shack, Enlightened Hospitality Investments, Nation's, Astoria , Locations: Astoria , Queens, Miami Beach , Florida, Fairfield , Connecticut, Chip City, New York City, Long, New Jersey, Connecticut, Astoria

☆ Taco Bell, Chipotle, and other chains pay managers as much as $180,000. Here's what it takes to land a high-earning fast-food job.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Since the pandemic, fast-food workers have fled the sector, leaving restaurant chains struggling to find help. But how have fast-food general managers, whose duties range from dealing with fussy customers to inventory management, fared over the years? "While Taco Bell Corporate cannot mandate salaries and wages of franchisees, we offer competitive pay rates and encourage franchisees to do the same," Taco Bell said. The chain said 54% of Taco Bell general managers started as restaurant-level workers. Taco Bell President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams began his career as an assistant general manager in Detroit, Michigan.

Persons: —, That's, Taco Bell, Burger, Lynsi Snyder, Nancy Luna, Snyder, Harry, Esther Snyder, Matt Marton, Taco, Mike Grams, Chipotle, Scott Boatwright, Edison Graff, Danny Meyer, Angela Campbell, Campbell, Nordstrom, Jersey Mike's, Sweetgreen, John Wooden Organizations: Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Taco Bell, Bell, Taco Bell President, LinkedIn, Shake, GMs, The, Shack, Jersey Mike's, Restaurant Business, UCLA Locations: McDonald's, Irvine , California, Taco, Detroit , Michigan, Chipotle, Newport Beach , California, Canada, France, Germany, Las Vegas , Nevada, Las Vegas, Campbell, The New York, Jersey, Charlotte , North Carolina, Charlotte, Seattle, Arlington , Virginia

☆ Little Caesars knows what you're going to order before you do. With AI tools, soon more restaurants will.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AI tools are enabling some restaurants to get a jump on what customers want — and when. AdvertisementAdvertisementLittle Caesars, Darden Restaurants, and Jack in the Box are each tapping into troves of sales data. "If you forecast your traffic better, you order better, you receive better, you schedule better," Cardenas said. AdvertisementAdvertisementService is also better, Klopfenstein said, since the AI tools enable Little Caesars to hire more easily and train new employees more quickly — a big lift in a tight labor market. If tech isn't easy to use, customers won't come back, Anita Klopfenstein, Little Caesars' chief information officer, said.

Persons: —, Jack, Anita Klopfenstein, Danny Meyer, Ricardo Cardenas, Cardenas, Klopfenstein, Mike Glinski, Darin Harris, Harris, they're Organizations: Service, Darden, Little Caesars, Olive Garden, LongHorn, Caesars, Microsoft

☆ The era of America's subminimum wage for tipped restaurant workers may be ending
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

After a months-long public campaign that began shortly after Mayor Brandon Johnson (right) took office in May, advocates reached a deal with restaurant industry lobbyists to phase out the tipped-minimum wage over five years. "The closest pending victory is in Chicago," said Saru Jayaraman, founder and president of the advocacy group One Fair Wage. Three-fourths said they would reduce the number of tipped workers on their payroll, and nearly half said the cuts would be significant. The $9.48 an hour wage most workers got cost the restaurant $5,449.61, he said, a fraction of the $17,198 in tips workers earned. That's one reason why the restaurant industry engaged in a kind of bidding war against itself, to find a compromise solution that politicians like Alderman Carlos Ramirez Rosa, Johnson's floor manager in the City Council, would buy.

Persons: Brandon Johnson, Scott Weiner, Covid, Hornick, Danny Meyer, Meyer, Chicago –, Saru Jayaraman, Michael Hornick hasn't, Callahan, That's, Weiner, Rick Rick Bayless, Topolobampo, Bayless, He's, –, We've, We're, Johnson —, Democratic Socialist Alliance —, Alderman Carlos Ramirez Rosa, Sam Toia, Rosa Organizations: U.S . Department of Labor, Chicago, Illinois Restaurant Association, City Council, Chicago's, Wrigley, Farm, Frontera Grill, Michelin, Covid, Bar, Frontera, Frontera Group, Democratic Socialist Alliance, Chicago Sun, Times, Times , Illinois Restaurant, CNBC, Sun Locations: downtown, Chicago, York, Covid, Lakeview, Evanston, Frontera, Johnson's, City, Times ,

☆ Diners are clamoring for earlier reservations. 'When did a 6:00 dinner reservation become the new 8:00?' New York restaurateur Danny Meyer asks.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The 6 p.m. reservation is now the "most prized table" in New York, per restaurateur Danny Meyer. Meyer offered three theories for the change, including the social isolation of remote work. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. "When did a 6:00 dinner reservation become the new 8:00, most prized table of the night — and will it last?" celebrated restaurateur Danny Meyer asked in a Wednesday post on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter.

