A typical fast-casual restaurant of Habit Burger in Clemmons.

Source: Journal Now

Fast-casual and casual-dining restaurants are among the most popular F&B franchises in the world. They are attractive to consumers and also investors, as they offer a much wider range of choices than fast food and at affordable prices. Let’s find out more about these restaurant categories.

What is a casual dining restaurant?

Casual dining restaurants offer table service for guests.

Source: NY Daily News

Not as expensive as fine dining restaurants, casual dining is a perfect option for customers to enjoy high-quality food at moderate prices and low-key ambiance. 

• Casual dining is also a full-service restaurant, and has food consultations for guests. 
• Serve alcoholic beverages and appetizers.
• Target customer groups like family, friends to gather and enjoy food together.
• The atmosphere and decor are nicer and more laid-back than fast casual and QSR (Quick-service restaurant).

Fast-casual: Is it the same as fast food?

The answer is “no”. Fast casual is different from fast food. It’s misunderstood that fast casual and fast food (part of QSR) are the same. In fact, fast-casual restaurants are a blend of QSR and casual dining restaurants. Therefore, they offer speedy service like fast food, but they provide customers with more high-quality food like casual dining. 

• Fast casual offers no table service. However, some large chains or fast casual franchises have a better variant: They take your order, let you go to your seat, and the staff bring food to you. 
• No alcohol and appetizers. No food consultation. The staff just show menus to the guests and let them choose food. 
• Interior design is nicer than QSR, and the ambience is normally as nice as casual dining.
• The pricing is still affordable compared to casual dining, but still higher than QSR.

Top casual dining and fast casual franchises

There are many restaurant franchise opportunities for investors. If you want to run an F&B business for everyone, casual dining or fast casual franchises would be a perfect choice for you. Here are the top F&B franchises in each sector:

HABIT BURGER GRILL: “Better Burger” is the slogan of this American fast casual restaurant franchise. “Healthier” is an adjective to describe this brand’s food: freshly-made salad, burgers grilled on flame, signature sandwiches. These things help expand the chain to over 400 locations worldwide. 

Habit Burger is a part of Yum! Brands which own famous chains like KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bells…

TEXAS ROADHOUSE is more than just a casual dining restaurant. This legendary steakhouse franchise from the U.S has over 666 locations in the world. 

Legendary steaks which are grilled over flame to perfection; legendary No.1 customer service in the US. These legendaries lead to their increasing revenue: revenue 15.9% in 2020, and 22.7% in 2021. It’s incredible during the pandemic. 

MANGO CHILI THAI CAFE is a typical fast casual restaurant. They serve high quality and healthy Thai street food at moderate price for the Asian market. 

As the leading franchise consultants and franchise brokers in Asia, VF Franchise Consulting is the INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE of these F&B franchises.

Please CONTACT US at info@vffranchiseconsulting.com for FREE consultation.

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