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So now franchisees are jumping on the litigation bandwagon against Burger King. Can't really blame them either. The company is demanding that franchises fork over 40 percent of the money they get from soda companies annually for purchase and maintenance of soda machines and for local advertising. It's a huge chunk, and franchise owners aren't happy that the company is doing this without their consent. Enter lawsuit: the National Franchisee Association filed a class action suit on behalf of all 850 US franchisees.

Burger King intends to use the extra money to increase its national advertising budget. (Aside: how much bigger does this budget need to be? This is, after all, the company that sent a TV crew loaded with Whoppers to remote parts of the world to give "Whopper virgins" their first taste of the burger. When it comes to expensive and elaborate ad campaigns, that's got to be pretty far up on the list.) The money is supposed to go toward promoting new menu items, among other things.

Burger King stores fight to keep soda rebates [Miami Herald]

It's officially over: every last one of the RJ Gator's locations is closed. After a bankruptcy, a sale, and another bankruptcy, the tanking economy finally pulled the plug on the chain that was on life support.

After more than 20 years of business, R.J. Gator's Florida Sea Grill & Bar is closing all of its remaining locations and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Late Thursday night, employees were told not to return to work. A notice posted on the door of all locations Friday said: "Due to the economic downturn we have been forced to close. … We truly have appreciated your business over the last 21 years."

As many as 150 employees are now out of a job.

R.J. Gator's Restaurant Closes All Locations [WPBFTV]
R J Gator's [MenuPages]
R J Gator's [MenuPages]
R J Gator's [MenuPages]

The name is changing too — now it'll be Miami Subs Pizza & Grill. Yep, you'll be able to order one of their new specialty pizzas through an online ordering system and have it delivered to your door. The plan: 500 stores in the next five years, including six in the immediate future (three in New York, two in South Florida, and one in South Carolina). The company also just opened an outlet in the Cayman Islands and another in Turkey, while two more are almost ready in Romania. (It'd be interesting to see why the company chose to enter those markets; offhand, they seem kind of odd.)

Five hundred restaurants seems incredibly ambitious, especially given the economic downturn, although it is precisely these kinds of fast-food places that might thrive in the next few years. So maybe it'll work.

For those of us down here for whom the neon Miami Subs signs are familiar, we'll be seeing some changes too, namely the addition of pizza to the menu and "a new store design that we feel will be more attractive to today's fast casual consumer," according to Rich Rudner, the company's director of communications. Which means that they'll update the decor for the first time since 1986. Not a bad idea.

Six Locations Race to be the "First" New Miami Subs Pizza & Grill
Miami Subs Grill [Official Site] [MarketWatch]

Restaurants around the country are bleeding money, but somehow Miami-based Benihana has actually managed to increase profits:

Benihana, the Miami-based Japanese restaurant chain, reported higher sales in each of its brands for its second quarter, which ended Oct. 12.

Sales grew 4.5 percent to $69.6 million in the second fiscal quarter 2009 from $66.6 million in the second fiscal quarter 2008. Sales at restaurants open one year were up 6.5 percent, including 5.1 percent at Benihana teppanyaki; 11.4 percent at RA Sushi; and 8 percent at Haru.

Benihana reports higher sales for the quarter [Miami Herald]
Benihana [Official Site]

Photo:Are Nold Rob Bore/flickr

Looks like Denny's is spreading the wealth in the neighborhood:

On Friday, Oct. 10, Denny’s Corp., and the historically black university, unveiled the Denny’s Single Parent Resource Center at a luncheon held at the school’s Miami Gardens campus.

...

Denny’s invested $70,000 in the center as part of its focus on diversity. The restaurant chain has partnered with the Tom Joyner Foundation to provide $1,500 scholarships to single parents attending historically black colleges and universities. The recipients are selected on a weekly basis.

Sybil Wilkes, the intellect among the Tom Joyner Morning Show cast, attended the center’s grand opening. Wilkes understands the demands of single parenthood, firsthand.

“I was raised by a single parent, and I understand how important that is. My mom always encouraged me to read and to excel academically,” she said.

Barbara Edwards, executive assistant to Florida Memorial University President Karl Wright, will serve as a liaison to the resource center.

“[Denny’s] asked if we would be interested, and we were thrilled to be … the first HBCU (which stands for historically black colleges and universities) selected. Through the center, [students] will have the opportunity to get additional supportive services, counseling, computer access, to get them what they need, to get them to persist,” Edwards said.

Restaurant chain helps parents in college [South Florida Times]
Denny's [Official Site]

Chipotle is going green. The new free-standing Chipotle in Gurnee, Illinois will have a wind turbine on-site that's expected to generate 10 percent of the restaurant's electrical power. And that's not all — here's what else is in the works:

• use of recycled drywall, recycled barn metal, and primers and paints that contain fewer chemicals;
• a variety of energy and water conservation elements inside the restaurant, including LED lighting, highly efficient faucets and toilets, and Energy Star rated kitchen equipment;
• a 2,500 gallon underground water cistern that will harvest rainwater to irrigate the landscape;
• native plants outside that will require less watering and fertilizer;
• and asphalt in the parking lot that will reflect the sun's heat, rather than absorb it, making the entire site cooler.

If it works in Gurnee, we hope to see similar changes at other Chipotle locations. Now, if only those burritos didn't pack so many calories.

National Restaurant Company Launches "Green" Development [MarketWatch]
Chipotle [Official Site]
Pizza Fusion [MenuPages]
Pizza Fusion [Official Site]
Shake Shack [MenuPages]
Shake Shack [Official Site]

Photo: Davey../flickr

Almost exactly one year after being sold for $2 million, R J Gator's has once again filed for bankruptcy. It's not surprising, considering the recent closings of the Port St. Lucie and Okeechobee locations.

Palm Beach Gardens-based J&D Restaurant Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, said Alex Tyson, director of operations for the company.

The company is way behind on its bills, but it's hopeful that it can reorganize and keep its remaining five restaurants open, Tyson said.

The company closed its Port St. Lucie and Okeechobee restaurants this month and its Stuart restaurant in June.

Tyson blamed the soured economy for putting a dent in the restaurants' business.

