Planet Hollywood International will be expanding Buca di Beppo into the Boston area. The 83-unit casual-dining chain will open four restaurants in Dedham, Lexington, Seekonk and Shrewsbury this fall. According to David Crabtree, Planet Hollywood’s new president and CEO, the units will be conversions from former sister brand Vinny T’s."We have been looking for opportunities…

A high-end hamburger joint that hasn’t opened yet already has more than 300 friends following its construction and menu plans on Facebook. Why all the interest in Tom & Eddie’s? The new suburban Chicago restaurant is the brainchild of former McDonald’s execs Ed Rensi—the man behind the Arch Deluxe—and Tom Dentice. The first Tom &…

Baskin-Robbins is busy with numbers. The chain, now in the midst of its 65th anniversary, just opened its 1,000th store in Japan. The new outlet is located at Decks Tokyo Beach in Tokyo. The Canton, Mass., chain has been in Japan for 37 years. As with the other 999 Baskin-Robbins there, the store is operated…

Registration is ongoing for the Society for Foodservice Management’s National Conference, set for Oct. 4-7 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Fla. The three-day meeting includes business strategy and professional development workshops covering topics such as crisis management and food safety; foodservice contract language; and the who/what/how to’s of sustainable foods and beverages. Also on…

Those accustomed to walking the aisles of the biggest restaurant show in the U.S. will get a taste of foodservice from a European perspective at hogatec, the international trade fair for hotels, gastronomy and catering. The 19th edition of the biennial show is Sept. 12-15 at the Dusseldorf Exhibition Centre, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. As in years…

With new halls opening at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre this fall, China’s biggest foodservice show is opening a day early. FHC China 2010, the 14th annual international exhibition for food, drink, hospitality foodservice, bakery and retail industries, will now run Wednesday-Friday, Nov. 10-12. The previously announced Nov. 11-13 show dates, running over a…

In a deal approved last week by a federal bankruptcy court, Luby’s Inc. will acquire most of the assets of burger chain Fuddruckers Inc., its parent Magic Brands LLC and their affiliates for about $61 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by July 26. The 96-unit Houston-based cafeteria chain also will assume…

California Pizza Kitchen has had a busy spring. Its first quarter saw the openings of CPK’s second full-service restaurant in Dubai, UAE, and a quick-serve unit at Stony Brook University in Long Island, N.Y. Since the second-quarter began, the chain’s franchise partners have opened CPK’s first travel-plaza location, its eighth store in Mexico, and an…

Ten Arby’s units a year will be opening in Turkey under a just-signed contract. Arby’s Restaurant Group and Tab Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. inked a development agreement to open at least 100 Arby’s restaurants in Turkey over the next 10 years, including 50 during the next five years. These restaurants will be incremental to…

McDonald’s plans to open 100 more restaurants in South Africa and 120 in India over the next five years as the company seeks out further growth in emerging markets, according to recent interviews with two of the company’s top executives. Tim Fenton, president of the chain’s Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions, told Bloomberg News…