API Provider MealMe Validates B2B Play With $8 Million Round
In 2019, Matthew Bouchner and Will Said, two college friends from the Atlanta area, burst through the doors with MealMe, a food-delivery price comparison aggregator. But aggregators quickly became ubiquitous. So MealMe pivoted. More than once. It started by adding a...
Could Voice AI Be Your Most Effective Drive-Thru Cashier?
Andrew Charles, a senior restaurant analyst at TD Cowen, has seen the future of drive-thru. Rather, he’s heard it. “Voice AI is showing a check lift where it is being used today,” he told the audience at the Restaurant Finance & Development Conference. “The reason...
Wonder Acquires Grubhub for $650 Million
Wonder, the food hall and delivery startup founded by Marc Lore acquired Grubhub for $650 million. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, includes $500 million in senior notes and $150 million in cash. Wonder also announced an additional $250...
Texas Roadhouse Looks To Chick-fil-A For Reconciliation Insights
Kelsey Davis, a corporate systems analyst with Texas Roadhouse, believes in constant learning. And when it comes to her brand’s emerging third-party delivery business, and resulting reconciliation needs, she wanted to learn from Chick-fil-A, she told the audience at...
Fast-Casual Brands Should Be Ready to Adapt, Say Qdoba, Portillo’s Executives
This article originally appeared in Franchise Times, a sibling publication to Food On Demand. Rash decisions are often ill-advised, but restaurant brands should be ready to make quick adjustments as trends change. It’s something fast-casual brands Portillo’s and Qdoba...
Serve Robotics Acquires Autocado-Maker Vebu
Serve Robotics is getting in the avocado game, and more importantly, the Chipotle game. The autonomous delivery company has announced that it is acquiring Vebu, the maker of the Autocado, a machine that processes avocados for guacamole. Autocado is known for its...
Applebee’s and IHOP Open First Duel-Branded Location in U.S.
Applebee’s and IHOP are teaming up to open their first-ever dual-branded restaurant in the U.S., combining the two concepts under one roof. It’s set to open in Seguin, Texas, a suburb of San Antonio, in the first quarter of 2025. Dine Brands (the parent company) is...
Chef Robotics Prepares To Wheel Into Ghost Kitchens
The usual trajectory for a company is to start small before going big. Chef Robotics is doing the opposite. Starting in 2022, it placed its AI-powered robots in high-volume, high-mix environments: large industrial kitchens that handle hundreds of SKUs in producing...
Meet the Robots Serving Students at the University of Minnesota
At Food On Demand, we’ve been covering the rise of autonomous delivery robots for quite some time. So, when we heard that these robots had officially launched in Minneapolis—right in our backyard—we were eager to check them out. The University of Minnesota (U of M)...
Outstanding Operators
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.