"When you talk to people and you say, 'How are you going to save money?' ... the first thing that they say is, 'We're not going to go out to eat,' " Tyson said.

RJ Gator's files for bankruptcy [Palm Beach Post]
RJ Gators Sold For $2 Million [MP: South Florida]
Duffy's Bucks Downward Economic Trend [MP: South Florida]
R J Gator's [Official Site]

Some restaurants are actually doing well despite the economic downturn; Duffy's Sports Grill just opened a Deerfield branch and is planning to expand to Delray Beach. So while lots of other chain restaurants are seeing red (RJ Gator's just shut two more locations, one in Port St Lucie and another in Okeechobee), Duffy's has managed to not only stay in the black but expand. Pretty impressive.

What makes Duffy's thrive while Steak & Ale, Bennigan's and others are shutting down?

Buying failed locales at bargain rates. Negotiating hard with suppliers for low prices. And focusing on value for clients, especially through its frequent-diner program, restaurant experts say.

...

Perhaps the chain's greatest innovation is borrowing tools from airlines to adjust prices for peak and slow times and to reward loyal clients.

For example, Duffy's offers 40 percent off all food weekdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., when tables tend to be empty. To qualify, diners must sign up for its MVP frequent-diner card. Cardholders also get a $10 credit for every $100 of purchases, among other rewards and benefits.

About 70 percent of sales come from more than 200,000 MVP cardholders, who mainly live or work near Duffy's outlets. Many retirees come in weekdays just before 4 p.m. to order cut-rate dinners and then, buy "2 for 1" drinks at happy hour that starts at 4 p.m.

Restaurant chain serves up a profit in tough times [Sun-Sentinel]
Duffy's Sports Grill [Official Site]

Burger King just seems to be a magnet for litigation these days. Here's another lawsuit from a quadriplegic in California:

He says he has to roll his wheelchair through the drive-thru lane at the Pleasant Hill restaurant, narrowly steer it between bushes and garbage bins along the entryway and struggle with heavy doors he can't open.

"I'm dead in the water," he said Wednesday as he sat outside the Burger King on Contra Costa Boulevard, flailing his arms for attention. "I'd like to go in and get something to eat, but I can't."

On Wednesday, Castaneda, 45, made his complaints a federal case as the lead plaintiff in what disability lawyers hope to make a large class-action claiming the fast food giant violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and state disability laws. The lawsuit targets 90 restaurants in California that lawyers say Burger King leases or subleases to franchises. But its aim is wider, to the 500 or so Burger King restaurants throughout California, since many of them follow the same design to create that uniform orange-and-yellow experience.

Man claims Burger King violates disabilities act [The Mercury News]

Burger King just keeps getting negative press. Corporate headquarters asked (well, really more like told) franchisees that they need to stay open late, but they're not keen on the idea. Here's the story from CNN:

The franchisees, who filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, also allege that Burger King's actions violate their franchise agreements, which had contained provisions for shorter hours.

Starting June 1, Burger King began to require that all franchisees keep their stores open until at least 2 a.m. local time on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to better compete with fast-food chains like McDonald's Corp. (MCD) and Wendy's International Inc. (WEN).

The franchise agreement states that stores only have to stay open until 11 p.m., according to the lawsuit.

The company also required stores to open at 6 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday.

Burger King Franchisees Sue Over Late Hours [CNNMoney]

As much as I hate writing about the Starbucks closures again (I'm not a big coffee drinker, and I've never quite understood the cult of Starbucks), I know that lots of people depend on them for their morning coffee fix, and I'd like for these people to be prepared if their favorite Starbucks location is closing. The last thing we need in South Florida is a bunch of people going through caffeine withdrawals on the road. So here's the list of closures:

Palm Beach:
• 13910 Jog Rd in Delray Beach
• 1200 Town Center Dr (Abacoa) in Jupiter
• 801 N Congress Ave (Boynton Beach Mall) in Boynton Beach
• 11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Dr (Dowtown at the Gardens) in Palm Beach Gardens
• 3101 PGA Blvd (Gardens Mall) in Palm Beach Gardens
• 5100 PGA Blvd (PGA Commons Central) in Palm Beach Gardens
• 650 S Rosemary Ave (City Place) in West Palm Beach

Broward:
• 1100 W Broward Blvd in Fort Lauderdale
• 3399 N State Rd 7 (Lakes Mall) in Lauderdale Lakes
• 9439 W Atlantic Blvd (Coral Square Mall) in Pompano Beach

Miami-Dade:
• 9600 SW 160th St in Miami
• 750 NE 125th St in North Miami

A few thoughts: Palm Beach Gardens is really bearing the brunt of the closures, although after looking at the locations, it looks like the company might have really over-saturated the market there. I should note the Lauderdale Lakes closing also, which Michael Mayo at the Sun-Sentinel wrote was the one that Magic Johnson brought to town. It's one of the few Starbucks in predominantly black neighborhoods.

'Magic' evaporates at Lauderdale Lakes Starbucks [Sun-Sentinel]
Starbucks [Official Site]

• The first Hardee's opened in Greenville, NC near the East Carolina University campus.

• Burgers cost 15 cents at that first Hardee's.

• Hardee lost controlling interest of his company after just one drunken night of cards in the early 1960s. He was playing with his two business partners, and he bet his stock. Hardee obviously wasn't a good card player, because by the end of the night, the other two partners owned 51 percent of the company.

• Hardee's is fourth among the fast-food chains in the US, behind McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's.

• That Thickburger pictured above packs a whopping 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat. Eat enough of those and you likely won't live to see 89.

Founder of Hardee's Dies at 89 [ABC News]
Hardee's [Official Site]

Photo: OPBuzz/flickr

Things are not looking good for the West Palm Beach-based Roadhouse Grill. Yesterday the company got court approval to liquidate its assets, which mainly include the leases of its 20 remaining restaurants.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Hyman granted a motion by Roadhouse to use liquidation provisions of Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy law, according to court papers filed Wednesday.

"There remains no ability for the debtor to continue operations as the debtor's only asset was the remaining 20 leased stores," Roadhouse said.

The company said it failed to cure defaults on the leases by May 9 in accordance with a May 5 court order allowing it to assume the leases. Roadhouse said a $1.3 million loan from MCF Development LLC didn't come in time to make the payments.

