Content about American cuisine

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.
 

Dallas -- Lucernex Technologies said Tuesday that Jack in the Box has implemented Lucernex’s store lifecycle management solution to manage its real estate portfolio, which includes more than 2,200 Jack in the Box restaurants across 19 states.

According to Lucernex, by implementing the retail version of the Lx Retail product suite, Jack in the Box can streamline its process of selecting store sites, building and opening new store locations, as well as managing existing locations to avoid time delays and save costs.

New York City -- The founders of BJ’s Restaurants plan launch a new fast-casual concept this spring that will allow customers to order and customize their meals from tabletop iPads, USA Today reported.

New York City -- Chipotle Mexican Grill founder, chairman and co-CEO Steve Ells is developing an Asian fast-casual concept that he expects to debut in mid-2011, according to Nation’s Restaurant News.

The new concept will be similar in pricing to Chipotle, the report said.

Ells said in a statement, “Since opening the first Chipotle some 17 years ago, I have often thought about how other types of food might fit the Chipotle model.”