latest posts

Done Deal: Uber Acquires Postmates

By Tom Kaiser | December 1, 2020

As giant DoorDash finalizes its plans to go public, Uber announced it has officially completed its acquisition of Postmates, perennially the fourth-largest U.S.-based third-party delivery provider.

Read More

Experienced ‘Zees Launch Off-Premises Domination Consultancy

By Tom Kaiser | November 24, 2020

Two experienced restaurant coaches that are restaurant operators themselves have joined forces to launch Off-Premises Domination, a consultancy focused on helping smaller-scale operators maximize their opportunities in the realms of takeout, delivery, drive-thru and catering, among others.

Read More

Peak Virtual Restaurants? Not Even Close

By Nicholas Upton | November 23, 2020

With the explosion of virtual operations in response to the pandemic, it bears asking: what is peak virtual restaurant? According to panelists in a session of the Restaurant Finance Monitor’s Restaurant Finance Week, we aren’t even close. The panel, titled The Economics of Virtual Restaurants, explored the space from a lot of different angles. As for the big question about economics, that depends. According to Kristen Adamowski, strategic initiatives lead, virtual restaurants at Uber Eats, there is a lot of variation between brands, markets and operators. She looks to one […]

Read More

Your Fare Expands Capabilities with Two Acquisitions

By Nicholas Upton | November 23, 2020

Your Fare continues a busy year with two transformational acquisitions. The Austin-based order integration and logistics company acquired Pronto, an online ordering solution for restaurants. The acquisition comes on the tails of Your Fare purchasing Beyond4, a SMS and loyalty app. Both deals were announced last week. Your Fare founder and CEO Chris Monk said both help build out its one-stop suite of offerings under the Your Fare umbrella, one that is especially suited for smaller chains and independent operators struggling to develop their technology to manage through COVID-19. “Both […]

Read More

Olo Adds Curbside Notifications, Virtual Restaurant Support

By Tom Kaiser | November 22, 2020

Olo, the New York-based delivery integration and ecommerce platform, announced a range of upgrades to help restaurant clients improve operations and guest safety as digital ordering and delivery volumes continue to grow.

Read More

Chipotle’s First Digital Kitchen One of Many to Come

By Nicholas Upton | November 19, 2020

When Chipotle’s first digital-only restaurant opened last week in Highland Falls, New York, it became the first of what will certainly be many. In a lot of ways, the restaurant is the culmination of a huge amount of work to reformat the restaurant with a focus on convenience. “A lot of thought went into designing this restaurant—a tremendous amount of thought from branding and marketing, the tech and IT team. So, we feel pretty good about this test,” said Chipotle’s Chief Development Officer Tabassum Zalotrawala. She said given the incredible […]

Read More

EatStreet Shoots for Midwest Delivery Dominance

By Tom Kaiser | November 19, 2020

Started in a dorm room 10 years ago, Madison, Wisconsin-based EatStreet has raked in $50 million in investment funds, which helped the company expand to four states and 25 delivery markets across the Midwest. With W-2 drivers, rather than independent contractors, EatStreet is finding success in the shadows of the delivery industry’s giants.

Read More

Chowly Nabs Grubhub Integration

By Tom Kaiser | November 18, 2020

Two Chicago delivery-focused brands are finally formally integrated now that Chowly has entered into a partnership with Grubhub to bring its menu management and order fulfillment solution to restaurants on the Grubhub marketplace.

Read More

Grubhub, Restaurant Strong Fund Roll Out Winter Relief

By Tom Kaiser | November 13, 2020

With this pandemic clearly dragging into the new year, Grubhub and The Greg Hill Foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund announced the Restaurant Winterization Grant program, a new initiative to provide $10,000 grants to eligible independent restaurants.

Read More

DoorDash Finally Files to Go Public

By Tom Kaiser | November 13, 2020

Seven years after its founding, DoorDash filed its Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today signaling its imminent intent to become a publicly traded company. This is a significant milestone for the San Francisco-based company and the delivery industry as a whole, finally providing a look inside the economics of the largest U.S. delivery provider by market share.

Read More