Roadhouse and RHG Acquisition Corp., owner of 85.5 percent of Roadhouse Grill shares, filed for court protection for the second time on Oct. 7. It listed assets and debt of less than $100 million in a Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in West Palm Beach.

Roadhouse Grill gets court OK to liquidate [Bloomberg News via Palm Beach Post]
Roadhouse Grill [Official Site]

Photo: edublogger/flickr

The hole that Burger King was in after the failure to agree to a penny-per-pound increase for tomato workers has just been getting deeper and deeper. Last week, we learned that a vice president in the company wrote some blog posts criticizing the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. There's also talk of some e-mails sent from the BK server that were sympathetic to the group.

And today we learned that Burger King actually hired someone to spy on another group, the Student/Farmworker Alliance, that works with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers:

In March, a woman named Cara Schaffer contacted the Student/Farmworker Alliance, saying she was a student at Broward Community College. Her eagerness aroused suspicions, but she was allowed to join two of the group’s planning sessions. Internet searches by the alliance revealed that she was not a college student.

Ms. Schaffer is the 25-year-old owner of a private security firm. Her company, Diplomatic Tactical Services, seems like the kind of security firm you’d find in one of Carl Hiaasen’s crime thrillers. Last year Ms. Schaffer was denied a private investigator’s license; she had failed to supply the Florida licensing division with proof of “lawfully gained, verifiable experience or training.” Even more unsettling, one of her former subcontractors, Guillermo Zarabozo, is now facing murder charges in United States District Court in Miami for his role in allegedly executing four crew members of a charter fishing boat, then dumping their bodies at sea.

According to the company, the spying was done for security purposes in an effort to prevent any violent acts and ensure the safety of its employees and assets. Which would be justified if the group had a history of violence, which it does not. At all.

So, this could be fun. Sit back, relax, and watch the corporate backpedaling.

Burger King probes e-posts [Miami Herald]
Burger with a Side of Spies [New York Times]
Coalition of Immokalee Workers March Today On BK Headquarters [MP: South Florida]
Burger King [Official Site]

Look out Daniel Boulud — a $167 hamburger (GBP85) has debuted at select Burger Kings in London.

Burger King's new Kobe beef burger will be topped with blue cheese and will be sold at the chain's Kensington and Chelsea locations in London. According to Lucy Barrett of British mag Marketing, it's all just one gonzo PR stunt:

"The idea of a burger that no one buys is not as ludicrous as it seems. Burger King will use it to promote a gap in perception between it and McDonald’s. It could lead consumers to reassess the quality of the brand."

The burger, which will use wagyu beef, was inspired by a similarly priced truffles-and-brie sandwich that UK chain Selfridges was supposed to roll out. However, there was one change made to BK's sandwich: they ditched the idea of topping it with foie gras after encountering pressure from PETA.

No word about how the animal rights activists feel about all that yummy, yummy beef.

Burger King Goes Black Tie [Portfolio]
Burger King to offer exclusive London burger [Marketing]
Burger King agrees to drop foie gras from GBP85 burger [Marketing]
It's a whopper of a price [The Sun]

Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q [MenuPages]
Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q [Official Site]

Burger King has just licensed out their name for a series of, err, "potato snacks." Not potato chips. Potato snacks.

We just got word from snack makers Intensely Different that they have officially unveiled a line of Burger King potato snacks. The chips/snacks/whatever come in two flavors: "Ketchup & fries" or "flame broiled." Yes — hamburger flavored chips. Are they the American version of British bacon flavored crisps? Who the hell knows. But, because we love you, here's the company's description of the "flame broiled" chips:

The BK™ spin on chips is nothing short of a revolution. Our hearty flavor now packs a crispy punch. A savory bag of crunchy, bite-sized flame-broiled taste whenever you want it.

Meanwhile, we admit this sounds like an April Fool's kind of post. I mean, hamburger flavored potato chips? But it's not. However, here's a fast food related prank for you.

Intensely Different [Official Site]

Soon you'll be able to get your Whopper in some fancy new digs. Burger King is unveiling the Whopper Bar, which will offer more Whoppers but fewer of the other typical BK menu items:

The menu and size of the Whopper Bars will be smaller than a typical Burger King, but they will sell Whoppers not typically available at all times in the chain's traditional restaurants. Executives say they haven't finalized the menu, though it could include as many as 10 types of Whoppers, such as the Western Whopper, the Texas Double Whopper and the Angry Whopper, a version topped with spicy onions. One menu sketch has a section called "Pimp Your Whopper," where patrons can chose from additional toppings like jalapeno peppers, bacon and barbecue sauce.
Russ Klein, Burger King's president, global marketing, strategy and innovation, said he began thinking about the concept about four years ago when he visited a Burger King in Germany that had knocked out the back of the restaurant and created a bar section. Mr. Klein said the Whopper Bar is akin to McDonald's Corp.'s creation of McCafe coffee bars, except that it is built around the chain's signature sandwich.

Burger King Whopper To Be Feted [Wall Street Journal]
Burger King [Official Site]

Our favorite Miami-based fast food chain will be selling new items this year, among them Kraft macaroni and cheese for the kiddies. They're also planning some sort of wrap, called the BK Wrapper, smoothies, and two specialty Whoppers:

The new items discussed Wednesday include an Angry Bacon and Cheese Whopper with spicy, crispy onions, and the Indy Whopper, which will have bacon and pepper jack cheese and will be promoted together with the new Indiana Jones movie this summer. (A regular Whopper with no bacon or cheese has 670 calories and 39 grams of fat, according to Burger King's Web site.)

Also in the works are a BK Wrapper, three new flavors for its iced coffee line, a steakhouse burger, smoothies and even Kraft macaroni and cheese.

Burger King unveils new items [Forbes]
Burger King [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

We know there are some of you out there who cannot function without a Starbucks coffee at various times of the day, so we thought we'd give you advance warning that 7,100 Starbucks stores will be closing for a three-hour training period on Tuesday, February 26. They're wisely doing it in the evening, from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.; we imagine a morning closure would lead to riotous behavior from the severely caffeine deprived. Why the nationwide shutdown? There are going to be some changes in Starbucks everywhere:

"We will have all new standards for how we create the drinks," said spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil. "They will be trained in creating the perfect shot, steaming the milk and all the pieces that come together in a drink."

