Technology


  • The outside of a Taco Bell restaurant.
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    Justin Sullivan / Staff via Getty Images
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    Yum Brands to scale loyalty, personalization in 2025

    Taco Bell’s parent company is leveraging loyalty programs and AI-driven personalization in pursuit of higher digital sales.

    By Bryan Wassel • Feb. 7, 2025
  • A Panera store.
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    Courtesy of Panera
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    Panera Bread hires Dunkin’ vet as CIO

    Santhosh Kumar, who spent almost two decades in IT roles at Dunkin’, will develop and deploy tech across the chain’s 2,200-plus cafes.

    By Feb. 7, 2025
  • A man and a woman dressed as a chef look at a tablet. Explore the Trendline
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    Wavebreakmedia via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Back-of-house Technology

    From voice AI at the drive-thru to robot-powered makelines, restaurants are investing in technology solutions to optimize kitchen operations and reduce employee turnover. 

    By Restaurant Dive staff
  • Taco Bell exterior
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    Courtesy of Taco Bell
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    Yum Brands launches integrated tech platform

    Thousands of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants already use Byte by Yum, which includes kitchen management and point-of-sale tools.

    By Feb. 6, 2025
  • A DoorDash delivery worker walks his bike along the road in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco, California.
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    hapabapa via Getty Images
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    Boston wants delivery firms to give drivers liability insurance

    Under the proposed ordinance, aggregators like DoorDash and Uber Eats would need to meet data-sharing requirements to obtain an operating permit.

    By Feb. 5, 2025
  • Coffee drips into a white ceramic mug emblazoned with the Starbucks logo
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    Courtesy of Starbucks
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    Brian Niccol wants to double Starbucks’ US footprint

    A host of changes to stores and operations could help Starbucks escape its sales trouble, and executives are already planning the company’s next move.

    By Jan. 30, 2025
  • A thumb hovers over a smart phone with a photo of a cheeseburger and the words food delivery on top.
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    Tero Vesalainen via Getty Images
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    Most customers prefer ordering delivery directly from restaurants

    Convenience, ease of customization and the ability to earn rewards were top reasons customers preferred first-party channels, per an NCR Voyix report.

    By Jan. 30, 2025
  • Fried foods in front of a Miso Robotics fry station.
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    Courtesy of Miso Robotics
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    Miso Robotics develops smaller, faster Flippy

    Its newest robotic fry station, which White Castle is testing, is more expensive than, but half the size of, previous iterations.

    By Jan. 29, 2025
  • Chipotle opens its first Chipotlane Digital Kitchen in Ohio in December 2021.
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    Courtesy of Chipotle
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    2025 could be fast casual’s year, again

    Long-term trends in consumer preference have put fast casual chains in a position to leverage price sensitivity, digital touchpoints and an appetite for human connection.

    By Jan. 27, 2025
  • The entrance to a P.F. Chang's restaurant is pictured on Aug. 4, 2014 in Schaumburg, Illinois.
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    Scott Olson via Getty Images
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    P.F. Chang’s drops lawsuit claiming UKG lost, destroyed employee data

    The restaurant chain sued in 2022 claiming that the HR vendor had provided “false hope” that it could recover some of the chain’s deleted information.

    By Ryan Golden • Jan. 17, 2025
  • A photograph of a brick building with a red sign and white letters that says Chipotle.
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    Chipotle invests in firm that makes plant-based meat from duckweed

    The restaurant chain’s venture fund is also backing efforts reduce cow-based methane emissions.  

    By Sarah Zimmerman • Jan. 15, 2025
  • An image of a building with a sign that says "Sweetgreen."
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    Courtesy of Sweetgreen
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    Sweetgreen CTO shares the chain’s data-focused approach to CX

    CTO Wouleta Ayele discussed why she designs experiences by working backwards from an ideal outcome at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show conference.

    By Bryan Wassel • Jan. 15, 2025
  • A man stands on a stage talking
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    Julie Littman/Restaurant Dive
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    Portillo’s tests computer vision to boost drive-thru times

    Managers will see a screen flashing red if a car has sat for four minutes, allowing them to redeploy labor and move guests faster through the drive-thru.

