HappyChef Daily · Today's restaurant news
McDonald's Tests Chicken In Dublin, Malta's Flights Hold Steady
- Ireland
- Malta
In Short
- McDonald's is testing hand-breaded chicken in some Dublin restaurants from mid-October until February.
- The restaurant sector fell from second to fifth place in an Irish customer experience ranking.
- The WRC ordered a festival caterer to pay a worker €2,321.75 in wages she was still owed.
- A 150-seat restaurant in Howth is for sale with a guide price of €2.8 million.
- Malta International Airport handled 1,109,789 passengers in September, 12% more than a year ago.
A mixed day for the trade. In Ireland, a fast-food giant is trying out a new way to make chicken, while a survey says guests are less happy with restaurants.
In Malta, the airport keeps its links for the winter, and a large catering group has a new name.
McDonald's Tests Hand-Breaded Chicken In Dublin
McDonald's UK & Ireland is running a pilot with hand-breaded chicken in selected Dublin restaurants. It runs from mid-October until February.
The company picked Ireland because chicken already sells well here. It wants to learn how to do this with little extra work for kitchen staff, before it tries it elsewhere in Europe.
Sources: Hospitality Ireland
Fast-Food Chains Slide In The Service Rankings
Ireland's yearly customer experience report ranks more than 150 brands. Overall scores rose, but restaurants fell from second to fifth place. It was the only sector whose average went down.
KFC dropped 77 places and Subway 69. Guests complained about food quality, slow or wrong orders, cold food, high prices and smaller portions.
Sources: Irish Examiner
A Festival Caterer Must Pay A Worker's Wages
The Workplace Relations Commission ordered Nord Events Ltd to pay €2,321.75 to a woman who did admin work for it around Forest Fest 2025 in Co Laois. She was still unpaid more than a year later.
The firm blamed poor trading and complaints about the food. The adjudicator said a business cannot use its losses as a reason not to pay wages it owes.
Sources: The Irish Times
A 150-Seat Spot By Dublin Bay Seeks A New Owner
A trading restaurant at 30 Church Street in Howth is for sale through CBRE, with a guide price of €2.8 million. It seats about 150 over two floors and has a wood-fired oven and a covered terrace.
The owners have run it since 2019 and are moving on. The agent expects interest from restaurant and pub operators.
Sources: Hospitality Ireland
Malta's Winter Flights Hold Steady After A Busy September
Malta International Airport handled 1,109,789 passengers in September, up 12%. The UK, Italy, Poland and Germany grew, while France fell 10.7%.
The winter schedule keeps links to more than 80 airports in 31 markets. The airport expects winter traffic to be about the same as last year.
Sources: The Malta Independent
A Big Maltese Caterer Regroups Under One Name
James Caterers, The Food Factory and other firms now sit under ETERNA Group. The owners stay the same. The group employs about 6,600 people and says it makes about 48,500 meals a day.
At the launch, Prime Minister Robert Abela pointed to the group's investment of over €50 million in The Food Factory at Bulebel.
Sources: Lovin Malta, The Malta Independent
A Kitchen Worker Tells A Court He Went Months Without Pay
In a Maltese court, a Bangladeshi worker said he answered an advert for a waiter or bar job but ended up washing dishes in a restaurant. He said he worked about four months without wages.
The man he accuses faces charges including trafficking for labour exploitation. The case is ongoing and nobody has been convicted.
Sources: MaltaToday
What Does This Mean For Your Restaurant?
The service survey is worth a look: guests notice cold food, wrong orders and shrinking portions. And the WRC ruling is a clear reminder that wages come first, even in a bad season.
Sources
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