Some people have speculated Starbucks will return to manual espresso machines, but O'Neil said the espresso-making equipment will be the same. "It's really about ensuring that the customer experience that we provide is the best that it can be."

. . .

The retraining is part of Starbucks' plan to revive its brand and sales growth, which by one measure sank to an all-time low last quarter. Chairman Howard Schultz last month returned as chief executive to oversee the turnaround.

Starbucks already has said it will slow U.S. expansion, grow faster in foreign countries and stop selling warmed sandwiches.

Monday, it announced a switch in wireless Internet providers and said it will offer two hours a day of free Wi-Fi to certain customers.

Starbucks stores to shut 3 hours on Feb. 26 for retraining baristas [The Seattle Times]

Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza is expanding at a break-neck pace. Not only are they planning to have 15 South Florida locations by the end of next year, they're also looking to break into the holy grail of the chain restaurant business: Orlando.

Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza Inc., a South Florida chain of pizza restaurants, is looking to break into the Orlando market. The pizza eatery is sniffing around the region for real estate, according to Tom Prakas of the Prakas Group, which is handling the leases. As its name implies, Anthony's uses coal-fired ovens to bake pizzas in about four minutes. The Fort Lauderdale company has eight locations in South Florida and is reportedly looking to open five or six locations in Central Florida. The chain has no connection to existing Central Florida pizza parlors operating under the Anthony's name.

Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza Expands [MP: South Florida]
Coal-Fired Pizza needs a home [Orlando Sentinel]
Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza [Official Site]

Remember the Whopper Freakout? It was genius:

Burger King, which began running the TV ads Dec. 9, credits the campaign for helping boost Whopper sales in the quarter that ended in December by a double-digit percentage. It "drove significant brand relevance and incremental sales," executives said on an earnings conference call last week.

The videotaped hoax was a twist on a market research technique called "deprivation research," in which marketers measure how loyal consumers are to a brand or product by taking it away from them. The insight gained helps marketers design new marketing and ad ploys that will resonate better with consumers.

Hey, No Whopper on the Menu?! [Wall Street Journal]
The Whopper Freakout [MP: South Florida]
Whopper Freakout [Burger King]

At least that's what we think this article says. It's all restaurant-industry business speak. But we think there will be BK-branded chips in vending machines and BK restaurants:

The Inventure Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNAK) today reported that vending channel test marketing results for Burger King brand salted snacks exceeded managements' expectations in the fourth quarter of 2007. Based on these results, Inventure intends to pursue a national rollout of the brand into the vending channel. Inventure expects this national channel expansion to improve capacity utilization at its Bluffton, Indiana manufacturing facility, where all Burger King snacks are produced.

Test marketing in convenience store, drug store, and grocery store channels beginning in the first quarter of 2008 have generated significant retailer interest. Mass merchandiser and club store tests are expected to commence in the first half of 2008. Burger restaurants are scheduled to test the Ketchup & Fries snack product throughout the first quarter of 2008 in certain markets in Ohio and Florida.

Inventure is developing additional new items for the Burger King snack brand for potential test marketing in the second half of the year to complement the Ketchup & Fries and Flame Broiled items.

Burger King to Test Branded Chips [QSR]

Pollo Campero seems to have made a big splash in Boynton Beach, where Central American immigrants are flocking to get chicken from the popular chain. We thought Boynton Beach was an interesting choice for the first location in Florida, but it doesn't look like it'll be the only one for long; the company is planning to open four more sites in Miami-Dade later this year.

The Pollo Campero on Congress Avenue, in the new Boynton Town Center shopping development, was packed on Friday as community leaders, residents and company officials from the United States and Guatemala celebrated the chain's Florida debut.
...

Pollo Campero, the largest Latin American chicken restaurant chain, is on the cusp of a global explosion.

The family-owned fast-food franchise has more than 260 restaurants with 10,000 employees in 11 countries, including 37 locations in the United States.

Its goal is to reach 2,000 stores worldwide by 2013, including 500 in the United States, said Chief Executive Officer Juan Jose Gutierrez, whose father, Dionisio, founded the company in 1971.

It's an ambitious plan, Gutierrez said, but he's confident in the recipe his father concocted in the family's kitchen years ago.

It is still the chain's mainstay today.

"He didn't visualize what he really created," Gutierrez said of his father, who died in 1974. "In the next five years, we're going to have a lot of work to do."

The company hit $380 million in sales last year, with 2008 projections of $435 million, he said.

We have yet to try the chicken. Has anyone gone? What did you think of it?

Guatemalan sensation brings flavor of home [Palm Beach Post]
Pollo Campero [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

For some reason or another -- corporate stinginess, or a simple inability to control the wages its suppliers pay to their workers -- Burger King won't pay an extra penny per pound of tomatoes picked by workers in Immokalee. So now, the company is exploring some options that don't involve Immokalee at all:

The Dec. 18 letter to suppliers came just a few weeks after Burger King was the target of a major march in Miami organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which hopes to expose what it calls unfair wages and working conditions in the fields where Burger King's tomatoes are picked by migrant workers. The group wants Burger King to agree to pay a penny more per pound for its tomatoes to improve wages, similar to deals signed by McDonald's and Taco Bell.

But Burger King and the tomato growers have argued that those deals violate federal anti-trust and labor laws. Burger King has remained adamant it won't sign on to the deal because the chain buys its tomatoes from repackers, not from growers, so it has no way to get money to the workers. The extra penny per pound would cost the firm about $250,000 a year.

In the letter to suppliers, Grover wrote: ''In an effort to protect the BKC brand and supply system from disruption, we are developing contingency plans to assure our long-term supply of tomatoes.'' He went on to ask the suppliers to ``submit contingency plans for the possibility that we would choose not to purchase tomatoes grown on farms in the Immokalee, Florida region.''

Burger King executives tried to downplay that the ''contingency plan'' is a direct result of the coalition's activities. Any move would be a ''phased implementation,'' starting with the 2008-2009 growing season.

''If they won't work with us, we've only got one other option: to move,'' Grover said. ``It's a distraction to our business. They're trying to get a lot of groups turned against us.''

Burger King eyes new tomato sources [Miami Herald]
Coalition Of Immokalee Workers March Today On BK Headquarters [MP: South Florida]

We were amused by a photo we found of a Scion totally decked out in Pollo Tropical advertising. Think that's a private car and someone is getting paid to advertise the restaurant chain? Or do they make deliveries in that thing? And one commenter on the photo posed a good question -- aren't those types of tints illegal?

Pollo Tropical [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

Burger King may be lagging behind when it comes to worker issues, but hey, at least PETA thinks it's making great progress! The organization deemed BK the "Most Improved National Food Chain" at its fifth annual Proggy Awards. ("Proggy" stands for progress, apparently.) Here's why Burger King won:

Once the target of nearly 1,000 PETA protests for its suppliers' cruel treatment of animals, Burger King has since taken the industry lead in upgrading its animal welfare standards. In 2003, the company introduced the BK Veggie--the first meatless burger to be offered by any national fast-food chain at all of its U.S. locations. Last March, the company announced that it would start purchasing a portion of its eggs and pork from suppliers that don't confine their animals to tiny cages and crates and would give preference to suppliers that switched to a less cruel method of chicken slaughter called controlled-atmosphere killing. As a result of Burger King's leadership, several other fast-food chains and some of North America's largest meat suppliers have followed suit.

Burger King [Official Site]
Coalition Of Immokalee Workers March Today On BK Headquarters [MP: South Florida]

Looks like we're going to get a lot more of them. They signed a deal with Wal-Mart to operate 500 of the in-store restaurants through 2012.

Wal-Mart greets Latin American restaurant t [Bradenton Herald]
Pollo Campero Finally Comes To South Florida [MP: South Florida]

If you enjoyed the Whopper Freakout, you might be interested in reading this, an interview with the man who directed it. Here's an excerpt:

HAR: It was by far the most logistically complex shoot I've ever been on. It wasn't just reality TV, it was tricking real customers with fake BK employees who we had to train to use the machines and how to work the systems. There's a whole complex assembly line of people back there and (actors) had to integrate into a real working bk staff making chicken sandwiches and fries. There was one woman (a BK employee) who was so deadpan we ended up hiring her as part of our fake bk staff. She delivered the line so well. All the other real staff would tend to giggle and I'd demote them to the back.

Meanwhile we were trying to bring the really interesting customers into play. You'd get some great characters—there'd be a guy who would come in and it would look like he's been up all night and he's wearing a velvet fedora and then he steps up and he just wants a chicken filet. Then there were certain people you wanted to avoid who looked too crazy and you knew they wouldn't take the joke too well. The manager knew a lot of the customers and knew who were locals and knew who had good sense of humor and who didn't–I was getting live commentary from the manager. I was also dressed up as manager in training. I would stand around the front a lot to pick out the people who would maybe be OK on camera.

Via A Hamburger Today

There are outlets in California, Chicago, New York, Texas and DC and its suburbs. So now, finally, the most popular chicken chain in Central America is expanding to South Florida; Guatemala-based Pollo Campero will be opening a branch in Boynton Beach sometime this month. After that, the chain is planning to open at least four more restaurants in the area: three in Dade (Little Havana, Cutler Ridge, and near Dolphin Stadium) and one in an unspecified Broward location.

Campero has been making headlines with restaurant openings in Los Angeles and other U.S. areas with large Central American communities, drawing crowds and posting record sales from immigrants seeking a taste of home.

But debuts in Boynton Beach and South Florida could be different, as the chain appeals more to a crossover market including Cubans, Puerto Ricans and many non-Latin Americans who don't know the brand, Denegri said.

Already, Campero has adjusted its menu to reach out.

The South Florida locales will offer black beans popular among Cubans, not just pinto beans popular in Central America. And the U.S. outlets will highlight grilled chicken for the first time — partly to take on Pollo Tropical, the Miami-based chain known for its grilled dishes.

"We knew we needed grilled chicken to compete in Florida," Denegri said.

Central American chicken chain comes to South Florida [Sun-Sentinel]
Pollo Campero [Official Site]

We have to admit, we found this pretty funny. (And don't worry, BK didn't actually discontinue the Whopper. Corporate just 'punked' the customers at a particular Burger King.)

No Whopper for You! Burger King 'Discontinues' Its Signature Sandwich [A Hamburger Today]
Whopper Freakout [Burger King]

Looks like one of the Orlando McDonald's is getting a 1950s-style makeover, in hopes of attracting more diners. And we must say, those big arches along the sides definitely look cooler than your average McD's. According to an article in the Orlando Sentinel, it costs 20 percent more to build one of these retro McDonald's than a regular one. Funny how it's expensive to make stuff look old, huh?

The eye-catching restaurant on East Colonial Drive is slated to open Wednesday. It will be the first of its kind in Metro Orlando and among a handful of 1950s-style stores throughout the country.

The store includes hallmarks of early McDonald's restaurants such as a slanted roofline, glass-plated storefront and sweeping golden arches on the sides of the structure. Strong sales at existing throwback stores persuaded franchisee Gilchrist Enterprises Inc. to replace its aging McDonald's on East Colonial near Primrose Drive and invest in a new restaurant.

"We've had our eye on this building design," said Howard Hughes, director of operations for Gilchrist Enterprises, which operates seven McDonald's in Central Florida including two at Orlando International Airport. "It seems to be a hit with customers and really has an excellent track record for improving sales," Hughes said.

McDonald's franchisees typically pick up the tab for building or remodeling a store. Hughes said the retro-style costs about 20 percent more than a typical McDonald's store design.

His store will also include the company's new R Gym, touted as an exercise spot for children with climbing walls, basketball goals and slides. Hughes said the East Colonial location also will be among the first in the region to sell McDonald's new drinks, including cappuccino and latte, starting in mid-February.

Anyone else amused by the idea of cappuccinos and lattes in a '50s-style diner?
McDonald's golden arches go retro in Orlando [Orlando Sentinel]
Photo: Flickr (of a similar retro McDonalds in Maine)

As if you needed further evidence that the once-agricultural Homestead/Florida City area was becoming increasingly suburban. Now, they have a Starbucks. And soon, they'll have another!