Persons: Danny Meyer, Meyer, Steve Hafner, It's, Roni Mazumdar Organizations: Shake, Service, Twitter, New York Times Magazine, Wall, Square Hospitality, Gramercy Locations: New York, Wall, Silicon

☆ Americans are being asked to consider tipping, but is it really required?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Mingrone pays her kitchen staff between $20-25 an hour, well above minimum wage. Comparatively, her front of house staff — servers and bartenders — make the state’s tipped minimum wage of $6.38 an hour. Eight states have abolished their tipped minimum wage. One Fair Wage, the group leading the movement, wants businesses to be required to pay employees the state’s minimum wage, plus tips. The federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 an hour and has been frozen there since 1991 — and many states default to that.

Persons: ”, Carly Cullen, ” Cullen, Emily Mingrone, aren’t, Mingrone, —, I’ve, Danny Meyer, “, pushback, Sean Kennedy, Destiny Fox, Georgetti’s, Coco Pazzo —, She’s, Fox Organizations: New, New York CNN, Purdue University, Temple University, Co, Square Hospitality, Nation Restaurant Association, National Restaurant Association Locations: New York, New Haven , Connecticut, State, Chicago

☆ Danny Meyer closes two restaurants in a New York hotel that was converted into a migrant shelter
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Ellie Stevens | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Prominent restaurateur and Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer announced he will be closing two New York City restaurants located in a hotel which has been repurposed as a shelter for the city’s growing migrant population. Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group said in a statement they “admire and respect Redbury’s decision,” and that Meyer has previously advocated for expedited work permits for asylum-seekers. The nationally known ones include Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe. In March 2020, Meyer closed all of his 19 restaurants in New York. Currently, the Union Square Hospitality Group said the two restaurants it is closing are looking for a new location and for job placements for employees affected by the closures.

Persons: Danny Meyer, Eric Adams, “, Communications Fabien Levy, Meyer, USHG, ” USHG, Mayor Adams, ” Organizations: CNN, Shake Shack, New, Communications, Meyer’s, Square Hospitality, Gramercy Tavern, Square, NYSE, Square Hospitality Group Locations: New York City, Marta, York, New York

☆ Shake Shack is adding more tech to its stores — and it could mean a big boost to its bottom line
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Shake Shack says it expects to have self-service ordering kiosks in all of its restaurants by the end of Q3. Shake Shack first began experimenting with kiosks in 2017 when it debuted its first kiosk-only store in New York City. Kiosks encourage premium drink ordersAt Shack Shack, Garutti and Fogerty said kiosks have boosted profits in other ways beyond labor. Kiosks are also helping Shake Shack stores to enhance hospitality, a core mission among all Meyer-founded restaurants. For about a year, Fogerty said Shake Shack workers in some stores have been redeployed to run food to tables instead of having customers respond to buzzers.

Persons: Danny Meyer, Randy Garutti, Katie Fogerty, that's, Brandon Barton, Barton, Jessica Tyler, Taco Bell, Shack, Garutti, Fogerty, Meyer, we've Organizations: Service, New York City, Business, Taco, QSR, Shack, Labor Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York City

☆ You shouldn't feel obligated to tip when ordering a coffee or takeout, says Shake Shack founder
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Shake Shack's founder told CNBC that customers shouldn't feel obligated to tip on takeout orders. Last year, Shake Shack added the option to tip at all its locations. More restaurants are prompting customers to tip during payment, causing confusion and frustration. Meyer said customers shouldn't feel obliged to tip when ordering takeout or coffee from a restaurant. Meyer founded Union Square Hospitality Group, and while the group doesn't oversee Shake Shack, it does manage many restaurants in New York City.

