Source: Access Atlanta 
By Adrianne Murchison
For the AJC

It’s evening. You’ve just finished work, decide to stop in a restaurant for your favorite dish, and the hostess offers you a table shared with folks you don’t know.

Don’t be put off. It’s a growing trend that’s been well received around metro Atlanta, according to Karen Bremer, executive director of the Georgia Restaurant Association.

“It started gaining popularity after Sept. 11,” Bremer said. “That’s when you started seeing that people wanted to sit together and not be by themselves.”

Source: Columbus CEO
By Leon Stafford
Courtesy of the Associated Press

Most consumers will tell you they prefer fresh, tasty, healthy food over processed, greasy, assembly-line fare. Millennials, though, may be the first generation to back that up with their wallets.

Fast-food operators say they are getting increasing pressure from the demographic - generally defined as 18- to 34-year olds - to boost the quality of menu items or risk losing millennials. At stake is more than $1 trillion in spending by the group to the fast-casual category, which includes chains such as Chipotle Mexican Grill or Moe’s Southwest Grill.

Source: PerishableNews.com
By Georgia Restaurant Association

Atlanta, GA – Jim Stacy, television host and owner of Pallookaville Fine Foods, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies at the 8th Annual Georgia Restaurant Association Crystal of Excellence (GRACE) Awards to be held on Sunday, November 2nd at the Foundry at Puritan Mill in Atlanta, Ga. The GRACE Awards recognize and pay tribute to the leaders who have made outstanding contributions to Georgia's restaurant industry and all finalists are peer nominated, which ensures that we honor the most deserving of our industry.

Source: QSR magazine

Jim Stacy, television host and owner of Pallookaville Fine Foods, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies at the 8th AnnualGeorgia Restaurant Association Crystal of Excellence (GRACE) Awards to be held on Sunday, November 2, at the Foundry at Puritan Mill in Atlanta. The GRACE Awards recognize and pay tribute to the leaders who have made outstanding contributions to Georgia's restaurant industry and all finalists are peer nominated.

Source: Eater Atlanta
By Chris Fuhrmeister

BUCKHEAD - Share Our Strength's annual Give Me Five event will be held at Cherokee Town and Country Club at 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 17. The fundraiser will include a cocktail hour, live auction, and dinner menu from the likes of Michael Deihl, Sean Woods, Jonathan Beatty, Meherwan Irani, Eli Kirshtein, Dave Snyder, and Kathleen Miliotis. Individual tickets are $250, and a table of 10 is $2,500. Click here to purchase. [EaterWire]

AWARDS SEASON - Jim Stacy, owner of Pallookaville Fine Foods, will host the Georgia Restaurant Association's GRACE Awards in November. The awards ceremony will take place November 2 at the Foundry at Puritan Mill. [EaterWire]

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Leon Stafford 

Most consumers will tell you they prefer fresh, tasty, healthy food over processed, greasy, assembly line fare. Millennials, though, may be the first generation to back that up with their wallets.

Fast-food operators say they are getting increasing pressure from the demographic - generally defined as 18 to 34 year olds - to boost the quality of menu items or risk losing millennials. At stake is more than $1 trillion in spending by the group to the fast-casual category, which includes chains such as Chipotle Mexican Grill or Atlanta’s Moe’s Southwest Grill.

Source: BusinessInSavannah.com
Source: Savannahnow.com
By Walter C. Jones

ATLANTA - A temporary, appointed committee met Wednesday to begin the process of updating the state’s laws dealing with alcohol production, sales and consumption in an effort to simplify commerce, but some in the industry hope it will go further.

Source: The Augusta Chronicle
By Walter C. Jones
Morris News Service

ATLANTA - A committee met Wednesday to begin updating the state’s laws dealing with alcohol production, sales and consumption in an effort to simplify commerce, but some in the industry hope it will go further.“We just want to make it easier on people,” said Rep. Howard Maxwell, the temporary committee’s chairman and the head of the House Regulated Industries Committee that deals with alcohol issues.

Source: Athens Banner-Herald
By Walter C. Jones 
Morris News Service 

ATLANTA | A coalition of Georgia business and labor organizations recently called for immediate federal immigration reform, citing a new poll they say shows a majority of the voters surveyed agree.

However, the same survey also showed that just 5 percent of those questioned listed immigration reform as the most important issue facing the country.

Source: Atlanta Business Chronicle

Welcome to the 2014 Hospitality Who’s Who special section.

Each year we bring you the top 100 names and faces of those who make it their business to welcome the world to metro Atlanta.