Restaurant Business

OCTOBER 23, 2024

A recent eBook by Softarex Technologies highlights all the main aspects of AI usage in restaurant operations, from customer service to back-of-house management. These systems can understand various accents and dialects, process orders accurately, and even upsell menu items based on customer preferences.

Customer Experience 304

Customer Experience Operations Back of House Customer Service 304

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Hospitality operators are rapidly turning to contactless ordering and payment solutions to help navigate the long road back to normal from COVID-19’s impacts. " While contactless ordering and payment is here to stay, many operators remain concerned about how this new service model will impact their guest experience.

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Hospitality Ordering Front of House Customer Experience 576

ChowNow

FEBRUARY 21, 2025

Increasing your restaurants online order volume doesnt have to feel like an impossible task. In this guide, well walk through seven practical ways to boost your restaurants online order volume. Optimize Your Website and Online Ordering Experience If your restaurants website isnt easy to use, youre probably losing out on online orders.

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Online Ordering Ordering Email Marketing Mobile Ordering 195

ChowNow

MARCH 14, 2025

If you want to increase order volume for your restaurant, focusing on online takeout and delivery is key. But growing online order volume isnt always easy. Many restaurants struggle with high third-party app fees, low website traffic, and clunky ordering experiences that drive customers away.

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Ordering Mobile Ordering Online Ordering Email Marketing 195

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 5, 2025

Looking back, I was optimistic—perhaps a bit naïve—about what scaling would require. I also picked up a lot of new vocabulary—lumper, FOB, EDLP, and scan back all became part of my vernacular. Increased interest from wholesale buyers or retailers requesting larger orders.

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Food Back of House Consumer Goods Kitchen Safety 322

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 17, 2024

Steady Online Ordering Brings Food Waste, Donations to the Forefront of Priorities Ordering food online increases restaurant sales, but it also can potentially increase wasted food if proactive measures aren’t taken – for both the business and consumers at home.

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2025 Loyalty Program Customer Experience Online Ordering 419

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 23, 2024

In 2025, I expect automation to keep expanding beyond back-of-house applications into more guest-facing roles. Self-serve kiosks, QR-code menus, and personalized ordering systems will continue to redefine how patrons interact with venues. As we navigate these changes, one theme stands out: innovation.

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2025 Hospitality Bar Customer Experience 346

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 21, 2021

Mobile order and pay solutions are a cost-effective way to support the current skilled staff you have to deal with peak periods while also helping to maximize sales. Here are four reasons why restaurant businesses should consider mobile order and pay solutions to support any current staffing shortages: 1. Reduce Admin Tasks.

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Mobile Ordering Ordering Front of House Guest Recovery 466

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 21, 2025

With the rising costs of goods, consumers growing more conscious of spending habits, and private equity-backed brands popping up in communities large and small, mom-and-pops are in danger of adding to the failure statistics. Today, independent restaurants can and should tap into those same tools–without the massive corporate budget.

Technology 221

Technology Front of House Customer Service Back of House 221

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 27, 2021

Adopting in-house technologies became necessary for restaurants to stay open throughout the pandemic, restart operations after temporary closures, and pivot services to maintain revenue while still following enhanced health and safety protocols. Too Much Tech Is Not a Solution. Want to be Tech-Savvy? Start with Your Staff.

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Front of House Back of House Loyalty Program Customer Experience 609

EATER

MARCH 14, 2025

Kriston Jae Bethel/Bloomberg via Getty Images The COVID pandemic accelerated a labor shortage in the industry. Now, restaurant owners and chefs across the country say theyre still struggling to recruit and retain talent. In the spring of 2021, restaurants across the country were scrambling to find staff. Ive never been in a situation like this.

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Marketing Recruiting Hiring Back of House 303

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 14, 2025

Every kitchen operates under pressure, but small inefficiencies—lost tickets, misheard orders, inconsistent timing—can mean the difference between a smooth service and total chaos. Orders come in, chits pile up, and the dance begins. In the relentless heat of The Bear's kitchen, where every "Yes, Chef!"

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Front of House Back of House FOH BOH 221

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 7, 2025

One location might offer seamless mobile ordering, while another struggles with glitchy payment systems, creating inconsistencies that can frustrate customers and impact revenue. Meanwhile, an additional six percent will invest more in automation like kiosks and robotics.

