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A single McDonald’s restaurant in Warilla, Australia, this week began a limited, five-week test of offering dine-in customers food brought to their table served on china, accompanied by glassware and cutlery. According to a story in the Illawarra Mercury, the test has been given the green light by McDonald’s Corp. Anyone ordering a Grand Angus, [...]

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers is rethinking its full-service restaurant model top to bottom—from name to service style to menu—as it also expands its fast-casual concept, Red Robin Burger Works. Red Robin reported its Q3 results today, which include a 3.4% increase in total revenues and a 1.1% increase in same-store sales for company units. More [...]

One of the oldest American family/burger restaurant brands embraces the new fast-casual philosophy tomorrow when Shoney’s opens its limited-service prototype, Shoney’s On the Go, in Houston. Beginning as Alex “Shoney” Schoenbaum’s Parkette Drive-In in Charleston, W.Va., in 1947, the name became Shoney’s and the restaurant became a Big Boy franchisee in 1951. The Big Boy [...]

Already crossing into fast-casual territory in menu and pricing, McDonald’s in France is testing limited table service that could continue to move brand perceptions out of the “fast food” realm. At 50 of its 120 Paris locations that have McCafés and touchpad order/pay terminals, McDonald’s staff bring out McCafé orders to seated customers. The chain [...]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrEyzmttZA8Why so much coverage here of the burger battles in Australia? Because the action never stops there. McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s and the others are all in it to win it, so there’s always something new. The latest twist is a 30-second TV spot (at left) from McDonald’s in Australia (via DDB, Sydney) offering customers a [...]