The Starbucks at 76 Palm Dr., which opened Nov. 25, is the chain's first standalone store in Miami-Dade south of Southwest 205th Street and Old Cutler Road in Cutler Bay. A second Starbucks is planned for 1029 N. Homestead Blvd. in the Publix shopping center, and a third site, also in Homestead, is under consideration, according to Lillian Delgado, a city spokeswoman.

"It's awesome," 17-year-old Victor Morales said of the new store a day after the Florida City store opened. "I can get coffee real close. I've been going all the way to Kendall to get coffee."

Morales, who lives down the street from the Starbucks in the Venetia community, was working on his fourth cup of coffee for the day, a mocha frappuccino. It was not yet noon.

Homestead to get Starbucks [Trading Markets]
Starbucks [Official Site]

This story is just a teensy bit old, as in it came out in late November, but we've been so preoccupied that we forgot to write about it. And it's a fairly big deal, we think. Florida will get its first LEED-certified restaurants when two branches of Pizza Fusion open in Palm Beach Gardens and Weston this month. The Fort-Lauderdale-based eco-friendly company is also planning additional new restaurants in Atlanta, Pittsburgh and northern New Jersey; each of these will also be the first LEED-certified restaurants in their respective states.

For those of you who don't know what all this LEED certification business is all about (don't feel badly; we had to look it up), we'll give you a quick summary: it stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The program provides an independent third party verification that the building does, in fact, comply with "green" standards. It all goes hand-in-hand with Pizza Fusion's motto of "Saving the earth, one pizza at a time."

Pizza Fusion Addresses Organic Demand with LEED Expansion into South and Northeast Markets [Franchising.com]
Pizza Fusion [MenuPages]
Pizza Fusion [Official Site]

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is leading a nine-mile march from downtown Miami all the way to Burger King headquarters near the airport. The reason is BK's refusal to demand that its tomato providers pay an extra penny per pound to its workers. (Most tomato pickers in South Florida earn about 45 cents for each 32-pound bucket they pick.) Eric Schlosser (he of Fast Food Nation fame) actually summed up the whole story quite nicely in yesterday's New York Times:

In 2005, Florida tomato pickers gained their first significant pay raise since the late 1970s when Taco Bell ended a consumer boycott by agreeing to pay an extra penny per pound for its tomatoes, with the extra cent going directly to the farm workers. Last April, McDonald’s agreed to a similar arrangement, increasing the wages of its tomato pickers to about 77 cents per bucket. But Burger King, whose headquarters are in Florida, has adamantly refused to pay the extra penny — and its refusal has encouraged tomato growers to cancel the deals already struck with Taco Bell and McDonald’s.

This month the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, representing 90 percent of the state’s growers, announced that it will not allow any of its members to collect the extra penny for farm workers. Reggie Brown, the executive vice president of the group, described the surcharge for poor migrants as “pretty much near un-American.”

The coalition negotiated with Burger King, and three representatives attended the company's annual meeting, which ended yesterday, but no agreement was reached:

"If you're going to pay people for a measure of work, it's important to measure the work and a person accurately," said Steve Grover, head of quality assurance and regulatory affairs for Miami's Burger King Corp. He said he wasn't convinced that could be done under the coalition's proposal.

Burger King said that it based the decision on the fact that it has no direct relationship with the growers. Unlike Taco Bell, it purchases tomatoes from repackaging companies, generally located near the farms where the tomatoes are picked.

We tried to create a map of the route, although it didn't turn out as clear as we'd hoped. But it gives you a good idea of where the marchers will be. They began this morning at the Goldman Sachs offices downtown (Goldman Sachs owns a large stake in BK) and will be at the Burger King headquarters by 3:30 p.m. for a rally.

Penny Foolish [New York Times]
Burger King rejects tomato price hike, but offers job help [St Petersburg Times]
BK protesters march through Miami streets [Miami Herald]
Coalition of Immokalee Workers [Official Site]

The Hungry Man's "Weekly Dish" usually features a plate of food that he enjoyed. This week, however, he took a departure and instead featured a "Dish of Disgust:" Domino's new Oreo pizza. Yes, he says, it is that bad:

There’s just one problem: Oreos are great on their own (one of the few commercially made cookies I’ll consider eating, in fact). They’re even better when dunked in milk. But they just don’t work when used as a topping for a way-too-crackly crust that tastes like a graham-cracker that has gone through the dry-cleaner’s. (Trust me, there’s really something off about it.) And the glue that holds topping and crust together? An overly sweet white icing that looks like, well, glue. (Seriously, Elmer’s should sue these folks.)

The Weekly Dish (of Disgust): Domino's Oreo Pizza [The Hungry Man]

When did these Bonefish restaurants start popping up everywhere? We're getting another Bonefish Grill, this one in Coral Gables, at 2121 Ponce de Leon Blvd. Doors open for lunch on November 19.

But if you have a pressing desire to get in earlier, the restaurant will be hosting a charity event on Saturday, November 17 for Neat Stuff, a South Florida-based group that helps provide clothing to needy children. And it's not a bad deal: donate $25 and get complimentary drinks, appetizers and a main course tasting. Now that we think about it, this is a great way for the kitchen and waitstaff to do a test run, and there's charity involved, which means good press! Yes, it's a genius idea, and if we ever open a restaurant (not likely), we plan to do something similar.

To RSVP for the event, call 305-638-5878.

Bonefish Grill [Official Site]

We're willing to bet it wasn't a fancy gourmet burger involving ground sirloin and brie. Our cooking repertoire at that age consisted of oatmeal cookies and cornflake-crusted chicken fingers. Joey Yarwick, a 12-year-old from San Diego, would've kicked our pre-teen ass in a cooking competition. His gourmet burger creation, "Au Brie Burger a la Francais," won the Red Robin "The Next Gourmet Burger Kids' Recipe Contest" and will be featured on Red Robin menus. We're...jealous. His burger creation sounds incredibly rich and decadent: ground sirloin, croissant, brie, potatoes, butter, cream, (ah, the blissful ignorance of youth, before those cholesterol numbers begin to creep up) fresh rosemary, and pomme frites. We tried to find photos of the burger but unfortunately were unsuccessful. The three burgers selected as runners up: "Totally Tuscan Turkey Burger," "Chicken Al-FRED-o Burger," and "Oh My Thai Burger." Seriously, who are these kids? Did they get parental help here? Wow.