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Loyalty Program Mobile Ordering Customer Experience Customer Service 251

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 31, 2024

From salted egg yolks and chili crunch fusions to mushroom-infused teas and freeze-dried fruit powder garnishes, Kimpton’s in-house experts share the standout ingredients, menu items and techniques that will come to the table in 2025.

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2025 Beverage Fine Dining Guest Recovery 450

Modern Restaurant Management

JANUARY 24, 2022

When properly deployed, they can transform the employee experience by improving daily operations, syncing front-of-house and back-of-house communication and execution, and delivering a memorable dining experience that won’t send staff to the walk-in cooler for a good cry. Hospitality is greater than the sum of its parts.

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Technology Front of House Back of House Online Ordering 558

EATER

MARCH 12, 2025

Randi Lee and his wife, Jeanette Zinno, took over the storefront that would become Leland Eating and Drinking House in Brooklyn in February 2020, ready to fully demo the space. Back then we just had snacks and fresh bread. Masked chefs make pizza in a restaurant kitchen in 2022. There is never a good time to open a restaurant.

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2025 Back of House Front of House Kitchen Safety 244

ChowNow

MARCH 14, 2025

Every day, youre juggling staff, food quality, inventory, customer service, purchasing, and moreall while trying to cultivate a dining experience that wows your customers enough to keep them coming back. Its tough, and cant be done passively. What is Restaurant Operations Management? Great restaurant operations dont happen by accident.

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Operations Management Management Front of House 195

7 Shifts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Customers on average will order more menu items, resulting in a larger bill for the restaurant and a larger tip for the employee. Many restaurant operators juggle multiple locations, and adding managers adds another link in the chain of command to manage. A busy staff means productive staff, which is good for business.

Mobile Ordering 221

Mobile Ordering Back of House Customer Service Online Ordering 221

ChowNow

MARCH 28, 2025

It allows AI to understand and respond to human language, which is how virtual assistants can answer customer questions or take online orders. Front-of-House AI Applications One of the best things about AI is that while it helps your staff, its also giving your customers a better experience. More than you think.

Front of House 195

Front of House Back of House Online Ordering Email Marketing 195

Modern Restaurant Management

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

With a critically shrunken talent pool, restaurants are racing to fill positions in every part of the business — front of house, back of house, and corporate teams. Enter digital tableside ordering. For fast-casual or QSR brands, digital tableside ordering is equally beneficial.

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Technology Loyalty Program Fast Casual Email Marketing 563

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 23, 2020

This includes the entire order to pay processes, from employee collaboration to guest interaction, whether via smartphone, tablet, kiosk or VR headset. For example, guests may choose a self-order kiosk instead of interacting with an associate in an effort to social distance. And this will take some time. Build Data-First Architectures.

Back of House 568

Back of House Front of House Kitchen Safety Mobile Ordering 568

Modern Restaurant Management

OCTOBER 23, 2024

That’s where waffles come in: they’re high margin for the operator, crave-able and on-trend for the consumer and efficient for back-of-house. An all-inclusive waffle program model will also alleviate order and supply chain complexities for the operator, in addition to diverse product use. Waffles saw a 15.4

Back of House 221

Back of House Seasonal Menu 2024 Customer Experience 221

EATER

OCTOBER 21, 2024

Craft instant can be traced back to 2016, when two competing small-scale producers entered a market traditionally dominated by industry giants such as Folgers, Nescafé, and Starbucks. Here’s how it works: Roasters send beans to Swift, and Swift sends them back instant coffee. “We We tried a ton of them to find the best.

Back of House 301

Back of House SEO Uniforms 2016 301

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Front-of-House. Henry is ready to order some dinner. He visits your restaurant’s app and orders his favorite dish on the menu. He visits your restaurant’s app and orders his favorite dish on the menu. He receives an estimated wait time for his order of 45 minutes. Let’s come back to Henry.

Technology 508

Technology Front of House Back of House Point of Sale 508

Modern Restaurant Management

AUGUST 26, 2022

In the back of the house, rampant inflation and ongoing supply chain disruptions are cutting into margins. Simultaneously, staffing is an urgent and ongoing front-of-house concern. Until now, the restaurant industry has operated on outdated, analog technology like faxed orders and invoices in the mail.

