ChowNow

FEBRUARY 12, 2025

New concepts, ghost kitchens, and delivery-only brands are popping up constantly, making it harder for any single restaurant to stand out. Between online reservations, third-party delivery apps, and direct ordering from your website, digital interactions often happen before a guest ever steps through your doors.

2025

Modern Restaurant Management

MAY 30, 2025

This edition of Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine's Research Roundup features delivery data, tariff troubles, summer dining trends, and Beer Serves America. Additionally, consumers continue to favor delivery transactions, which are up by 383 percent since 2020. billion transactions and $67 billion in sales in 2024.

Fast Casual

Restaurant Business

JUNE 17, 2025

Salad is rising as the next drive-thru concept The fast-casual Greenlane is plotting growth across Florida with investor and NFL star Rob Gronkowski working the drive-thru window. 17, 2025 Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Greenlanes have no dine-in seating. By Lisa Jennings on Jun. Just drive-thru and pickup windows.

Fast Casual

ChowNow

JULY 11, 2025

You can’t control your online reputation if you’re not in the driver’s seat. takeout, delivery, reservations) Everything about your Yelp page should influence customers to choose your restaurant. Unlike other review sites, Yelp’s guidelines prohibit asking for reviews, even in a casual way.

Customer Service

Future Food

MARCH 5, 2025

Fine dining and particularly smart casual dining have shown signs of decline in ASPH. In contrast, impulse, caf, and casual dining are recovering and now reflect positive growth. Between 2021 and 2023/4, ASPH steadily increased across most dining categories, largely driven by rising prices in line with inflationary pressures.

Fast Casual

Web Diner

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

From Empty Seats to Endless Lines: The Email Marketing Secret Weapon Your Business Needs Whether you’re running a cozy caf, a bustling bistro, a trendy food truck, or a high-end restaurant, there’s one universal truth: empty seats mean lost revenue. Ready to Cook Up Some Marketing Magic?

Email Marketing

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 11, 2025

. – Jackie Abril-Carlile, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts Culinary Instructo r and Executive chef and general manager at North Mountain Brewing Everything Has Changed At the onset of COVID, most fast casual restaurants went from primarily dine-in business to mostly takeout and delivery models.

Loyalty Program

Lavu

MAY 30, 2025

Faster Food Delivery: Speed ordering leads to speedy food service. Increased Table Turns: Less wait time to order and faster food delivery moves customers in and out of a restaurant quicker. Quick Service: Fast food and quick service restaurants can invite customers to take a seat while they order and wait for their food.

Ordering

Future Food

MARCH 6, 2025

Fine dining and particularly smart casual dining have shown signs of decline in ASPH. In contrast, impulse, caf, and casual dining are recovering and now reflect positive growth. Between 2021 and 2023/4, ASPH steadily increased across most dining categories, largely driven by rising prices in line with inflationary pressures.

Fast Casual

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 11, 2025

Delivery/Takeout : COVID created a shift from in-person dining to takeout and delivery options, increasing reliance on third party delivery services, and on attractive takeout options. Restaurants had difficulty hiring and retaining staff, which led to more interest in automating processes.

Mobile Ordering

Restaurant Clicks

MAY 6, 2025

The casual dining atmosphere, along with options for takeout and delivery, makes it a convenient choice for both locals and visitors. 27 Heavy Smoke BBQ Source: Instagram Heavy Smoke BBQ in O’Fallon, Missouri, has earned a strong following by blending competition-level barbecue with a casual, welcoming setting.

Seasonal Menu

QSR Automations

JANUARY 31, 2025

Real-time communication of large party seating prevents kitchen overwhelm. Streamlined Communication: Servers and kitchen staff are always in sync with tools like order status updates and seating data. With ConnectSmart Host managing waitlists and providing accurate seating times, diners stay informed and satisfied. The result?

Waste

Restaurant Clicks

MAY 1, 2025

It started as a small local spot and has since grown into a popular chain that many people trust for casual meals and group gatherings. The café’s inviting atmosphere adds to the charm, making it a great choice for both casual outings and special occasions.

Sourcing

Modern Restaurant Management

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

Key figures on the restaurant workforce include: Roughly 50 percent of restaurant operators in the fullservice, quickservice, and fast-casual segments expect recruiting and retaining employees to be their top challenge in 2022. Roughly half of U.S.

2022

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 31, 2021

If possible, restaurants should consider expanding into casual and comfortable outdoor seating arrangements that can feature a more pre-pandemic feel. Other practices can be updated to enhance the feeling of personal service; for instance, table settings can be placed as guests are seated. Fulfilling Other Needs.

Online Ordering

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 22, 2021

While daily specials delivered in family boxes might be quite affordable and frugal, food delivery itself often costs more than the meal for one which can hit monthly discretionary spending quite hard. Online Ordering Will Continue to Thrive. They became even more cost-efficient, food waste conscious and generally more responsible.

Allergens

Modern Restaurant Management

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

” Their answers touched on a variety of subjects including AI, virtual reality, virtual kitchens, staffing and retention, social media marketing, sustainability and third-party delivery. One great thing about the online delivery market is that it produces massive amounts of data. Christopher Baron of RedBaron Consulting.

Mobile Ordering

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 31, 2020

No doubt, while several restaurant chains in the quick service space (QSRs) have seen double-digit, same-store sales growth, COVID-19 has provided an additional untimely blow to the casual dining space that cannot transition as nimbly to a takeout-only model. providing and requiring PPE; taking reservations only for seating).