12-Year-Old San Diego Boy Invents America's Next Gourmet Burger [CNNMoney]
Red Robin [Official Site]

Pollo Tropical is going trans-fat free. The chicken never had any trans fats, but some of the sides and baked goods did; trans fats were in the oil used to fry plantains, yuca and french fries and in the key lime pie, tres leches, dinner rolls and the spare rib marinade. But that's all gone now, and Pollo Tropical executives say that customers won't notice any difference in taste.

In other Miami-based fast food chain news, Burger King's profits are up 23 percent for the first quarter (the three months that ended on September 30), thanks to some shrewd marketing campaigns tied in with "The Simpsons Movie" and "Transformers." The article contains lots more boring figures, all of which come to the same conclusion: people are eating at Burger King. A lot.

Pollo Tropical sheds the trans fat [Miami Herald]
Pollo Tropical [Official Site]
Burger King 1Q profit up 23 percent on promotions, strong sales [Herald Tribune]
Burger King [Official Site]

Er, excuse us. We meant a new "upscale Lifestyle Center." At least that's what they're calling it at The Shops at Pembroke Gardens website. We guess that's because it's not enclosed, like a traditional mall. Instead, there will be pedestrian walkways and street parking to make it look like a downtown center. (Will these parking spots on the streets have meters, to further duplicate the urban experience? Because that could get annoying really quickly. One of the pleasures of shopping in the 'burbs is not dealing with parallel parking and meter maids.)

Most of the stores at The Shops at Pembroke Gardens open tomorrow, but the six restaurants — Brio Tuscan Grille, Village Tavern, Stir Crazy, RA Sushi, Brimstone Woodfire Grill, and The Pub Pembroke — won't be open until year's end.

Also, we just realized that the open-air mall is opening on the exact same day that Tropical Storm Noel should be bringing some adverse weather to South Florida. Excellent.

The Shops at Pembroke Gardens [Official Site]
New shopping mall in Pembroke Pines debuts as 'lifestyle center' [Sun-Sentinel]

It seems like quite a few California chains are making their way here. Now we've learned of California Tortilla, which offers burritos, fajitas, tacos and quesadillas and has been open in Wellington for a little over a week. Also, the restaurant serves "Mexcellent Deals," although we're unsure what those are. This is the first California Tortilla in Florida, although another one is planned for Coral Springs in Spring 2008.

California Tortilla is located at 2465 State Road 7 in Wellington. They're open Monday through Saturday 11am-10pm and Sunday 11:30am-9pm. We'll have the menu online in another day or so.

UPDATE: Thanks L2M, for pointing out that California Tortilla is not, in fact, from California. We were a bit hasty when we wrote this post and failed to notice that all of the locations are on the east coast. According to Wikipedia, the chain is originally from Washington, DC.

California Tortilla [Official Site]
Quick bites [Palm Beach Post]

We learned yesterday, from the ever-helpful Jan Norris at the Palm Beach Post, that a new gourmet burger chain from California called The Counter is coming to Royal Palm Beach sometime in November. At first, we thought it would be something akin to In-N-Out, but after perusing the website, we're far more excited.

Looks like it's actually closer to Chipotle, judging from the menu [pdf]. We're big fans of the type of menu that offers a few items in a variety of different ways. With this one, you choose a meat, (beef, turkey, chicken or veggie) and a size (1/3 lb, 2/3 lb, 1 lb), and then choose from an assortment of cheeses, toppings, sauces, and buns. Included in the price is one cheese, four toppings, one sauce and a bun. And for those on the South Beach Diet, you can have a "Burger in a Bowl" — a burger without the bun. It looks like an incredibly yuppie place, and you could easily spend upwards of $10 on a burger and fries, but still, it sounds tasty.

Quick bites [Palm Beach Post]
The Counter [Official Site]
In-N-Out [Official Site]
Chipotle [Official Site]

We thought there was more of this article when we first noticed it on Friday afternoon, but apparently it's available only for subscribers. Oh well. We gleaned enough out of it to learn that the six current Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza locations will expand to 15 in South Florida by the end of 2009. Three are currently under construction in Palm Beach County, but we don't know where the other six locations will be.

Once Anthony's reaches its goal of 15 South Florida stores by the end of 2009, founder Anthony Bruno says his pizza will be unaltered by expansion. The ovens will continue to burn coal, the menu will stay simple and, hopefully, the customers will stay satisfied.

"It's the pizza. It's all about putting out a good pizza," Bruno said.

It's the norm for chains to begin to deteriorate after too much expansion, but let's hope this isn't the case with Anthony's.

Entrepreneur plans 15 South Florida restaurants [South Florida Business Journal]
Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza [Official Site]

How did we miss the story of Miami's current favorite basketball player partnering with a local restaurant? Yes, Dwyane Wade apparently enjoyed his meal at Bucky's so much that he has decided to invest and help the two-restaurant chain expand in South Florida and Chicago, Wade's hometown.

The two are working together to open a restaurant in Key Largo, but it's going to be called D. Wade's. According to a Craigslist ad for a general manager, they're going to open in 2007. That seems a bit ambitious, given that there isn't much of 2007 left. But hey, maybe they'll be able to pull it together. Let's hope the restaurant business doesn't distract him from his on-court duties.

Bucky's Bar-B-Que LLC Partners with Miami Heat's Dwayne Wade [PR Newswire]
D. Wade's Hiring General Manager [Craigslist]
Dwyane Wade [Official Site]
Bucky's Bar-B-Que [Official Site]

Soon, South Floridians can sample the same mediocre pizza that the rest of the country (or at least large parts of it) enjoys at Uno Chicago Grill! So we're not big deep-dish fans. We spent four cold years in Chicago, and we avoided deep dish as much as one could in that city. But we ate enough to know that the pizza at Uno Chicago Grill is a not-so-great imitation of the real stuff. But, then again, we can't think of anyplace else that serves Chicago-style pizza — probably because of the large number of New Yorkers in the area — so if you've got a hankering for deep dish, it'll do to satisfy a craving.

