A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate concept between fast food and casual dining.
The concept originated in the United States in the early 1990s, but did not become mainstream until the end of the 2000s and the beginning of the 2010s. [1] During the economic recession that began in 2007, the category of fast casual dining saw increased sales to the 18–34-year-old demographic. [2] Customers with limited discretionary spending for meals tend to choose fast casual for dining perceived as healthier. [2] [3]
The founder and publisher of FastCasual.com, Paul Barron, is credited with coining the term "fast-casual" in the late 1990s. [4] Horatio Lonsdale-Hands, former Chairman and CEO of ZuZu Inc., is also credited with coining the term. ZuZu, a handmade Mexican food concept co-founded by Lonsdale-Hands and Espartaco Borga in 1989, filed a U.S. Federal trademark registration for the term "fast-casual" in November 1995, [5] [6] leading Michael DeLuca to call Lonsdale-Hands a "progressive pioneer in the burgeoning 'fast-casual' market segment" in the July 1996 edition of Restaurant Hospitality. [7]
The company Technomic Information Services defined "fast-casual restaurants" as meeting the following criteria: [8]
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a "meat-sweet diet", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away, though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.
Howard Johnson's, or Howard Johnson by Wyndham, is an American hotel chain with locations worldwide, as well as a former restaurant chain. The chain began as a restaurant founded by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925; in the 1950s, the company expanded operations by opening hotels, then known as Howard Johnson's Motor Lodges, which were often located next to restaurants. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, it was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S., with more than 1,000 combined company-owned and franchised outlets.
Fazoli's System Management, LLC., doing business as Fazoli's, is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1988 and is now owned by FAT Brands. As of September 2023, there are 211 Fazoli's located nationwide. The restaurant chain specializes in Italian-American cuisine and dishes.
Panera Bread is an American chain store of bakery-café fast food restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri. The chain operates as Saint Louis Bread Company in the Greater St. Louis area, where it has over 100 locations.
Atlanta Bread Company is a privately owned American chain of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with 18 locations in 4 states. Its headquarters are in Smyrna, Georgia, a suburb northwest of Atlanta. Offerings include bakery items, pasta, salads, sandwiches, soups, and specialty drinks.
Captain Ds, LLC. is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in seafood and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The chain was founded as Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers by Raymond L. Danner Sr. on August 15, 1969, in Donelson, Tennessee. The chain is currently owned by private-equity firm Centre Partners. Captain D's has more than 500 locations in the United States.
Einstein Bros. Bagels is an American chain of bagel cafes. In the 1990s, the company bought out several retail bagel chains from regions around the US which lacked bagel traditions. After filing for bankruptcy in 2000, the company was bought out by New World Coffee. It became part of Panera Brands in August 2021.
Qdoba is a chain of fast casual restaurants in the United States and Canada serving Mexican-style cuisine. After 15 years as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack in the Box, the company was sold to a consortium of funds led by Apollo Global Management in March 2018. In October 2022, Qdoba was acquired by Butterfly Equity. At the time of the acquisition, Qdoba had nearly 750 locations across North America. It is the No.2 player and No.1 franchisor of Mexican fast-casual dining in North America.
Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, or simply Freddy's, is an American fast-casual restaurant chain based in Wichita, Kansas. Its menu includes steakburgers, Vienna Beef hot dogs, and chicken sandwiches. The company also provides frozen custard and specialty sundaes
Au Bon Pain is an American fast casual restaurant, bakery, and café chain headquartered in Richardson, Texas, which operates 175 locations in the United States, Thailand, and Taiwan. The company is currently owned by AMPEX Brands.
Sizzler USA Restaurants, Inc., doing business as Sizzler, is a United States-based restaurant chain with headquarters in Mission Viejo, California, with locations mainly in California, plus some in the nearby states of Washington, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Oregon and Puerto Rico. It is known for steak, seafood, and salad bar items.
Eat'n Park is a restaurant chain based in Homestead, Pennsylvania. As of March 2024, the company operates 56 locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The chain is known for its Smiley Cookies and has adopted the motto, "the place for smiles".
Restaurants fall into several industry classifications, based upon menu style, preparation methods and pricing, as well as the means by which the food is served to the customer. This article mainly describes the situation in the US, while categorisation differs widely around the world.
A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. It can also be a public dining area in front of a cafe or diner.
The soup and sandwich combination meal consists of a soup accompanied by a sandwich. It has been a popular meal in the United States since the 1920s. Some U.S. restaurant chains specialize in the meal, and it has been mass-produced as a prepared frozen meal.
Blaine Hurst is an entrepreneur, businessman, and restaurateur. Currently, Hurst is President and Chief Executive Officer of Panera, LLC. Hurst was named Chief Executive Officer of Panera effective January 1, 2018, following the chain's acquisition by JAB Holdings in July 2017 for roughly $7.5 billion, and served as its President since December 2016.
Ronald M. Shaich is an American businessman, entrepreneur, investor, and best-selling author who co-founded and built Au Bon Pain Inc., and later, founded Panera Bread, both of which he served as CEO and chairman. Under Shaich's leadership, from 1997 to 2017, Panera Bread was the best-performing public restaurant stock, performing two times better than Starbucks, six times better than Chipotle, and performing 44 times better than the S&P 500 with 25% annualized returns. Shaich sold Panera Bread for $7.5 billion in 2017.
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