Persons: Shack, Danny Meyer, Meyer, Joe Biden Organizations: CNBC, Service, Square Hospitality Group, US Department of Labor Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York City

☆ You don't need to tip when you buy coffee, Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Restaurateur Danny Meyer doesn't think customers need to tip when they pick up takeout or buy coffee. Meyer founded Shake Shack and serves as chair of its board. He also founded Union Square Hospitality Group, which mostly operates full-service restaurants. The company's eateries include Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern and fast-casual chain Daily Provisions. As more businesses adopt Square's and Toast's point-of-sale systems, customers are getting more used to being prompted to tip as they pay.

Persons: Danny Meyer, Meyer Organizations: Shake, Square Hospitality, Gramercy Tavern

☆ Restaurateur Danny Meyer explains why he ended the no-tipping policy at his restaurants
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRestaurateur Danny Meyer explains why he ended the no-tipping policy at his restaurantsDanny Meyer, Union Square Hospitality Group founder and executive chairman and founder and chairman of Shake Shack, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the state of the restaurant industry, tipping culture, and more.

Persons: Danny Meyer Organizations: Square Hospitality Group, Shake

☆ Frenchette Bakery to Move Into the Whitney Museum
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Florence Fabricant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A flagship location for Frenchette Bakery will open in the Whitney Museum of American Art, replacing the Danny Meyer restaurant Untitled, which closed at the start of the pandemic. In a statement, the museum said it was “reimagining its food and beverage program” for its ground-floor restaurant space. Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson, who own the restaurants Frenchette and Le Rock, opened their first Frenchette Bakery in TriBeCa in 2020, taking over the former Arcade Bakery. Since then, Frenchette Bakery has turned out breads, viennoiserie, sandwiches and pizzettes. The menu at the Whitney location will include both sweet and savory fare, breakfast, lunch, takeaway food and assorted beverages.

Persons: Danny Meyer, Riad Nasr, Lee Hanson, Whitney Organizations: Whitney Museum of American, Whitney Locations: TriBeCa, meatpacking

☆ Here’s why Shake Shack’s recent deal with Engaged Capital may have fallen short for shareholders
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Business: Shake Shack owns, operates and licenses Shake Shack restaurants, which offer hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs, crinkle-cut fries, shakes, frozen custard, beer, wine and other products. Shake Shack entered a cooperation agreement with Engaged. Over the past 20 years, he and his team have developed one of the greatest casual hamburger chain restaurants in the country, Shake Shack. They took Shake Shack public in 2015 with 63 restaurants and have expanded to 436 restaurants in eight years. As a public company, Shake Shack has significantly underperformed both the market and its peers.

☆ Panera Bread parent announces CEO transition as it prepares for 'eventual IPO'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Customers patronize an open Panera Bread location in the Walt Whitman Mall on March 26, 2020 in Huntington Station, New York. JAB Holding, the investment arm of the Reimann family, bought Panera Bread in 2017 for $7.5 billion, taking it private. In the press release, Panera Brands said the leadership changes are "in preparation for its eventual IPO." Panera Bread, the largest chain in the portfolio, has long been known as a technology leader in the restaurant industry. Panera Bread has also been testing A.I.

☆ Restaurants are prioritizing tables for big spenders and return customers through premium programs with SevenRooms and Resy Global Access
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Certain credit cardholders and frequent bookers are now the top of lists when it comes to booking restaurant reservations. SevenRooms says it shares data with restaurant clients to identify big spenders and offer premium reservations. Members of Resy's Global Access Dining program have access to exclusive reservations at popular restaurants around the world. Through partnerships with both SevenRooms and Resy's Global Dining Access program, Amex holders have special tables set aside for them. Whether that fish is a walk-in or from the Global Dining Access program," he said.

☆ Restaurants embrace premium reservations to target big spenders
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

When cities and states rolled back lockdown rules, many implemented new orders for restaurants to help with contact tracing, such as requiring customers to book tables in advance. As a result of those pandemic-fueled changes, restaurants and the companies that help them book their tables are targeting big spenders with premium reservation options to drive higher sales. About two-thirds of SevenRooms' restaurant clients use its software to promote special experiences or sell upgrades when customers book reservations. Page said the move toward premium restaurant reservations can partially explain why it feels like it's so much more competitive to book a table in advance these days. "I kind of don't like the whole 'Disney FastPass line' of restaurant reservations," he said.

