Business
The room, the economics and the people who run restaurants for a living.
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Square AI kiosk takes voice orders for $1,999 plus fees
Block's payments unit aims a talking self-service screen at quick-service restaurants short of counter staff. Toast, which sells its own kiosks, lost more than 4.5% on the day.
Rules restaurant's £11m building is given to the National Trust
J-P Mayhew hands the charity the freehold of 34-35 Maiden Lane and its collection. Rules keeps trading as a tenant, and its rent will pay for the building's conservation.
Barcelona loading bays for bars and hotels start six-month trial
Three reserved bays, eight distributors and seven vehicles per site: the city is testing whether a truck that parks once and delivers on foot cuts traffic. The council has not published the hours.
Hawksmoor turnover rises 9.4% to £109.8m
Filed accounts show the steakhouse group's operating profit climbing to £5.4m, helped by a full year of trading in Chicago and a new St Pancras site.
Subway Blueprint becomes the EMEA standard from January 2027
Kiosks, breakfast, coffee and an evening menu from 6pm: the chain's new format is meant to help it nearly double in the region in five years. The release gives no starting number and no cost.
Cité de la gastronomie Dijon: its food village shuts for good
Le Village de la Cité, the Krief group company behind the complex's shops and restaurant, ended its activity on 7 October. Local media put the jobs affected at 44.
French meal vouchers: MPs weigh a €25 restaurant ceiling
A bill before the National Assembly would make grocery purchases with vouchers permanent. Restaurant groups want a split daily limit written in before the 12 October sitting.
Common Table Group to buy 57 former Whitbread restaurants
A sister company of the Rodeo Doughnut chain takes on Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Cookhouse sites plus one Premier Inn hotel, promising 700 new jobs and first reopenings in mid-November.
True Food Kitchen bankruptcy: 12 restaurants close, sale ahead
The US health-focused chain filed for Chapter 11 in Texas with $42.1 million in funded debt, keeps 34 restaurants open and plans a court-supervised sale by January.
Mexico Hospitality Expo opens in Guadalajara with lower targets
The hotel and restaurant trade fair co-run by Fira de Barcelona starts its second edition on 6 October, forecasting fewer brands and meetings than it reported in 2025.
Ivy Collection sales grow to £348m as profit nearly doubles
Ivy Collection sales reached £348m at Troia UK Restaurants, chaired by Richard Caring, with pre-tax profit nearly doubling to £40m even as staffing costs rose across the industry.
Valencia hospitality voucher refunds €50 in flood-hit towns
The Generalitat will hand back half of what residents of the 2024 flood zone spend in local bars and restaurants. The fund is €3.9 million and applications open on 15 October.
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