Oldest Pizza Hut in America to Close; Paris Fights to Keep McDonald's Away From City Center

Plus free New York Times articles for Starbucks app users.

— America's longest operating Pizza Hut is shutting its doors this Sunday. Located in Manhattan, Kansas, the restaurant has been open for 55 years. Franchise owner Bernie Butler tells the Topeka-Capital Journal that shuttering the restaurant — which opened in 1960 — "was one of the toughest decisions" he has had to make, but he "finally had to acknowledge that the financial side of the business outweighed the history of the place." All of the employees have been offered jobs at other Pizza Hut locations which will continue to serve the customers hot dog-crusted pizzas.

— Struggling burger chain McDonald's seems to be facing an endless wave of backlash: The latest comes from Paris. France is McDonald's "second most profitable market" after the U.S. but not everyone wants the chain to keep opening restaurants. A number of Parisians have been fighting McDonald's attempts to move into Paris' Les Halles neighborhood, which is also known as the "belly of Paris" and is rife with local food vendors. Olivia Hicks — the head of the neighborhood's anti-McDonald's committee notes, "People living here don't want McDonald's. Small business people of the street don't want McDonald's. Nobody wants McDonald's." So far, the committee's efforts appear to be working: City officials refused the chain's request for a building permit "in an attempt to preserve the area's traditional identity."

— In addition to its order ahead and payment features, Starbucks' app will now also feature the news. The coffee giant recently announced a partnership with the New York Times to give app users access to the top news of the day, daily briefings, and "more timely articles," for free starting in 2016. This is in addition to the 15 free NYT articles Starbucks app users already have access to.

— Grocery store chain A&P — which also owns Pathmark, Food Emporium, and other retail brands — has filed for bankruptcy protection. This is the second time the company has done so in five years, and now A&P is trying to sell off at least 100 of its stores. The company currently has debts of around $2.4 billion dollars, according to court filings. A&P was founded in 1859 as a mail-order tea business before it transformed into a "discount food retailer that operated 16,000 stores by the mid-1930s" and stayed a "dominant players in America's grocery landscape into the second half of the century."

— Beloved cult chain Shake Shack is known for a couple of things: Its burgers, its controversial fries, and its ability to customize depending upon the location. All Shake Shack menus include concretes that feature local ingredients, but the chain takes the idea of customization to a new level at its Dubai locations. Business Insider writes that during the holy month of Ramadan, Shake Shack changed its hours so that it opened after 7 p.m. and remained open until 3 a.m. since most of its customers were fasting. The chain also uses veal bacon on its burgers instead of pork bacon, since many abstain from eating pork there, and Shake Shack serves "high-heat fries" that feature cheese sauce and cherry peppers. As for the special concrete, the chain has a "Eid'Crete" on the menu in celebration of the end of Ramadan.

from Eater - All http://ift.tt/1gOwhqH
via IFTTT