MEXICO CITY, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Mexican restaurant and cafe chain operator Alsea ALSEA.MX on Wednesday posted third-quarter core earnings that edged up 1.8% from revenues up 2.0%, which the firm attributed partly to cost efficiencies and strong appetite for its brands in Spain.

The multinational, which operates high-profile restaurant chains like Domino's Pizza and Starbucks in Europe and Latin America, reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of 2.89 billion pesos ($157.8 billion).

Net profit jumped to 367 million pesos ($20.04 billion) from 11.86 million a year earlier, from revenues of 21.15 billion pesos.

This landed below the forecasts of analysts polled by LSEG, who had expected a quarterly net profit of 568 million pesos, from revenues of 22.16 billion.

($1 = 18.3147 Mexican pesos at end-September)

(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Sarah Morland)

((natalia.siniawski@thomsonreuters.com;))