Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 31, 2024

Fast Food Flavor Report Fast food brands and restaurants are scratching their heads trying to figure out what flavors are a bonafide trend and which are just a fleeting fad. A New York polished casual hot spot’s drink “Always Greener” paired gin, Suze, and sorrel (an herbaceous plant) for a bright botanical kick.

Beverage 450

Beverage 2025 Fine Dining Guest Recovery 450

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 18, 2025

Let’s look at the reasons that full service/fast casual restaurants may have music issues. Music Considerations An acoustic designer can analyze your space, determine the best placement for speakers and recommend the proper equipment. Either way, it’s a win. Before anyone realizes it, the day is over.

Loyalty Program 251

Loyalty Program License Customer Experience Restaurant Law 251

Modern Restaurant Management

MAY 9, 2025

And for more casual outdoor setups – think outdoor bars, beer gardens, or counter-service patios – QR code ordering is a no-brainer. They still want fast, friendly, accurate service and they expect tech to support that, not get in the way. Fewer mistakes, faster ticket times, and higher check averages.

Outdoor 251

Outdoor Mobile Ordering Loyalty Program Fast Casual 251

Modern Restaurant Management

MAY 16, 2025

In today’s fast-paced dining world, guest satisfaction goes beyond just great food—it’s about delivering a seamless experience. Communication as a Foundation for Service Efficiency Fast and effective service is rarely accidental.

Front of House 324

Front of House Communication Back of House Fast Casual 324

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 30, 2024

QSR and fast-casual franchises continue to drive the expansion of the franchising sector. To stay competitive and successful in this fast-paced industry, empowering franchisees to adapt to evolving demands for convenience, affordability, and operational efficiency is crucial.

Loyalty Program 251

Loyalty Program Franchising Franchise Guest Recovery 251

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 27, 2025

Benefit expectations vary by restaurant type: For example, respondents from casual dining restaurants hope to achieve a significantly greater benefit in enhancing customer experience (60 percent) compared to those in the quick service, fast casual and café segments (48 percent). Regionally, differences arose.

Loyalty Program 371

Loyalty Program Customer Experience 2025 Customer Service 371

7 Shifts

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

Back-of-house (BOH) staff, including chefs and kitchen assistants, will focus more on food safety, food handling, and kitchen equipment use. Let’s say you run a fast-casual restaurant. Equip them with the skills they need to deliver excellent service, and they’ll keep your customers coming back.

Training 195

Training Kitchen Safety Food Safety Customer Service 195

Modern Restaurant Management

MAY 30, 2025

Fast Food and QSR Value The United States Fast Food & Quick Service Restaurant Market size was valued at US$ 248.8 billion by 2033, according to The "United States Fast Food and Quick Services Restaurants Market Size and Share Analysis – Growth Trends and Forecast Report 2025-2033" from ResearchAndMarkets.com.

Fast Casual 251

Fast Casual Food Point of Sale Mobile Ordering 251

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 9, 2025

Joe Gale has more than 30 years of sales, operations and account management experience, including 20 years with Coca-Cola North America Foodservice where he worked closely with numerous QSR and fast casual brands.

Franchising 221

Franchising Franchise Loyalty Program Training 221

Modern Restaurant Management

OCTOBER 10, 2024

Consider a large Mexican fast-casual chain that implemented a tuition coverage program for employees pursuing degrees in fields like agriculture, culinary arts, and hospitality. They want education that fits into their busy lives and equips them with transferable skills that they can apply in their roles.

Education 221

Education Loyalty Program Leadership Customer Service 221

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 18, 2024

So much data is generated at every point within a restaurant, whether fast casual or fine dining. Infusing AI into the content and analytics mix has also sparked conversations with restaurant leaders on how to scale operations and determine how fast content can be produced and updated. Data, Data, Data.

2025 419

2025 Loyalty Program Social Media Fast Casual 419

Modern Restaurant Management

JANUARY 31, 2025

Fast-casual visits overall were down 3.8 Strong consumer interest in prepared foods, commissary and beverage options has led convenience stores, often referred to as c-stores, to compete much more aggressively with quick service restaurants and fast-food chains. More and more people are searching for fast, ready-to-eat meals.

Marketing 221

Marketing Loyalty Program 2024 2025 221

SpotOn

NOVEMBER 29, 2024

"Gastropub" has become a popular restaurant industry term, alongside "fast casual" and "small plates." " The term gastropub combines "gastronomy" and "pub," promising high quality food and drinks and a down-to-earth, casual vibe. The scotch egg is a classic gastro pub menu item.

Fast Casual 52

Fast Casual Seasonal Menu Fine Dining Food Order 52

Lavu

JUNE 20, 2025

The restaurant industry is evolving fast—and at the heart of this transformation is new restaurant technology. With handheld probes and fixed sensors, restaurants can manually or automatically regulate their food and equipment in a few seconds. It’s easy, fast, and efficient.

Technology 78

Technology 2025 Online Ordering Fast Casual 78

SpotOn

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

If you're a fast-casual place and only offer a couple of alcoholic beverages, then "alcohol" should be enough. Fixing kitchen equipment, HVAC systems, plumbing, refrigeration units, and general facility upkeep. This helps reduce future equipment purchases. Equipment leases. Repairs & maintenance.

Point of Sale 90

Point of Sale License Insurance POS 90

SpotOn

DECEMBER 27, 2024

Or perhaps you run a casual dining restaurant , and you want guests filling tables beyond peak hours. These are popular with chain restaurants and fast casual restaurants. Different programs will help you achieve different goals. Do you have an existing customer pool, but you're trying to gain more frequent customers?

Loyalty Program 52

Loyalty Program Point of Sale Online Ordering Front of House 52

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 31, 2024

In RMS’ Q4 consumer survey , respondents reported dining out less across all categories – with fast casual and full service being hit the hardest. Monthly QSR Traffic by Sales Channel Delivery moved to the top-performing fast-food sales channel in November, with traffic up +25.0 Lunch traffic is down -0.1

Franchising 221

Franchising Franchise 2024 Mobile Ordering 221

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 471

Loyalty Program Mobile Ordering Customer Experience Online Ordering 471

Lavu

JULY 18, 2025

Whether you’re launching a fast-casual spot or a fine dining concept, a solid restaurant business plan is your foundation for success. Equipping your restaurant with a modern POS system like Lavu can streamline inventory, staffing, and operations from day one.

2025 78

2025 POS Small Business White Paper 78

SpotOn

DECEMBER 30, 2024

Quick-service restaurants—like cafes, fast food, and fast casual—are estimated to have decent profit margins with lower food and labor costs. There's a basic version for fast calculations and and advanced one if you really want to get into the weeds. More on that below. Overhead costs.

Operations 52

Operations Loyalty Program Online Ordering Fast Casual 52

Lavu

JUNE 13, 2025

In today’s fast-paced world, consumers appreciate the ease of using credit/debit cards, mobile wallets, or other digital payment options. Fast-casual restaurant Sweetgreen, part of the sustainable food movement, will go cashless in all 64 locations nationwide (excluding Massachusetts, where it’s illegal not to accept cash).

2025 78

2025 Cash Management Mobile Ordering Point of Sale 78

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 1, 2025

” Qu’s 2025 State of Digital Report identified six trends driving fast casual and QSR profitability this year: Shift from third- to first-party ordering : Forty percent of brands say first-party digital sales represent their biggest revenue growth potential in 2025, followed by catering (24 percent) and on-premises ordering (14 percent).

Pricing 251

Pricing Technology 2025 Point of Sale 251

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 29, 2025

Within QSRs, fast-casual restaurants led the way, growing transactions by 2 percent in March. State of the Plate Olive Garden is the most popular casual dining restaurant with Americans in 2025, with 19 percent having dined at the Italian-themed restaurant in the past 90 days, according to a new report from YouGov.

Reservations 488

Reservations 2025 Marketing Loyalty Program 488

Modern Restaurant Management

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Out of 25 brands, 17 are QSR or casual dining restaurants, marking a significant shift in why people are primarily visiting malls – to eat. Fast food dominates takeout, with 60 percent of Americans choosing it as their preferred option for ordering meals at home. Insight Key Statistic Americans Spending on Dining Out 55.7

Point of Sale 221

Point of Sale 2024 Mobile Ordering Consumer Goods 221

Paper Chase Accountancy

MAY 22, 2025

Paperchase reviewed previous economic slowdowns in addition to this most recent stock market downturn to identify the historic and recent effects of the trading economy on revenues across segments including Fast Casual, Contemporary Casual, and Fine Dining. In contrast, the Fast Casual segment experienced growth of around 4.4%

Hospitality 52

Hospitality Fast Casual Marketing Fine Dining 52

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

Food trucks, pop-up supper clubs, fast-casual restaurants, and brewpubs are all a part of the unique culinary fabric of this country. Learn About Fast-Casual Dining. Fast-casual dining is dominating the restaurant industry, and its growth is expected to continue at a rapid pace in a post-pandemic economy.

