Restaurant Rewind

`Those who don’t know their history are destined to relive it', to riff on the words of a famed philosopher. For anyone in the restaurant business, that oft-quoted saying may be more of a heartening promise than a dire admonition. The industry’s past is packed with tales of scoundrels and heroes, big thinkers and pinheads, colossal successes and dismal failures, breakthrough moves and self-inflicted destruction. Few soap operas pack as much color and drama. Yet those yellowed snapshots provide insights relevant to the challenges of today. Join Peter Romeo, a 41-year veteran of the business with a penchant for restaurant history, as he explores those pivotal moments from the past. 

Marketing

There’s nothing sweet about the mobile ice cream wars

Restaurant Rewind: The Soprano crew has nothing over the combatants in the turf wars over who’ll sell kids their summertime treats.

Food

For a real New York City dining experience, look inside the bun

Restaurant Rewind: Forget egg creams and bagels. The consummate Big Apple specialty is the hot dog. Here's why.

Restaurant Rewind: The rapid expansion of cookie chains is proof that the business can be cyclical. Here’s what happened in the prior boom.

Restaurant Rewind: She could barely afford to open her first restaurant. Now the empire she founded through smarts and a refusal to be stopped is selling for $715 million. Here’s her story.

Restaurant Rewind: Don Draper and Jackie Onassis were among the legions of fans who kept the Grand Central Oyster Bar in vogue.

Restaurant Rewind: A fight over supply prices set what's still the low point in franchisor-franchisee relations. It could be a Harvard Business study of what a brand owner should never do.

Restaurant Rewind: Meal assembly concepts were going to be big. But their implosion was what made the loudest noise.

Restaurant Rewind: There's more to the origin of that standard amenity than guest and operator may have ever imagined.

Restaurant Rewind: With Starbucks promising yet another breakthrough menu introduction, the time is right to see how past promised game-changers actually fared.

Restaurant Rewind: The uninitiated will be asking themselves that very question when the brand hits the East Coast. Here’s a look at the quirks that have helped make the chain a cult favorite.

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