Fast Casual Restaurant

The Melt, a new quick-serve restaurant in San Francisco, is built around a basic but classic menu option: the grilled cheese and soup combination. But it leverages the latest technology to provide ordering convenience and innovative food preparation, delivering made-to-order grilled cheese sandwiches and soups in less than 90 seconds.

New York City -- Grilled cheese and soup is the signature calling card at The Melt, a start-up restaurant concept debuting in San Francisco with big plans for the future. The Melt expects to have five eateries up and running in the Bay Area by yearend -- with plans to expand to over 500 locations nationally by 2015.

Dallas -- Cypress Equities said that Freebirds World Burrito has signed a lease to occupy a portion of a new development in Fort Worth, Texas, adjacent to the company’s West 7th development.

The 2,370-sq.-ft. restaurant will mark the third Freebirds in Fort Worth, with other locations near Hulen Mall and at Alliance Town Center. Freebirds World Burrito is owned by Tavistock Restaurants and has more than 50 locations throughout Texas, California and Oklahoma.
 

New York City -- Subway is testing a cafe concept with an expanded menu and more sophisticated décor in about 15 locations, the Associated Press said.

The new format includes modern lighting, flat-screen TVs, comfortable chairs, and such menu items as muffins, pastries, espresso beverages and salads.
 

Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.  -- Centro Properties Group US said that Five Guys Burgers & Fries has opened in Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.

The new 2,400-sq.-ft. restaurant is located at Nesconset Shopping Center, which is owned Centro Properties Group, based in New York City.
 

Eden Prairie, Minn. -- Restaurant chain Cosi said Monday it has selected WAND Corp. as its exclusive vendor for all digital menu board technology. Cosi said it plans to install the WAND Digital Menu Board system in all new and remodeled corporate restaurants and will encourage its franchisees to follow suit.

CHICAGO — The first CityTarget in downtown Chicago won’t open until next summer and already the store is assured of healthy lunch and dinner time traffic thanks to the addition of a Pret A Manger restaurant.

 For those who don’t speak French, Pret A Manger means “ready to eat,” and serves as a reference to the restaurant’s offering of such fresh and preservative free food as sandwiches, soups, salads and coffee. Regulars refer to the restaurant simply as Pret.

New York City -- Target announced that the British take-out chain Pret A Manager will open a location in CityTarget in Chicago.

The new, smaller Target format is set to open in the Windy City in 2012.

Concord, Calif. -- Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers said it has leased space to two new restaurant tenants at Clayton Valley Shopping Center, located in Concord, Calif.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries has leased 2,400 sq. ft., and Dickey’s Barbecue Pit will open fall 2011 in a 1,740-sq.-ft. space.

The 260,000-sq.-ft. shopping center is anchored by Orchard Supply Hardware alongside national retailers such as Ross Dress for Less, Fresh & Easy and CVS/pharmacy.
 

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.