• by Teresa Buyikian , December 15, 2023

A round-up of the week’s goings-on in QSR and fast-casual restaurants:

bb.q Chicken announced the grand opening of its latest Ohio location in Columbus. The new restaurant features a Chicken & Beer concept, with a variety of Korean fried chicken, K-food, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Chicken Salad Chick continues its expansion with a new drive-through location in Birmingham Alabama, the fifth unit in the Birmingham metro area.

The Habit Burger Grill announced the grand opening of its Walnut drive-through location in southern California on Dec. 20. The restaurant will host pre-opening VIP events for its CharClub and mobile app loyalty members. The events include a Free Habit Day where members receive a free chargrilled meal.

Mountain Mike’s Pizza, the 45-year-old pizza chain, announced its first stores in Washington. A recent development deal will bring 10 new locations to the state, including in Arlington, Bellevue, Bellingham, Burlington, Kirkland, Northgate and Redmond. The first will open next year

New Menu Items

MOD Pizza launched new limited-time-only promotional menu items this week. The Tailgate Trio consists of three new pizzas inspired by popular game day appetizers, such as buffalo wings, bacon jalapeño poppers and spinach artichoke dip.

Every week through Jan. 2, one of the Tailgate Trio will be featured as the $8 MVP of the Week, available in the MOD Rewards app or online..

Paris Baguette has added 12 new seasonal holiday specialty cakes to its menu. From Dec. 13 through Dec. 25, the limited-edition offerings include: Bûche de Noël, Gnome for the Holidays Blueberry Chiffon Cake, St. Nick's Pistachio-Raspberry Trifle Cake and Frosty's Cookie Butter Crunch Cake. Also through Jan. 4, the café will offer a Peppermint Mochi Donut and Snowman King Cream Donut, in addition to coffee drinks such as a Peppermint Mocha Latte and Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew.