5 must-know restaurant news stories: May 12, 2014

Food trucks stuck in park (Crain’s New York Business)
The food truck business is going through a midlife crisis. Many of its founding members are graduating to grown-up endeavors that offer more financial stability. Others supplement their incomes with part-time jobs in real estate or personal coaching.
 
—Ron Ruggless

Take-and-bake pizza is giving tax guys a headache (The Salt/NPR)
Should take-and-bake pizza be taxed? The Papa Murphy’s Take ’n’ Bake Pizza chain falls into a gray area in some states’ tax codes.

—Lisa Jennings

(Press release)
Watch your back, Peyton Manning. Pizza Hut has signed Blake Shelton, country musician and celebrity judge of “The Voice,” as its newest pitchman for three barbecue-flavored limited-time pizzas. Similar to how Denver Broncos quarterback Manning is not only a spokesman for competitor Papa John’s but also involved as a franchisee, Shelton took on a greater role with Pizza Hut by consulting on the menu R&D process. The three barbecue pizzas will be available for $11, and from May 18-26, the items can be added to an online order for $5 with the purchase of a large pizza.

—Mark Brandau

Upscale burger chain from New Zealand aims at U.S. (The New York Times)
BurgerFuel is undertaking an ambitious expansion plan through a partnership with Subway restaurants.

—Marcella Veneziale

Canadian restaurateur bans tipping at new restaurant (Eater)
A restaurateur in Canada plans to ban tipping at Smoke 'N Water, a restaurant slated to open next month, making it one of a small but growing number of restaurants to get rid of gratuities. Instead, he'll charge about 18 percent more for menu items and use the profit to give both front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house staff more hourly pay. Eater uses the occasion of that announcement to do a concise analyses of the state of tip-banning in North America.

—Bret Thorn