Brand: Metro Market
Segment: C-store
HQ: Augusta, Ga.
Unit: 1
Hook: C-store meets Dean & DeLuca. A new concept from 14-store Sprint Food Stores, this two-story, 11,000-square-foot “urban market” convenience store and restaurant has a full menu and both indoor and outdoor patio seating.
Brand: Piada Italian Street Food
Segment: Fast casual
HQ: Columbus, Ohio
Units: 21
Hook: Fulfilling another Chipotle-of-XYZ niche, Piada specializes in pasta bowls, salads and piadas—stone-grilled tortilla-shaped breads that get filled with meats, veggies and sauces and rolled up Chipotle-style. Yes, you can add pasta to your piada, and yes, it works quite well.
Brand: E.A.T. Spot
Segment: This defies all definitions
HQ: Chicago
Units: 4
Hook: This grab-and-go concept has snagged the ultimate real estate for heavy foot traffic: abandoned newsstands in downtown Chicago. The 9-foot-by-5-foot spaces contain two refrigerators, an iPad-run POS system, digital menu board and cellphone. They sell wraps, salads and snacks that are delivered daily.
Brand: Banh Shop
Segment: Fast casual
HQ: Dallas
Unit: 1
Hook: What does it say about a trend when Yum! Brands is testing a concept centered on it? Banh Shop focuses on banh mi, the Vietnamese sandwich known for its crispy baguette, rich meats and sharp cilantro, pickled carrots and aioli. Yum! Wisely opened this shop near a college campus.
Brand: The Works Steampunk Café, featuring Waffler and Forklift Burritos & Bowls
Segment: College & university
HQ: Reno, Nev.
Units: 1
Hook: The University of Nevada-Reno has created a wild new multiconcept space with a Steampunk theme (go ahead and Google it). It includes a sandwich concept that uses folded-over waffles for bread.
Brand: ChocoChicken
Segment: Full-service
HQ: Los Angeles
Units: 1
Hook: The name comes from its signature item, fried chicken that features chocolate in the brine, marinade, breading and finishing rub. The mashed potatoes are also cooked with white chocolate—but that’s where the chocolate ends.
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