Front of House 520

Front of House Back of House Food Supply Supplies 520

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 2, 2022

The past two years have brought unprecedented changes across the restaurant industry, from new concerns related to social distancing and cleanliness to the acceleration of pre-pandemic trends such as the rise of mobile ordering and third-party delivery services. Set the Bar. Stay Connected.

Mobile Ordering 473

Mobile Ordering Front of House Back of House Consumer Goods 473

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 1, 2022

Even with this good news for restaurant operators, many challenges still remain – particularly around staffing in both the front and back of the house. The landscape of the restaurant industry has changed forever due to Covid and the operational complexities that the pandemic introduced. And according to Technomic, Inc.,

Front of House 576

Front of House Loyalty Program Back of House Training 576

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 26, 2022

We'll look at what artificial intelligence is and how it's being used in three different areas of the restaurant industry: back of the house, front of the house, and marketing. Let's start with the back of the house.

Front of House 493

Front of House Back of House Customer Experience Food Order 493

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

You are sitting in your favorite restaurant and have placed an order on a tablet at your table. After a few seconds of placing the order, a notification appears on your messaging app. Ding* ‘Your order is being prepared by Chef Bot 19 and will be delivered to your table in approximately 19 minutes.

Front of House 528

Front of House Mobile Ordering Loyalty Program Back of House 528

Modern Restaurant Management

JANUARY 13, 2023

Just as the pandemic fueled digital transformation via no-contact delivery apps, QR code menus, and digital ordering, restaurants challenged by lack of staffing will likely turn to technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to alleviate pain points. Taking Orders with Artificial Intelligence.

Front of House 528

Front of House Back of House Online Ordering Food Order 528

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Nearly every restaurant in the United States relies on a Point of Sale (POS) system for the majority of its front-of-house operations. That system needs access to the internet in order to keep functioning. Not only can that become frustrating for your guests, but it can also make in-house operations much more difficult.

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POS Front of House Cash Management Online Ordering 520

ChowNow

MARCH 19, 2025

With 52% of diners saying that ordering takeout is essential to their lifestyle, its no longer just an optionits an opportunity. But getting customers to order once isnt enough. Repeat business is what drives real growth, yet many restaurants struggle to keep takeout diners coming back. In a recent survey by ChowNow, 54.6%

Loyalty Program 195

Loyalty Program Email Marketing Back of House Customer Experience 195

Modern Restaurant Management

OCTOBER 1, 2024

Digital platforms can help time-strapped operators address their historically difficult questions by minimizing operational complexity, giving their crews more time to assist guests, and providing staff with the freedom to accomplish more in both the front and back of the house. My staff can monitor orders from almost any location.

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Bar Operations Back of House Front of House 449

ChowNow

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

Each system has its own tablet, order flow, and set of requirements, making it difficult to keep up with operations smoothly. Each platformUber Eats, GrubHub, DoorDashrequires its own tablet, login, and order management system. Order management issues. Consumers report that 24.4% Staff training and inconsistent efficiency.

Delivery 195

Delivery Online Ordering POS Customer Service 195

Modern Restaurant Management

OCTOBER 27, 2022

Whether it's personalizing the drive-through experience or reliably managing store hours, a strong network can power the restaurant management tools and apps that QSRs need to streamline front- and back-of-house operations, enhance dining experiences, and keep guests happy. Enabling Flexible Ordering.

Mobile Ordering 492

Mobile Ordering Online Ordering Front of House Customer Experience 492

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 9, 2024

A chief reason is due to caution or uncertainty exhibited by conscious consumers, with 48 percent saying they are taking the ‘wait and see’ approach and holding back on spending in 2024. Moving to Multichannel Dining Experiences Dining out is… back? Orders come from a multitude of places.

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2024 Mobile Ordering Front of House Fast Casual 508

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 22, 2024

I came across an old quote from Phylicia Rashad (for those my age – the lead actress in the series “Fame” from many years back) that gave me another opportunity to think about the cooks that I know and have known over the past five (nearly six) decades and why I chose to stand in front of a range. Art is the basis of human expression.”

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Food Front of House Point of Sale Back of House 388