After retiring from a 20-year career in the healthcare industry, including as president of a pharmaceutical distribution operation with over a billion dollars in sales, John Rivers followed his true passions: Texas-style brisket and conscious capitalism. Founder and CEO of the growing 4 Rivers Smokehouseconcept, as well as a new concept called The Coop, Rivers turned restaurateur by way of what he calls a “BBQ ministry,” launched in 2004 from his garage. The genesis was a fundraising event he hosted to help support a local family facing mounting

What started as an idea for making a little money to supplement the family income has become a fast-growing franchise for Stacy Brown, a self-proclaimed chicken salad connoisseur. She, with her husband Kevin, who left a career in software sales to join her in the restaurant business, founded the sassy, Southern fast-casual Chicken Salad Chick concept as a drive-thru and takeout-only operation in Auburn, Ala., in 2008.

One of New York City’s first food trucks, Mexicue made its debut in 2010 on the corner of 52nd and Park. From day one, the lines extended around the block, reviewers raved, and founders David Schillace and Thomas Kelly knew they were on to something big with their tasty mashup of Mexican and barbecue-inspired street food.

The fast-casual pizza segment has gone from nowhere to seemingly everywhere with head-spinning speed. While the niche is the industry’s new darling, operators within it are suddenly finding themselves hard-pressed to create real points of differentiation. Pizza Studio, which opened its first unit in Los Angeles in January of 2013, has done so with its menu as well as with its creative, art-centric concept.

You might call it eatertainment for the millennial age. Punch Bowl Social brings elevated casual comfort food, craft beverages and old-school, unplugged entertainment together in a single venue. Founded in 2012 by Denver-based Seasoned Development, the concept places equal emphasis on those three foundations — food, drink, entertainment — according to Robert Thompson, Seasoned Development’s CEO and Punch Bowl founder.

A job as a busboy at a Mexican restaurant hooked Rocco Mangel on the idea of developing his own eating establishment. He spent two years working and formulating his idea, but a chance meeting with his former employers, partners at multiconcept operator Big Time Restaurant Group (BTRG), brought it to fruition. BTRG was interested in adding a Mexican concept to its portfolio and teamed up with Mangel, who subsequently spent 6 months visiting more than 60 restaurants across Mexico and refining his Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar concept.

When Steve Ells and company developed their game-changing Chipotle Mexican Grill concept, they had the benefit of starting with a cuisine already well known and loved by mainstream American consumers. Such was not the case for the three young friends behind Tava Indian Kitchen, the fast-casual brand they launched in the San Francisco Bay area in 2011. But to founders Vijay Brihmadesam, Hasnain Zaidi and Jason Pate, who fled the finance and consulting worlds to launch Tava, that spelled opportunity.

With innovative and healthful options, high-end furnishings and a unique bar/restaurant approach, two brothers have turned a low-growth mom-and-pop restaurant into one of Nashville's most popular sports bar chains in just four years.

With two distinct restaurant styles, strong international demand and an operational model that is both simple and flexible, burger-and-fries joint Johnny Rockets is going through a major growth spurt.

New amenities for both the store and kiosk, along with new menu items, have transformed the concept into more than just a place for treats.

Chicago-based Q-BBQ makes a name for itself with a menu that covers the country’s best regional barbecue styles and customer service investments not typically seen in the fast-casual sector.

A diverse menu executed in a vibrant display kitchen pairs nicely with a dynamic bar package and has kept this casual dining concept on the rise.

The restaurant industry is nothing if not indomitable when it comes to innovation. Maybe it's a new twist on an existing concept, a new production system or a new way to enhance the guest experience. It might be new technologies to speed service, a steady stream of craveable LTOs or even a whole new category-creating concept. There's always something new, something hot, something unique that someone — whether old pro or eager young entrepreneur — cooks up to keep things deliciously fresh and interesting.

Bowl of Heaven started with an idea, sketched out on a napkin, for a whole new type of fast-casual chain that would bring what co-founder Dan McCormick calls "the world's healthiest meals" to the masses.

Americans never seem to tire of pizza, and based on the recent surge in fast-casual pizza upstarts, the industry keeps creating new ways to give it to them in ever more convenient formats. Now comes something completely different. KONO Pizza, which opened its first unit last summer in Edison, N.J., not only takes pizza into QSR territory, it also offers a whole new type of product — pizza in a cone.

Chocolate lovers have a new treat coming soon to a market near them. Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, a fast-casual operation that celebrates chocolate culture in Parisian-café-meets-Willy-Wonka fashion, opened its first new U.S. prototype in Bethesda, Md., last August and plans to expand nationally over the next few years.

To get a taste of the culture and cuisine at Melt Bar and Grilled, consider last month's LTO. Promoted with imagery of a hip-looking polar bear in a black leather "Hell's Penguins" jacket, the Mighty Macaroni Melt featured housemade macaroni and cheese, breaded and fried, and then topped with additional cheese — all melted between slices of toasted fresh-baked bread.

The first time Andrea McGinty wandered into the original Native Foods Café in Palm Springs, Calif., she looked at the all-vegan menu and turned around to leave. She wasn't a vegan, and her perceptions of vegan food weren't exactly positive. Urged by the manager to give it a try, she did, choosing the Scorpion burger — a house-made blackened tempeh patty with chipotle sauce, lettuce, carrot, avocado and onion. She soon became a regular, and in 2009, with husband and partner Daniel Dolan, purchased the majority of the then three-unit business. The pair set about streamlining operations, refining the menu and positioning Native Foods Café to become

Taking a proven fast-casual format and giving it a distinctive Italian accent has put Columbus, Ohio-based PIADA Italian Street Food on the fast-track to growth.

Scott Slater, founder and owner of Slater's 50/50, follows a "go big or go home" philosophy — at least when it comes to the casual-dining chain of burger- and beer-centric restaurants he founded slightly more than four years ago.

The term "modern barbecue" might seem an oxymoron, but for Steven "Kip" Kolow, the idea of giving authentic barbecue a contemporary spin through format, environment and menu mix is one whose time has come.

Set aside common perceptions of steakhouses as clubby, stuffy, traditional, male-oriented environs where big, beefy cuts of meat and big red wines dominate. STK is a different animal all together.

College students often crave foods from home, but they don't often create their own restaurant chains to satisfy those cravings. That, however, is just what native Berliners Michael Heynes and Dominik Stein did when they discovered that none of the dining options near campus included their favorite Berlin street food, the döner kebap.

The fast-casual wing concept's sharp focus helps it rise above a growing flock of competitors.

With a distinctive flavor profile, kick-your-shoes-off atmosphere and strong devotion to cold beer, this Fort Worth, Texas-based chain has grown from just 3 company-owned units in 2009 to 68 locations and counting today.

Restaurant concepts turn to a variety of equipment items and innovative designs to get creative with the adult beverage experience.

Veteran of restaurant franchising, development and real estate experience takes on new role. 

Boston Consulting veteran becomes chief development and strategy officer for drive-in chain of restaurants. 

Industry vet brings more than 30 years of QSR operations expertise to bakery cafe chain. 

Bob Evans Restaurants announces plans to develop express units, Hooters' parent company enters the burger business and much more.