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Restaurant tech and foodservice equipment. Each story is summarized in our own words and links to the original reporting.
The Boise startup runs vans on fixed routes to about 25 businesses each, using its own ordering, driver and admin apps plus machine learning to pick the best stop times. Drink customizations live in the software so baristas don't memorize recipes. It is now testing a delivery fee and eyeing franchising.
DoorDash will pay $65 a share, mostly in cash, for Instacart, with closing expected between late 2027 and mid-2028. Instacart keeps its brand and app until then. For restaurants, the combined company would control a much bigger courier network, which could shape delivery fees and terms down the road.
Regulators allege the restaurant POS maker added unrequested services, hid early-termination fees on its pay-as-you-go plan and charged diners a 99-cent online-order fee that went to Toast. Toast disputes the case and says it will fight it in court; the claims are unproven. Operators on Toast may want to re-read their contract terms now.
With same-store sales down 5.4% last quarter, Wingstop is using AI-driven personalized offers, its new loyalty program and a field-team tool that flags struggling stores. It says food-quality complaints are down almost 30% this year after rolling out its Smart Kitchen system. A test of whether restaurant AI moves sales, not just operations.
A cook-to-demand system tells crews how much to make and when, and it's heading nationwide early next year. Chipotle is also rolling out its own digital makeline screens and testing automatic rewards for Apple Pay users. Its AI recruiter cut the time from application to first shift from 12 days to 4.
The 35-unit chain moved to Qu's system, which ties together POS, self-order kiosks, kitchen screens and online orders. Early results at its kiosk-first locations show much larger checks than its older stores. About 40% of its orders are already digital, mostly through its own website.