    By Jan. 14, 2025
  • An image ofa man wearing a blue suit in front of a gray background
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    Permission granted by Shake Shack
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    Shake Shack appoints chief information and technology officer

    Rite Aid alum Justin Mennen brings over two decades of experience to the fast casual chain, which is developing a loyalty program.

    By Jan. 10, 2025
  • An image of several people eating hamburgers and french fries from a generic fast food restaurant.
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    Diamond Dogs via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    8 restaurant trends to watch in 2025

    Analysts forecast a slightly rosier year, predicting that consumer demand will rise, bankruptcies will slow and increased valuations will spark M&A.

    By , Jan. 7, 2025
  • An image of a blue sign with "IHOP" words.
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    Scott Olson via Getty Images
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    PAR Technology buys Delaget for $132M

    The food service point-of-sale and payments software provider said it bought the data analytics company to better service restaurant operators.

    By Lynne Marek • Jan. 3, 2025
  • The outside of a LongHorn Steakhouse.
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    Scott Olson / Staff via Getty Images
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    Darden Restaurants begins POS rollout as it pursues speedier service

    The new point-of-sale system will help the company speed up orders and improve its data capabilities at nine restaurant brands, executives said.

    By Bryan Wassel • Dec. 19, 2024
  • Dutch Bros Coffee's president, Christine Barone will replace Joth Ricci as CEO. Pictured is a Dutch Bros unit.
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    Permission granted by Dutch Bros
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    Dutch Bros names Lululemon exec as chief tech officer

    Venki Krishnababu has over 30 years of experience and joins the chain as it rapidly expands into mobile ordering.

    By Dec. 17, 2024
  • Instacart reaches out to retail partners in fresh rebrand
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    Courtesy of Instacart
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    Instacart says restaurant delivery is good for its grocery business

    The Uber Eats partnership aims to fuel engagement with its app and boost online grocery spending, Instacart CFO Emily Reuter said at a Nasdaq event.

    By Catherine Douglas Moran • Dec. 16, 2024
  • A bike courier with a red delivery bag.
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    DoorDash to require 150K workers to verify IDs weekly

    The delivery platform framed the more stringent verification policies as a way to improve consumer and merchant peace of mind.

    By Dec. 13, 2024
  • An image of various doughnuts from Krispy Kreme behind a bakery counter.
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    Krispy Kreme online ordering disrupted by cyberattack

    After an attack on part of its information technology systems, the chain said it is working to restore online ordering. Store operations were not impacted.

    By Dec. 11, 2024
  • An exterior image of a white restaurant with a yellow decoration and signs that say Church's Chicken
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    Courtesy of Church's Chicken
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    Church’s Texas Chicken turns to drive-thru AI

    SoundHound’s technology could help the chicken chain speed up order processing by shifting workers from order taking to food making.

    By Dec. 11, 2024
  • An image of three smartphone screens with various words and insights from Yelp reviews.
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    Permission granted by Yelp
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    Yelp enhances platform with more personalized home feeds

    The review platform added over 20 features, such as AI-powered review insights and enhancements to its business product suite.

    By Dec. 10, 2024
  • A chat log from Chipotle's Ava Cado AI bot on a smartphone.
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    Permission granted by Paradox
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    Sponsored by Paradox

    Chipotle’s fresh new way to reduce time to hire by up to 75%

    Walk into Chipotle. Leave with a burrito...and a job. That's the magic of Chipotle's new virtual assistant.

    Dec. 9, 2024
  • A Torchy's Tacos sign shot from a low angle.
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    Tornado98 via Getty Images
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    Torchy’s Tacos deploys phone AI ordering

    The chain is using SoundHound’s tool, which can handle customized orders and answer questions about the menu, at all of its 130 locations. 

    By Dec. 5, 2024
  • An image of a Starbucks sign
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    Courtesy of Starbucks
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    Starbucks scheduling tools crippled by Blue Yonder outage

    A ransomware attack against the software vendor has pushed the coffee chain to temporarily rely on manual scheduling to ensure workers are paid for hours.

    By Nov. 26, 2024