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Genghis Grill, which grew to 59 units with four grand openings at year’s end, is branching out. An affiliate of The Chalak Group, parent of the Mongolian stir-fry chain, has acquired 33 Yum! Brands franchised restaurants. The KFC, Taco Bell and Long John Silver’s units in Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma are now under the…

Carlson Restaurants will be focusing exclusively on T.G.I. Friday’s. After a nine-year ownership run, the Carrollton, Texas, company has sold its Pick Up Stix chain to Lorne Goldberg, the owner of the Leeann Chin and Mandarin Express quick-service brands. The sale includes 70 corporate locations and four franchised Pick Up Stix units. Goldberg stated he…

The Manitowoc Co. is spinning off Kysor/Warren, a maker of refrigerated display merchandisers and systems for the retail grocery and c-store markets. On Dec. 15, the company announced a definitive agreement for the divestiture of its Kysor/Warren and Kysor/Warren de Mexico businesses to Lennox Int’l. for approximately $138 million. The divestiture will not impact Kolpak,…

Who would have guessed that a 19th century novel would become the most common reference point for 21st century restaurant inspections and public-health notices? Allusions to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter have been common from operators and lawmakers discussing restaurant grading systems for New York restaurants and Los Angeles food trucks. And now, it again…

This week’s presidential signing of the Food & Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act capped a list of legislative victories for the National Restaurant Association. These included passage of lower, more transparent interchange fees; tax relief for small businesses; the launch of one national menu-labeling standard; and the defeat of union card-check legislation. NRA Chairman…

Common sense has won out in dueling menu-labeling laws in California, where a Jan. 1 law required all chains with 20 or more locations to post calories on menus and menu boards. Los Angeles County joined most other counties in the state in saying they won’t be strictly enforcing the measure, passed two years ago,…

There are about 600 mobile food trucks, vans and carts in Oregon’s Multnomah County. That’s nearly one for every 1,000 residents of the state’s biggest county. But the popularity of the foodservice streetscape sprawl is prompting new rules that have put the thriving, trendsetting world of Portland food carts on notice. During a city council…