O'Briens Irish Sandwich Cafe, also known as O'Briens, is an Irish franchise sandwich cafe chain founded in Ireland in 1988 by Brody Sweeney. As of October 2009, O'Briens was operated by the AIL Group, who owns Abrakebabra. [1]
In 1988, Irish businessman, Brody Sweeney set up his first sandwich shop in Dublin. [2] [3] Sweeney reportedly chose the name O'Brien's because it was the most common name in the phone book and he wanted a very common Irish surname in the event of expansion overseas.[ citation needed ]
In 2009, the company went into liquidation and was purchased by Abrakebabra Investments Limited. [1]
Initially operating only in Ireland, the chain once operated sandwich bars in Australia, China, Gibraltar, Indonesia, Bahrain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.[ citation needed ]
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.
Quiz Holdings, LLC, doing business as Quiznos, is an American franchised fast-food restaurant based in Denver that specializes in offering toasted submarine sandwiches. It was founded in 1981 by Jimmy Lambatos and sold to Rick and Richard Schaden ten years later. It then grew to nearly 5,000 restaurants; by 2013, Quiznos was the second-largest submarine sandwich shop chain in North America, behind Subway. It filed for bankruptcy in 2014; by 2016, it had dropped to ninth place, and the number of Quiznos locations in the United States fell from a 2007 high of 4,700 to just 400 a decade later.
Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a grocery that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the mid-19th century. European immigrants to the United States, especially Ashkenazi Jews, popularized the delicatessen in U.S. culture beginning in the late 19th century. Today, many large retail stores like supermarkets have deli sections.
Panera Bread is an American chain of bakery-café fast casual 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.
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fried chicken restaurants founded in 1972 in New Orleans and headquartered in Miami. It is currently a subsidiary of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International. As of 2021, Popeyes has 3,705 restaurants, which are located in more than 46 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 30 countries worldwide. About 50 locations are company-owned; the other ~98% are franchised.
Regal Cinemas is an American movie theater chain that operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with 6,853 screens in 511 theaters as of December 31, 2021. Founded on August 10, 1989, it is owned by the British company Cineworld and headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. The three main theater brands operated by Regal Entertainment Group are Regal Cinemas, Edwards Theatres, and United Artists Theatres.
Café de Coral Holdings, Ltd. is a Hong Kong fast-food restaurant group that owns and operates fast-food chains and restaurants, including Café de Coral, Super Super, The Spaghetti House, Oliver's Super Sandwiches, Ah Yee Leng Tong, and others.
Sheetz, Inc. is an American chain of convenience stores. Its stores, which are open 24/7 year-round, offer made-to-order fast food, and most include a gas station, while a few locations are full-scale truck stops, offering showers and a laundromat. The family-owned company has over 21,000 employees, and operates more than 750 company-owned stores located in Western, Central, and Northeastern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Michigan.
Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc. is a restaurant operator and subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based company JAB Holding Company. Bruegger's and its wholly-owned subsidiary Threecaf Brands Canada, Inc., are franchisers and operators of Bruegger's bakery-cafés, and Michel's Baguette.
A bacon sandwich is a sandwich of cooked bacon. It may be spread with butter, and may be seasoned with brown sauce or tomato ketchup. It is generally served hot. In some establishments the sandwich will be made from bread toasted on only one side, while other establishments serve it on a similar roll as is used for hamburgers.
Blimpie International, Inc. is an American submarine sandwich chain based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1964, by three friends, and has since endured three ownership changes.
Abrakebabra is an Irish fast-food restaurant chain established in Dublin, Ireland in 1982.
Lee's Sandwiches International, Inc., is a Vietnamese-American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in San Jose, California, with locations in several states and in Taiwan. Lee's Sandwiches specializes in bánh mì, "European-style" baguette sandwiches, Vietnamese iced coffee, and Vietnamese dessert chè. It is credited with popularizing Vietnamese sandwiches and iced coffee among mainstream American consumers and inspiring several other Vietnamese-owned bakery chains.
Coffeeheaven is a Central European coffee house business based in Warsaw, Poland. It operated specialty branded coffee/sandwich bars in Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary, with stores in Latvia trading under the brand name Coffee Nation.
Brody Sweeney is an Irish businessman, known for founding O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bars and the food delivery brand Camile Thai Kitchen.
Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the world's third-largest hamburger fast-food chain with 6,711 locations, following McDonald’s and Burger King. On September 29, 2008, the company merged with Triarc Companies Inc., the publicly traded parent company of Arby's.
Insomnia Coffee Company is an Irish chain of coffee shops, with headquarters in Dublin. Its first location opened in the back of a Galway bookshop in August 1997. The company has over 150 cafés and over 400 self-service units in operation around Ireland. Insomnia outlets serve both hot and cold drinks, coffee, sandwiches, salads, soups, snacks, cakes, and pastries.
Camile is an Irish restaurant chain, serving Thai cuisine. Originating in Dolphin's Barn, Dublin in 2010, the chain was co-founded by Brody Sweeney. The chain, which operates via a franchise restaurant model, has since expanded throughout Ireland and the UK, with 45 locations as of 2021. As of June 2021, it was also reportedly expanding via a "partnership" model in the United States.