Eric Nomis 
P.F. Chang’s launched a special pre-fixe menu for spring celebrations, ideal for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and upcoming graduations. The celebration menu will last from April 21 to June 20, with Mother’s Day running through May 9. Graduation festivities begin May 10 and the Father’s Day tribute in effect June 2 to June 9.
On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina is ramping up franchising growth after partnering with Perspective Hospitality. The franchisee hospitality development and services company will open On The Border in South Padre Island, Texas this summer at the Island’s Hilton Garden Inn.
Chuck E. Cheese opened a new unit in El Salvador—its first restaurant there. Its parent, CEC Entertainment, announced the San Salvador store, which features 80 games, 602 seats and a state-of-the-art dance floor. In December, CEC Entertainment emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a reduced debt load and is now primed for growing the Chuck E. Cheese brand.
Blaze Pizza named Brad Reynolds chief financial officer. Reynolds joins the Blaze executive team after years of strategy, M&A, corporate growth, and franchise development experience. He comes from C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), a collective of virtual and physical restaurant concepts connected by the Citizens Go app and a common culinary ecosystem.
C3 (Creating Culinary Communities) and Lunchbox have launched a new app, Citizens Go, for ordering from the platform of 200 ghost kitchens in the C3 network. The C3 platform includes virtual restaurants, like Plant Nation, Umami Burger, Krispy Rice, Sam’s Crispy Chicken and ghost kitchens in Graduate Food Halls, plus brick-and-mortar restaurants, such as EllaMia cafes.
7-Eleven opened a new Evolution Store in Prosper Texas with a Laredo Taco Company taqueria. The store features a diverse array of treats and conveniences, including tacos, frozen margaritas on tap, a stocked Wine Cellar and Beer Cooler, baked goods, and customized espresso drinks. The concept-store expansion continues in 2021, after 7-Eleven Evolution Stores opened in New York City, Washington, DC, San Diego, and Dallas last year.
Blaze Pizza has inked new franchise agreements to expand in Florida, Tennessee and Texas. These new deals reflect an acceleration of franchising efforts to expand the brand across the US South Central and Southeastern Regions. Franchise partnerships with Carpo Pizza Enterprises and Kunal Patel will help Blaze Pizza enter the markets of Austin, Texas; Panama City, Florida; and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which it has targeted.
Bonchon rolled a new Sweet Red Chili sauce offering for a limited time. The new sauce comes from a new Dallas test kitchen. To complement the chain’s fried chicken, the dressing features chili garlic sauce, soy sauce and a touch of sugar to give it “sweet heat,” according to an announcement.
Ruby Tuesday re-introduced a limited-time FreshMex menu that includes burritos, fajitas and tacos. Featured entrees,which start at $8.99, help diversity the casual-dining chain’s offerings during the spring 2021 season.
Website-building technology company Squarespace has acquired Tock, a reservation, order-taking and event management platform for restaurants. The cash-and-stock deal, valued at $400M, will continue to help evolve Squarespace’s suite, which also offers built-in ecommerce hosting. Tock’s capabilities in reservations, table management, takeout, and events will help Squarespace integrate an ideal solution for its customers to manage reservations, and accelerate sales through enhanced marketing, making it an ideal acquisition.
