Franchise Selector
Start here to search over 700 franchises based on Industry, Location and Capital.
|
|
|
|
Franchise and Business Opportunities for Entrepreneurs
|
|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
|
 |
Pandini’s Named In NRN’s 2006 Hot Concepts |
NRN selects 2006 Hot Concepts!, Hot Again! award honorees
CHICAGO (March 20) - Featuring everything from pickles and pizza to sandwiches and seafood, six dynamic restaurant concepts have been selected by Nation's Restaurant News as its 2006 Hot Concepts! Award winners. In addition, a resurgent 20-year-old chain has been picked by the editors of NRN as its Hot Again! honoree for the year.
The Hot Concepts! winners are: Cheeseburger in Paradise, Jasper White's Summer Shack, Pandini's, Red Brick Pizza , Seasons 52 and Spicy Pickle. The Hot Again! Award recipient is Johnny Rockets.
Those chains, their leaders and employees will be honored May 21 here during the Nation's Restaurant News Hot Concepts! Celebration at the John G. Shedd Aquarium. The event, sponsored by Equal, will take place during the annual National Restaurant Association show.
"Congratulations to each of these Hot Concepts! companies and their leaders for turning their visions into reality, their reality into success," said NRN publisher Alan Gould. "Kudos, also, to our Hot Again! recipient, Johnny Rockets, for bouncing back from adversity and never wavering from its goal of offering customers a unique slice of Americana."
"One of the great strengths of the restaurant industry is innovation, and Equal is proud to salute the 2006 Hot Concepts! winners for developing ground-breaking new concepts with immense public appeal," said Michael Falvo, vice president of foodservice for Equal. "We also congratulate our Hot Again! winner for continuing to offer a creative and fun dining experience throughout its 20-year history."
Cheeseburger in Paradise was founded in August 2002 and now is owned by Outback Steakhouse, under a license from singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. The "island fantasy" concept features colorful cocktails and live music as well as Key West-style architecture and decor that offer customers an escape from the daily grind. Topping the chain's menu are its signature hamburgers and other traditional, American favorites prepared with a Caribbean flair. There are currently 29 Cheeseburger in Paradise locations, and another 20 are scheduled to open by year-end.
Jasper White's Summer Shack is a casual seafood concept devised by noted fine-dining chef Jasper White, a leading proponent of New England cuisine and seafood. Summer Shack restaurants offer such retro favorites as corn dogs and meatloaf alongside such specialties as pan-roasted lobster. Founded in 2000, Summer Shack now has restaurants in four locations including Boston, its Logan International Airport and Cambridge, Mass., as well as the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Connecticut. White also has launched a Summer Shack Express food court operation at the airport. A second Summer Shack Express is scheduled to open at Mohegan Sun this fall.
Pandini's was created in 1999 by the Retail Brand Group of Allentown, Pa., a subsidiary of Sodexho USA . Known for its casual Italian ambience and authentic cuisine, Pandini's caters to a wide range of tastes at breakfast, daytime and evening dining. A house specialty is the Labretti, a pizza-dough-based sandwich that brings together a salad and fire-grilled chicken or deli meats. Pandini's outlets operate in one of two formats - a full restaurant version and Pandini's Express for smaller settings. There are currently 16 Pandini's and Pandini's Express locations nationwide.
Red Brick Pizza is based in Palmdale, Calif., and bills itself as a fast-casual neighborhood pizza cafe. The concept features three-minute, fire-roasted gourmet pizzas, fresh chopped salads and freshly made Italian gelato. Created in 1999, Red Brick Pizza now has 52 locations and plans to add 90 to 100 more by year-end. A franchise concept known for efficiency and design innovation, Red Brick Pizza expects double-digit rates of expansion in the next few years. "We are aiming to be the largest fire-roasted gourmet pizza chain in the world," said founder James Dean Minidis.
Seasons 52 was founded in 2003 by Darden Restaurants and now has four restaurants in Florida. A fifth is slated to open this month in Boca Raton, Fla., and two more are expected to open later this year in Atlanta. Seasons 52 is a casually sophisticated grill and wine bar with a seasonally changing menu. The chain grills many dishes over oak and mesquite wood to add flavor and curb calories. To complement the flavor and aroma of meals, Seasons 52 offers more than 140 wines, 70 of them by the glass.
Spicy Pickle, based in Denver, was founded in 1999 and now has 11 sandwich specialty locations, including nine in Colorado and one each in California and Oregon. The company expects to add nine more outlets this year. The fast-casual restaurants boast high-quality meats and Italian artisanal breads, along with 10 cheeses, 21 toppings and 15 proprietary spreads to create a wide variety of panini and sub sandwiches with flavors from around the world. The concept also boasts the "world's best" spicy pickle.
Johnny Rockets debuted as a 1940s-theme maltshop-style concept in 1986 on trendy Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Buoyed by an early success, the chain expanded rapidly. However, after several years of stagnant growth in the late 1990s, Johnny Rockets found itself $16 million in debt. Today, under the guidance of chief executive Mike Shumsky, the company has turned things around and is projecting systemwide sales in 2006 of more than $200 million. There are now 187 corporate and franchisee-owned Johnny Rockets restaurants in 29 states and nine countries, with more in development. Each of the full-service, retro-style restaurants offers juicy hamburgers, hand-dipped shakes and malts, and freshly baked apple pie. Guests enjoy an all-American diner look and feel, authentic decor and tabletop jukeboxes that belt out tunes for a nickel.
The Hot Concepts! program recognizes forward-thinking companies with emerging growth potential. Selected by the editors of NRN, candidates are judged on the basis of clearly defined concepts that have expanded to multiple markets and appeal to consumers on the leading edge of foodservice.
View More Pandini’s Franchise Information
###
|
 |
|
