Commercial Foodservice Repair, Greenville, S.C., one of the foodservice industry’s leading providers of equipment service and repair, merged with Tech 24 on July 28. Tech 24 is an independent service organization offering equipment repair, HVAC, plumbing and electrical services to customers in Virginia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and the surrounding areas.The newly merged company will transition…

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, in the midst of an internal restructuring, has completed its acquisition of 32 franchised units in the U.S. and Canada. The 14 U.S. restaurants are located in Illinois, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. Eighteen Canadian restaurants are located in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. The company plans to…

Weeks after announcing an 18-unit franchise deal for the Tampa, Fla., area, Pie Five Pizza Co. has announced agreements to open a string of restaurants in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. The fast-casual Dallas chain has awarded 26 franchise units to Birmingham, Ala.-based Quality Restaurant Concepts, which will introduce the brand throughout Alabama, Mississippi and Chattanooga,…

The Big Apple will welcome 10 Huddle House diners over the next five years. The expansion, under an agreement with an experienced multi-unit investor, marks the 50-year-old chain’s first foray into New York. While Atlanta-based Huddle House previously has expanded only as far as West Virginia and Pennsylvania, New York’s diner culture is expected to…

A quick-service natural foods concept has been named the winning design in the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show’s 2014 Foodservice Pioneering Concept competition. The Nyman Group, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Las Vegas, and Robert Rippe & Associates of Minnetonka, Minn., are the winning foodservice consultants. Their “BOWLS—Food That’s Good For You!” concept will…

Market Forge Industries has moved its Massachusetts operations north to a Vermont facility near its Middleby Corp. stablemate, Blodgett Oven. The facility in Essex, Vt., will build proprietary steam equipment under the Market Forge brand. Middleby, which purchased the assets of Market Forge on Jan. 7, moved all of the production, sales and engineering from…

During the next three years, 300 older-style Olive Garden outlets are targeted for the chain’s new Revitalia-style makeover featuring lighter fare and less cluttered interiors. Two of Orlando-based Darden Restaurants’ remodeled Florida units will serve as templates for the 75 stores slated to get a more youthful, urban look in 2014. The price tag, at…

CKE Restaurant Holdings continues to think big on global expansion. The company took another step in late June toward its 2017 goal of 1,000 international Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s locations when it opened its 600th international restaurant outlet. The new Hardee’s store in Astana, Kazakhstan, is operated by franchisee The Caspian International Restaurants Co., a…

Australia’s Breville Pty Ltd. and Chicago’s PolyScience have inked a strategic alliance in which Breville will acquire the distribution rights for current and future PolyScience Culinary products in both the consumer and commercial channels. PolyScience, originally known for its scientific temperature control equipment, makes foodservice products, including sous vide immersion circulators, vacuum packaging systems, anti-griddle…

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