Weekly Global News Wrap: McDonald’s Russian replacement opens; U.S. customers dining out in force; Chipotle tests Mexican cauliflower rice

Here is a summary of the most interesting QSR news stories of the week from around the world.

Former McDonald’s restaurants in Russia have reopened under a new name, Vkusno & Tochka, meaning “Tasty and that’s it”. An initial 15 locations in the Moscow region opened, another 200 set to roll out across the country later this month. Read more from the Guardian.

McDonald's agreed to pay US$1.3 billion in fines and back taxes to settle a tax dispute in France. The case centered on allegations, which first surfaced in 2014, that the fast food giant diverted fees paid by its franchise restaurants to units in other countries. Read more from Reuters.

Customers returned to restaurants in force in the first quarter of 2022, making more reservations and seeking out indoor dining at higher rates than a year ago, according to an industry report from Yelp. The shift back to on-premise dining, however, took a bite out of restaurants’ off-premise business over the past year. Read more from Restaurant Business.

Chipotle is testing another version of their cauliflower rice at 60 participating units in three U.S. states for a limited time. Read more from Nation’s Restaurant News.

Starbucks’ North American president Rossann Williams will leave the company and be succeeded by the head of the coffee chain’s Asia Pacific division. Williams is understood to be one of the public faces of the company’s efforts to curb unionization efforts by its baristas. Read more from CNBC.