A 290-lb. New Yorker is suing his local White Castle, claiming the restaurant’s fixed seating violates his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.The 64-year-old burger lover says he has complained for two years about his difficulty fitting into the stationary seating at the Nanuet, N.Y., restaurant.  His complaints got him coupons for free burgers…

No criminal charges will be filed in a deadly case of leaky soda fountain lines at a McDonald’s in Georgia. On Sept. 7, carbon dioxide piped through gas lines leaked and sickened 10 people, including an 80-year-old woman who died after being found unconscious in a restroom. Investigators in Pooler, Ga., about 10 miles from…

The National Restaurant Association is calling on members of the U.S. House of Representatives to co-sponsor the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011. HR 527 would require the federal government to evaluate any regulation’s impact on small businesses and look for less-burdensome alternatives where possible. “The restaurant and foodservice industry is composed predominately of small…

One of the key factors in foodservice operators’ increasing gloominess about the future is that wholesale food prices keep rising, boosting costs at a time of sinking same-store sales and traffic. In July’s National Restaurant Association Restaurant Performance Index, operator expectation about business conditions in the next six months fell two full points. Operators got…

The run-up in gasoline prices and a worsening jobs outlook undercut three quarters of moderate gains in restaurant traffic that began summer 2010, according to The NPD Group’s CREST data. Traffic in the U.S. fell 0.4% in the quarter ending June, compared to the same quarter last year, the Port Washington, N.Y., research firm reported…

The total number of restaurants in Canada grew by 512 net units in 2010 to 72,721 total units, according to data from The NPD Group’s annual ReCount census in the country. Surprisingly, all the growth came from independents, which account for 63.8% of total units in Canada. Chains actually lost 72 net units last year.…

One of the critical realities of the foodservice business is that richer households buy a significant percentage of restaurant meals. And one of the unfortunately effects of the Great Recession is that there are significantly fewer affluent households today than there were in 2007: two million fewer, according to analysis by the National Restaurant Association’s…

Steve Don called me a few weeks ago and asked if, in the light of the current economic turmoil, we are reconsidering our equipment and supplies market forecasts. We currently call for 4% nominal sales growth this year and 4.7% in 2012. At the time I said, “Not yet.” But we’ve now seen four more…

Equipment manufacturer