Family Restaurant

Chicago -- There were 4,442 more restaurants in the U.S. in fall 2012 than there were in fall 2011, according to a recent U.S. restaurant census conducted by The NPD Group.

The total number of U.S. restaurants is now 616,008, a .7% increase over last year, based on NPD’s Fall 2012 ReCount, which is a count of commercial restaurant locations in the United States compiled in the spring and fall each year.

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, owner of the Old Chicago, Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch banners among others, said Friday it has named Mike Mrlik as SVP of CraftWorks and as president of Old Chicago.

Mrlik is charged with leading Old Chicago’s brand refresh as 55 locations roll out a redesign with an emphasis on ramped-up service and experience.

Las Vegas -- Denny has opened a  flagship diner, called "Denny's on Fremont," on Freemont Street in downtown Las Vegas. Among other attractions, the one-of-a-kind diner: boasts an in-house wedding chapel.

Willow Grove, Pa. -- Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust said that Francesca’s Collections has opened a 1,046-sq.-ft. store at Willow Grove Park, located in Willow Grove, Pa.

Laila Rowe is slated to opena 1,181-sq.-ft. store in September.

Spartanburg, S.C. -- Denny's Corp. said Wednesday that it has opened its first restaurant in the Dominican Republic as part of a development agreement with Grupo Nahas, which owns and operates the Intercontinental Hotel and Holiday Inn, among others, in Santo Domingo. 

Located in the Food Court of the Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, the new restaurant represents Denny's first airport location worldwide.

New York -- Bob Evans Farms Inc. plans to remodel 150 restaurants to its “Farm-Fresh Refresh” format in its current fiscal year. The remodels will include 40 sites in the Columbus, Ohio, market in the first quarter.

In its recently completed fiscal 2012, the chain remodeled 87 locations, with sales up 5% in the updated restaurants compared to the rest of the chain, executives said on the company’s fourth-quarter conference call.

Chicago -- A report released Tuesday by research firm Technomic found that sales among the 500 largest U.S. restaurant chains increased 3.4% to $242 billion in 2011.

That compares to just a 1.8% increase in 2010.

Of the 500 restaurants analyzed by Technomic, more than 60% posted at least nominal sales increases; just 193 saw sales declines in 2011, compared with 231 in 2010.

Washington, D.C. -- Applied Predictive Technologies said Tuesday that family restaurant chain Denny’s Corp. has licensed APT's Test & Learn Management System.  

Denny’s will use APT’s solution to test strategic and tactical initiatives across its 1,670 restaurants.

Chicago -- A Tuesday report by NPD Group said that U.S. restaurant unit counts declined by 2%, which translates to a loss of 9,450 restaurants since last year.

According to the report, most of the total unit declines were independent restaurants. Chain restaurant unit counts remained relatively stable, according to NPD research.

New York City -- Bob Evans Farms will extend its “Farm-Fresh Refresh” renovation project to 44 locations in the Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, areas. The renovations are expected to begin in August 2011 and be finished by this November.

The new stores will include a bakery, a carry-out area and a redesigned retail area. The updated design features murals in the entryway depicting the heritage of Bob Evans and more modern furnishings, light fixtures and brighter color schemes in the dining room.