Retail

Modern Restaurant Management

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Quick service restaurants will continue to outperform casual dining establishments as their drive-through formats enabled them to remain open throughout the pandemic, Fahy said. But casual dining restaurants still did a significant job of rapidly pivoting from 90-100 percent dine-in to curbside pickup, To-Go and delivery. "This

2019

Modern Restaurant Management

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Since the expansion with Toast Capital, we now have additional seating which allows us to accommodate more guests, grow our revenue, and increase server tips.”*. Coolgreens, like many other restaurants, has been impacted by a wave of guests wondering if their meals have been tampered with through third-party delivery.

Delivery

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 13, 2020

Rakuten Ready surveyed more than 100 customers to measure how behaviors around dining have, or are anticipated to change around the perceptions and impact of COVID-19 on restaurants, food delivery and order for pickup. Certain jurisdictions like New York City are requiring seating only 50 percent of capacity.

Front of House

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 16, 2022

Reports show that 81 percent of fine dining establishments, 78 percent of family restaurants, and 77 percent of fast-casual spots added curbside pickup, pivoting away from dine-in services after March 2020. On top of that, nearly half of all restaurants offered delivery services during the pandemic. meal delivery consumer spending.

Online Ordering

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 15, 2020

Paul Wahlberg is Chef/Co-Owner of Wahlburgers, a casual dining restaurant and bar founded by the chef and his brothers Mark and Donnie. Earl : Like many restaurants, we quickly transitioned our entire focus to pickup, curbside, and delivery. The firm has approximately 60 restaurants and food service operations. Kyle Collins.

Food Safety

7 Shifts

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Here are a few examples of restaurants with names that ooze concept: Parm: Casual Italian, known for their Chicken Parm Sandwiches. Umami Burger : Casual burger spot with an empaths on flavor. Conversely, a casual neighborhood sandwich shop may name their sandwiches after local heroes or landmarks. Menu design. Fast Food Chains.

Fast Casual

Lavu

OCTOBER 13, 2023

For example, a casual restaurant usually has a higher turnover rate. This should include all tables available for seating customers. Optimize seating arrangements: Arrange tables in a way that maximizes the use of available space without compromising customer comfort. casual dining vs. fine dining).

Seating

Modern Restaurant Management

AUGUST 17, 2020

Americans preferred to pick-up their food (38 percent US vs. 22 percent UK), while the UK preferred home-delivery (57 percent UK vs. 33 percent US). Restaurants vs. delivery services. Despite the popularity of third-party delivery apps, many consumers prefer to interact directly with the restaurant itself.

2020

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 21, 2020

We quickly pivoted to offer Family Meals To Go and have continued to expand our third-party delivery partnerships in key markets, which has contributed to our continued growth, even during one of the most difficult years on record for so many restaurants. Takeout and delivery has and will continue to keep restaurants alive this year.

2020

Modern Restaurant Management

MAY 5, 2021

The study also uncovers consumers’ QSR competitive positioning, brand preferences, delivery trends, and use of new technology. Casual Dining velocity has grown by 158 percent over the same period, suggesting many of the Casual Dining business models were able to maintain sales to some degree through pandemic restrictions.

2021

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 1, 2020

According to Guest Trends Insights: Guest sentiment for “off-premise” restaurant offerings improved in March as restaurants began shifting their efforts toward improving to-go and delivery operations. Delivery and curbside pick-up consumption channels are the most likely to grow after stay-at-home orders are lifted.

2020

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 1, 2020

Of restaurants that have stayed open, many shifted their focus to takeout and delivery. Yelp’s diners seated data shows significantly more people are dining-in at restaurants. During the peak of the pandemic, the number of diners seated across Yelp Reservations and Waitlist dropped essentially to zero.

2020

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 21, 2022

Explore Higher-Margin Offerings : Related, next year, restaurants can look to new ways to offset pressures on margins by leaning more into higher-margin offerings like catering and delivery direct through owned channels vs. third party delivery. " – Olivier Thierry, Chief Revenue Officer, HungerRush.

2023

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 30, 2021

Founded in 2006, Just Salad is the fast-casual restaurant industry’s leading proponent of zero-waste practices. In 2020, Nathan’s Famous introduced its new brand Wings of New York, which is a delivery only concept offering New York style wings as well as Harlem-style chicken and waffles.

Franchising

7 Shifts

DECEMBER 16, 2020

So we took over five of the parking spaces along our restaurant, which basically provides somewhere between 80 and 100 seats, which is technically more than we had inside prior to COVID. Delivery & takeout Initially, The Snug followed what many restaurants were doing by implementing their own takeout and delivery service.

Back of House

EATER

JUNE 4, 2024

Even a casual corner bistro can easily book up. For hotspots like Septime or Frenchie , you should call or check online weeks ahead; for more casual dining, call a day or even just a few hours in advance. Le Cheval d’Or The crew at Le Cheval d’Or run a casual operation including an early dinner seating at 7 p.m.

Fine Dining

7 Shifts

DECEMBER 17, 2020

trying to put new people in seats, a customer retention strategy seeks to spend time bringing existing customers back. Customer retention is important because it measures how good your restaurant is at making your customers happy and bringing them back in the door (or ordering delivery). Rather than spend all of your time (and money!)

Loyalty Program

7 Shifts

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Delivery and takeout options are endlessly accessible for most. Make all touchpoints of your restaurant feel like the cool, casual, fusion, or fine dining establishment it is. We live in a world where diners are inundated with choices. There are more options for eating out than ever before. So, what sets you apart from the pack?

Seating

EATER

MAY 21, 2020

They will incur new expenses for necessities like protective items and heightened cleaning protocols, while modifying dining rooms to reduce seating will cause independent restaurants to lose up to 50 percent in revenue if they are able to reopen at all.”. But visits to casual restaurants remained lower than normal.

Food Safety