The new restaurant is headed to Royal Palm Beach, where the chain paid $1.7 million for a two-acre parcel of land at the corner of US 441 and Okeechobee Road. Expect a restaurant in the spot by the first quarter of 2008.

Uno Chicago Grill Developing Restaurant in Royal Palm Beach [CoStar Group]
Uno Chicago Grill [Official Site]

It's Wine Week at Smith & Wollensky restaurants nationwide (including our Miami Beach location), which means you can taste 10 different wines for an extra $10 with lunch beginning today and ending Friday, Sept. 21. The wine selection changes each day, but all come from American vineyards, from California to Long Island. And some of the extra money will be going to a good cause; the last Wine Week, in March, raised $10,000 for The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis.

The event seems to be pretty popular, so reservations for your lunch date during this week might be a good idea. And don't forget, Smith & Wollensky is participating in Miami Spice for lunch too.

National Wine Week [Official Site]
Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis [Official Site]
Miami Spice [Official Site]
Smith & Wollensky [MenuPages]
Smith & Wollensky [Official Site]

Burger King's finally getting on the healthy bandwagon. Today the company announced that BK restaurants will be rolling out healthier options for Kids Meals in 2008: flame-broiled (as opposed to fried) chicken tenders, low-fat milk instead of soda, and apple slices cut like fries to replace french fries. Total for the meal: 305 calories, 8.5 grams of fat. Not too bad. The company also said it will not advertise Kids Meals that contain more than 560 calories, more than 30 percent of calories from fat, and more than 10 percent of calories from sugar.

Nutritionists quoted for the AP article said this is good news, of course, but parents are still going to have to teach healthy habits and limit fast food. It's going to be tough convincing children to choose milk over soda at the BK counter, and if dad sits down with a Whopper and fries, the kid's not going to want apple slices.

Burger King Unveils Healthier Kids Menu [Associated Press]

South Florida Subways, specifically those in Broward, have had a rough summer security-wise. There was the mid-June incident when two unmasked men locked a Subway employee in the bathroom while they stole $2,000. Then, later in June, two men made the mistake of attempting to rob a Plantation Subway where a legally armed former Marine was enjoying his sandwich. Then there was the late-July incident in Hialeah involving a man who apologized profusely to a pregnant Subway employee while removing $86 from the cash register.

Yesterday, NBC6 tried to look at the big picture and examine why these restaurants are targeted. One poor woman said her Subway restaurant had been robbed three times in the last two months. Each time, it seems, they've shed a bit more of their polite demeanors and become more brazen:

[Hollywood Subway employee Andrea] Lindsey said the robber at her restaurant was very polite.

"Too polite," she said. "I kept telling him, 'Please don't hurt me; I have kids.' And he's like, 'Ma'am, I'm not going to hurt you.' He wasn't rude or anything, and that was strange for a robber."

Other Subway employees said the robberies are getting increasingly worse.

"The first time, he was so nice with me. He didn't touch me," [Subway employee Jessell] Medina said. "But the last time, no, it was different. Maybe they were more aggressive."

The difference, police said, may be in the lack of surveillance cameras; other sub chains with surveillance cameras haven't been targeted. Then again, they still haven't arrested the guys in ski masks who robbed a surveillance camera-equipped Tamarac Subway in July.

Unmasked Men Rob More Than $2,000 From Hollywood Subway [NBC6]
Subway Customer Shoots, Kills Robbery Suspect [NBC6]
Man Apologizes As He Robs Subway Restaurant [NBC6]
Robbers Target So. Fla. Subway Restaurants [NBC6]

The last Krispy Kreme in Palm Beach County is closed. The county used to boast three stores: one in Boynton Beach (closed in 2006), one in West Palm Beach (closed last April), and now finally the sole holdout, the Boca Raton store, is gone. According to the Post, the chain has lost money for the last 11 quarters.

If you're still craving a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut, there are two outposts left: one at 590 NE 167th Street in Miami and another at 2401 N Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale.

County's last Krispy Kreme shuts doors [Palm Beach Post]
Krispy Kreme [Official Site]
Photo: Flickr

The owner of 14 Florida TGI Friday's franchises declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy for each of the restaurants, including four in Palm Beach, according to the Palm Beach Post:

At issue is $1.2 million in unpaid franchise fees and royalties owed to Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc., the Texas-based corporate parent of T.G.I. Friday's.

The filings, one for each restaurant, came just 24 hours before T.G.I. Friday's said it would sever its franchise agreement unless it was paid. Had that happened, writes Cosentino through his attorney, he would have had to shutter the restaurants and lay off 891 Florida workers.

According to the article, things started going downhill for the Florida restaurants after the busy 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. Add to that the public's decreased appetite for casual dining chains, and you've got yourself one big debt-filled mess.

Creditor shield sought for 18 TGI Friday's [Palm Beach Post]
TGI Friday's [Official Site]

Here's a business proposition: how about buying a restaurant chain that's mired in debt? If that sounds like your cup of tea, you should know that RJ Gator's will be up for auction on August 31.

On Thursday, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach set the chain restaurant's auction date for Aug. 31, with closing expected for mid-September.

Bidding for the assets of the company's eight restaurants and its Jupiter headquarters will begin at $1.65 million, the amount offered last week by Golden Restaurants Inc.

According to Robert Charbonneau, counsel for the creditor's committee, Gator's has $1.5 million in secured debt, such as bank loans and an additional $3 million to $4 million in unsecured debt, such as bills from vendors and suppliers.

RJ Gator's auction date set: Aug. 31 [TCPalm]

We're a little late to ballgame here, but we'll post it anyway, for the benefit of anyone heading for a mid-afternoon coffee run. Broward and Palm Beach Dunkin' Donuts are offering free iced tea today as a promotion for their new original, raspberry, and peach-flavored teas.

Dunkin' Donuts to offer free iced tea [Sun-Sentinel]

Today is the grand opening of the latest Jamba Juice, inside International Mall (1455 NW 107th Ave). We hear there will be free smoothies from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. So if you happen to be at the mall, make sure to drop by around lunchtime.