By JOYZELLE DAVIS, Scripps Howard News Service

At a time when some restaurant chains are putting the brakes on expansion plans in the face of penny-pinching consumers, Noodles & Co. is rolling out new stores at a pace of roughly three a month.

After growing Quiznos from a regional Colorado toasted sub shop to the nation's second-biggest sandwich restaurant chain, Rick Schaden and his team are focusing on the next food frontier: burgers.

Chipotle Mexican Grill and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ended their standoff this week over a chicken-slaughtering policy.

The Denver-based fast-casual restaurant chain agreed to give preference to suppliers that use what the animal-rights group calls a less cruel killing method.

Chipotle Mexican Grill prides itself on its enlightened treatment of animals. On its drink cups, the fast-casual restaurant chain praises animal rights advocates who call for a more humane way of turning chickens, cows and pigs into burritos.

PETA has submitted a shareholder resolution asking Chipotle Mexican Grill to give preference to chicken suppliers that use a "less cruel" method of slaughter, the group said.

Few people want to turn public spaces into fortresses with checkpoints and metal detectors, experts say, despite the shock of fatal gunfire in a mall in Omaha, Neb., and a church and missionary dor