Olive Garden has long held a zealous conviction that if you want breadsticks, you come in for breadsticks. But today it reversed course. Olive Garden’s owner Darden Restaurants announced that it has made an exclusive two-year deal with Uber to pilot a program in...
Chipotle may have lost its CEO to Starbucks but it has something the coffee giant doesn’t: an avocado-processing robot. It announced this week that its Autocado robot, which can cut, core, and peel avocados before they are hand-mashed into guacamole, is being...
Last week, Dlivrd, a catering-delivery company specializing in last-mile orders, launched its first driver app. But CEO Chris Heffernan isn’t doing cartwheels about the novelty of it. “I mean it’s cool and all,” he said in an interview. But where he is up on his hands...
Let’s start with an assumption. Mobile ordering is not hard. It’s just pointing and touching. It’s not like assembling an Ikea bookshelf. But does it leave you with a smile on your face? No. Why would it? Artisan Studios CEO Tim Mitrovich thinks it...
I became aware of virtual cashiers in 2022 when I strolled into a Freshii store in downtown Minneapolis. I heard a voice greeting me. I couldn’t tell from where. I saw actual human beings behind a counter preparing meals. But they had their heads down. Then I heard it...
Food On Demand Outstanding Operators features restaurant brands with innovative operations that are taking creative paths to success with delivery and all things off-premises.