---
title: "Adweek: Why America’s Aging Casual-Dining Chains Are Quietly Building Fast-Casual Restaurants"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/5470d1df-36bf-45c4-bc64-cc5411196447
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/adweek-why-americas-aging-casual-dining-chains-are-quietly-building-fast-casual-restaurants-10383
category: "Fast casual"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Fast casual"
published: 2017-02-16T14:09:02.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:35:34.057Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/f5832ad6f4fb0bd125fef608c2bf05ed533.jpg
---

# Adweek: Why America’s Aging Casual-Dining Chains Are Quietly Building Fast-Casual Restaurants

**TL;DR:** Established casual-dining chains like Cracker Barrel and Denny's are launching fast-casual concepts to appeal to younger diners. Chains such as Texas Roadhouse are introducing new fast-casual concepts, like Jaggers, to stay competitive.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-02-16. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/adweek-why-americas-aging-casual-dining-chains-are-quietly-building-fast-casual-restaurants-10383).*

## Story

In the last few years, many restaurants in the casual-dining segment have built their own new restaurant concepts that fall into the fast-casual category, according to a recent Adweek article. Convenience and quicker delivery closer to fast food set the hybrid category apart from developed dishes at casual dining spots. Cracker Barrel’s newer Holler & Dash, Denny’s scaled-down concept The Den, and Jaggers by Texas Roadhouse are all quietly being introduced into the market.

Why would these established chains want to tap into other segments? To put it simply, millennials. To get younger diners in the door with new menus and fun décor, restaurants can start fresh and leave behind their legacy reputations that millennials may or may not connect with.

This also provides an opportunity for brands to sell new concepts to larger franchisees. Legacy chains can now step into new markets with a fresh look and appeal.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Denny's (company)
- casual dining (topic)
- Texas Roadhouse (company)
- Cracker Barrel (company)
- Jaggers (company)
- fast casual expansion (topic)
- new concepts (topic)
- millennial appeal (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/adweek-why-americas-aging-casual-dining-chains-are-quietly-building-fast-casual-restaurants-10383). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/5470d1df-36bf-45c4-bc64-cc5411196447).