☆ Slutty Vegan, the buzzy $100 million restaurant empire backed by Shake Shack's Danny Meyer, faces wage theft lawsuits in two states
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Three employees are filing a lawsuit against Brooklyn's Slutty Vegan restaurant. The workers claim the restaurant failed to pay bonuses, did not adequately compensate for overtime, and miscalculated paychecks, according to the lawsuit. Founder Pinky Cole is also facing a lawsuit from an employee of her Atlanta restaurant Bar Vegan over alleged wage theft. Slutty Vegan opened its Brooklyn location in September 2022. Cole addressed the lawsuit in an Instagram post, writing "I don't lie, I don't steal and more importantly, I DON'T PLAY WITH PEOPLE'S MONEY."

☆ Shake Shack agreed to pay $20,000 to an ex-employee who said he was repeatedly asked 'to explain his gender to co-workers'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Shake Shack is a New York fast-food chain known for its premium burgers and custard shakes. An ex-employee in California said he was constantly asked "to explain his gender to co-workers." The state's Civil Rights Department investigated, which led to a $20,000 settlement. "Creating a welcoming and fulfilling environment for all our employees and guests is critical," a Shake Shack spokesperson told Insider in a statement. Shake Shake is a fast food chain that sells burgers, fries, and custard shakes.

☆ DoorDash is headed to Super Bowl, pushing its on-demand grocery business again. Here are 7 key moves it is making to dominate retail delivery after conquering restaurants.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

In August 2020, DoorDash launched retail delivery with chains like 7-Eleven and Walgreens. Editor's note: On Sunday, DoorDash is airing its second Super Bowl commercial to promote its grocery delivery business. Lately, DoorDash has its sights set on a new prize — dominance in retail and grocery delivery. "We have more retail stores, grocery included, than any other platform in North America today." DoorDashDoubleDashA year after launching grocery delivery, DoorDash introduced DoubleDash.

☆ Shake Shack unveils fine dining-inspired white truffle menu: 'It's something nobody else could do the way we could'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Nicolas Vega | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"We thought it was something that nobody else could do in the way we could do it," Shake Shack chief marketing officer Jay Livingston tells CNBC Make It. Starting Feb. 10, Shake Shack restaurants nationwide will be offering a trio of items made using white truffle: a beef burger, a mushroom burger and fries served with white truffle sauce. Shake Shack is no stranger to introducing limited edition menu items, but the burger chain's latest offering may be its most luxurious creation yet. The company worked with luxury food importer Regalis Foods to come up with a way to incorporate white truffle into its menus without asking customers to break the bank and also avoiding the artificial flavors that cheaper truffle oils use. Shake Shack will offer the menu for about three months, though Livingston noted that availability will ultimately be decided by customer demand.

☆ This restaurant started as a Mexican beach-side taco stand in a $3,000 VW bus—soon, it could come to a block near you
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Today, it's a fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain with 15 locations across New York, Miami and Washington, D.C. That's a far cry from Tacombi's beach days, which started when Wolos bought his 1963 green VW "bus" in Mexico City for $3,000. Wolos converted the van into a mobile restaurant where he sold his first tacos, he told Total Food Service in November. He wrote a business plan for a restaurant chain concept called "Taco Rex" where he'd sell Mexican food that was, to him, actually Mexican. "I saw that Taco Bell, Chipotle and Old El Paso and all these legacy brands of Mexican food weren't connecting people to this side of Mexico."

☆ 29 foodtech power players of 2022 revolutionizing how restaurants operate and deliver amid a looming recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rising labor and commodity costs put a squeeze on restaurants in 2022. Insider's 2022 foodtech power players are helping restaurants elevate their digital business. But sunny skies turned stormy in 2022 as the restaurant industry faced headwinds tied to market volatility, a labor shortage, and record inflation. Ghost kitchens, virtual brands, and online-ordering startups are now morphing to survive and stay relevant post-lockdown. Insider's 2022 list spotlights foodtech leaders who are helping restaurants take their digital business to the next level as they face a looming recession.

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