Fast Casual 405

Fast Casual Casual Menu Mobile Ordering 405

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Whether fine-dining or fast casual, great service now revolves around the customer experience you bring to every interaction. Brands that were positioned with the right technology, such as pizza delivery and other fast and casual outlets have thrived during the pandemic.

Customer Experience 598

Customer Experience Customer Service Fast Casual Mobile Ordering 598

Modern Restaurant Management

JANUARY 30, 2023

This migration could be a goldmine for casual/fast food brands if only they had the people to support them. All this happens when restaurant teams connect their building and kitchen equipment (HVAC, ovens, dishwashers, fryers, refrigerators, freezers, etc.) and control and monitor them in real-time from the cloud.

Technology 474

Technology Fast Casual Waste 2023 474

Modern Restaurant Management

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

For fast-casual or QSR brands, digital tableside ordering is equally beneficial. One example of a restaurant chain leveraging similar tableside technology is the growing chef-driven Mexican fast-casual concept, Tocaya. It relieves cashiers and reduces long lines. Digital Ordering to Eliminate Friction Points for Cashiers.

Technology 564

Technology Loyalty Program Fast Casual Email Marketing 564

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

The modern restaurant industry has always moved fast, but the pace continues to accelerate. At the same time, QSRs and fast casual establishments are turning to technology to improve operations and customer interactions as they continue to increase output. Take fast casual and drive-thru for example.

2025 450

2025 Fast Casual Food Customer Experience 450

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

percent) than they do in casual restaurants (16.5 Tipping on fast casual is going strong : In spite of the “tipflation” backlash, diners haven’t stopped tipping in fast casual restaurants, though the median tip size is still hovering under 9 percent—well below the 17.32 percent to 8.07

Fast Casual 493

Fast Casual Fine Dining Employee Relations Customer Service 493

Modern Restaurant Management

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

This might mean weaving elements of fast-casual dining into your design. Equipment Upgrades. The Windstream study found that lacking resources for technology equipment upgrades is the top challenge restaurants are facing in dealing with digital demands. Renovation is becoming a common theme in the restaurant industry.

Fast Casual 395

Fast Casual Equipment Small Business Mobile Ordering 395

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 23, 2022

Consumers visit a fast food or quick serve restaurant (QSR) with a goal in mind: secure a tasty meal incredibly quickly. Once upon a time, a frontline employee at a fast food restaurant did not necessarily need technological skills to apply for the job. Fast forward to 2022. Who makes the magic happen?

Food 474

Food Food Safety Front of House Fast Casual 474

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 5, 2020

For example, near-field communication payments, digital wallets or a tap-to go friendly terminal will be more beneficial for fast casual restaurants whereas a payment app will be better suited for dine-in guests. This is a small step, but one that many fast food and fast casual restaurants are already embracing.

Fast Casual 521

Fast Casual Online Ordering Cash Management Mobile Ordering 521

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 15, 2021

“Pretty much every restaurant from fine dining to fast-casual to QSR has figured out a digital strategy, a delivery strategy, and has had to get really creative to make it to this point,” Canter said. The shift was expected to happen over the next ten years, but COVID-19 accelerated that shift in just a few short months.

Front of House 493

Front of House Fast Casual Mobile Ordering Fine Dining 493

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 10, 2020

More than ever, brands, especially QSR and Fast Casual restaurants brands, are taking advantage of the vast and varied platforms available for consumer engagement; most notably social media. Instead, equipped with intelligence, restaurants can successfully send offers and messages at the right time, to the right audience.

Customer Experience 433

Customer Experience Mobile Ordering Social Media Online Ordering 433

Modern Restaurant Management

MAY 5, 2021

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. In fact, 30 percent of recent casual dining visitors think there is an opportunity to improve the quality of the beverage offer.

2021 490

2021 Coupons Loyalty Program Consumer Goods 490