T&S Brass and Bronze Works has hired Bert Dittmar as director-European sales. A native of Germany, Dittmar is a 30-year veteran of foodservice sales and marketing; he worked most recently as director of global sales for Kahla Thüringen Porzellan GmbH, a maker of servingware and tabletop products. Dittmar also spent more than a decade at…

Taco Bell unveiled its new U.S. Taco concept in Texas earlier this year, and for its full-scale debut in the U.K. last month, the chain has reimaged its own brand. The new Sheffield, England, store’s open-kitchen design concept, with customers watching their meals made to order from locally sourced ingredients, might seem familiar but is…

Johnny Rockets, which already boasts a retro design and menu, is now developing four new prototypes under its Route 66 brand. At least one of the concepts—drive-in, drive-through, food truck and pop-up—is likely to debut by year’s end. The burger chain, through a strategic partnership with USA Drive-Ins, a film production and distribution company, will…

Buffalo Wild Wings has made a majority investment in Rusty Taco, a privately held Dallas-based chain. Buffalo Wild Wings, which has more than 1,030 locations in North America, says it wants to help expand the taco chain throughout the country. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Rusty Taco, founded in 2010, specializes in street-style,…

McDonald’s Corp. has named a new president for its struggling U.S. division, the second change in the office in less than two years. The Oak Brook, Ill., chain is bringing back a longtime company executive, Mike Andres, to succeed Jeff Stratton as McDonald’s USA president. Stratton, who replaced Jan Fields in the post in late…

Two notable Southeast-based manufacturers’ reps, The Hansen Group and RepsSouth, have merged under the banner of Atlanta’s The Hansen Group, to establish one of the industry’s largest rep firms. “RepsSouth has been recognized and respected as one of the top firms in our business. This alliance further establishes The Hansen Group as one of the…

Brad Willis will take on the office of CFO for Ali Group North America on Oct. 1 after transitioning from his role as CFO at Beverage-Air, a division of parent Ali Group. Willis will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing general financial matters throughout the Group companies within North America, namely Aladdin Temp-Rite, ACP/Amana, Belshaw/Adamatic,…

The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille recently inked an 11-unit deal for southern New Jersey, marking the company’s first locations in the Garden State. The casual dining/sports bar and grill chain is now focusing expansion efforts on New York City, Philadelphia and New England, as well as points south. The multiunit New Jersey deal…

Longtime MAFSI member, Ken High, founder of High Sabatino Associates in Jessup, Md., died Aug. 12. He was 80. High entered the foodservice equipment industry in 1959, when he acquired the Lewis J. Andersen Co., a manufacturers’ rep firm. Eight years later, that company became High Sabatino Associates, then High Sabatino Huber, and eventually High…

Patrick J. Huppert, applications engineer and the “father” of the Kold Locker walk-in product line at Nor-Lake Inc., died July 17 while on an annual fishing trip in Canada. He was 60 years old. Huppert got his start in the E&S industry as a draftsman at Vollrath Refrigeration in 1976, designing walk-in coolers; he also…