southern-food
(4)
What Restaurant Operators Can Steal From Newk's: It Lost the Dining Room, Then Found a Leaner Growth Plan
When COVID-19 erased 75 percent of its business, the nearly 100-unit Southern chain did not abandon scratch cooking. It cut the clutter around it - and turned a four-day curbside scramble into a more disciplined franchise playbook.
Slim Chickens Built a 300-Store Flock on One Surprisingly Sticky Idea: Choice
The Fayetteville chain turned garage-tested tenders, 14 sauces and table-side hospitality into a mostly franchised global business. Its next test is harder: preserving that sense of choice and care while opening in more formats, markets and countries.
The $1.5 Million Scoop: How Chicken Salad Chick Turned a Picnic Staple Into a Franchise Machine
Chicken Salad Chick took a dish associated with picnics and church lunches, gave it 12 personalities, and built a fast-casual growth story around the humble scoop. Its real product is not novelty alone - it is repeatable choice served with a neighborhood touch.
Jack's Family Restaurants
Alabama's answer to McDonald's turned 65 this year. Here is how a 15-cent hamburger stand in Homewood became a 280-store Southern institution - and why it still hand-breads the chicken.