Del Taco, the Mexican “made-to-order” quick-serve chain, is planting its flag on the East Coast. The Lake Forest, Calif., chain plans to open several stores in New Jersey starting next year.Although it hasn’t determined where the Garden State locations will be, Del Taco has signed development agreements with two companies that own and operate similar…

Restaurant and foodservice sales will rise 3.8% in current dollars and 1.5% in real terms, according to the National Restaurant Association’s annual Restaurant Industry Forecast, released Jan. 27. The forecast projects stronger industry growth than the previous two years—the group estimates nominal industry growth at 3.2% in 2013 and 3.6% last year—but continues to call…

Whether they were driven by reports of strong job gains, the dizzying drop in gasoline prices and/or consumer confidence returning to pre-recession levels, Americans decided to visit restaurants more often in the last four months of 2014, according to The NPD Group’s CREST research. Overall restaurant traffic rose 1% in the three months September through…

The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index jumped back to its highest level since 2004, reaching 102.9 in the December 2014 survey. The RPI hit 102.8 in October, its highest level since December 2004 and easily a post-recession high, before falling back slightly in November to 102.1. Strong gains in the survey’s two capital-spending indicators…

On the consumer-confidence and gasoline-price watch: The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index jumped another four and a half points in the final January reading to 98.1 from 93.6 in the final December measure. It now stands at its highest level in the past 10 years. As for gasoline prices, they finally quit falling…

The 4-year-old chain opened “individually handcrafted pizza” stores in Chicago, Houston and Minneapolis in the past few months, and now Denver and Lexington, Ky., will be seeing Pie Five Pizza outlets. The first of up to 10 franchise units will open this summer in Lexington, while franchisees in the Centennial State begin introducing the brand…

We’ve been keeping you updated on proposals to change shipping rates for warewashers and air curtains and doors. Both kinds of equipment have been targeted for shipping classification upgrades by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association’s Commodity Classification Standards Board. At the board’s Jan. 27 meeting, the CCSB voted to withdraw its rate proposal for…

New York City’s health department is holding hearings on a few issues that could affect the E&S industry, and which restaurant operators suspect are simply a way for the city to issue more fines. One proposal being considered by the Board of Health and Mental Hygiene questions the use of ammonium solution to sanitize kitchen…

The National Restaurant Association and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation have unveiled the roster of new officers elected to one-year terms on their board of directors and board of trustees, respectively. Additionally, several industry leaders have joined the two separate boards. The NRA board has about 100 voting directors, representing every segment of the…

Accurex’s new Energy Recovery Filter System captures the waste heat produced by cooking appliances that would otherwise be exhausted from a kitchen hood and uses it to preheat a portion of incoming water supply that is directed into the patented energy recovery filters. Preheating water before it enters a conventional water heater saves energy and…