Orange County Register

Carl’s Jr. is headed to Kazakhstan. (If you don’t know where this is — think, Borat.)

CKE Restaurants, the parent company of the burger chain, said that The Americana Group will build the restaurants over the next five years. The Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s franchisor currently operates 194 Hardee’s restaurants in the Middle East.

Read CKE’s full press release here.

My take: I expect this overseas trend to continue as American restaurant brands continue to report dismal sales during this recession. Other Southern California chains expanding internationally include Orange County-based Taco Bell, Johnny Rockets and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Dubai is a major growth area. Some of the fast-food and cafe brands setting up shops there include Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Starbucks, Arby’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.

Related stories:

McCafes open in Japan

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