Technology moves restaurants made in 2020

Saladworks debuted its first ghost kitchen inside Kitchen United

Nancy Luna

Also, Uber Eats exited India and McDonald’s launched a new career app for employees.

McDonald’s, Dunkin’, Panda Express and Inspire Brands made big delivery and off-premise moves

Anne Marie Panoringan

McDonald’s and Dunkin’ added new delivery options; meanwhile, Chowbotics’ Sally the robot planned to expand her vending-machine menu.

Restaurant technology companies provided relief at the beginning of the pandemic

Yelp

Suppliers that focus on food safety, online ordering and loyalty programs stepped up to help restaurants.

Instagram and ChowNow launched free online ordering for restaurants

The “order food” button was developed by Instagram to help drive digital orders for restaurants; plus, Yelp faced troubles and Uber Eats lunched a phone ordering system.

OpenTable and Resy offered reservation fee relief for restaurants reopening with limited seating

Resy

Plus, Yelp added a curbside pickup filter and Chili’s adapted Yelp’s Waitlist tool to help manage mobile and pickup orders.

Restaurants turned to UV light and ‘cold fog’ devices to battle coronavirus

A few experts weighed in on using these solutions during the pandemic.

Wendy’s and Five Guys were the first to adopt Coca-Cola Freestyle contactless pouring

Coca-Cola

Foodservice turned to QR codes during the pandemic for digital menus and contactless payment; Coke and iPourIt provided new solutions for self-pouring soda and beer systems.

Restaurants took QR codes to the next level with tableside digital ordering

Thanx/Tocaya

Tocaya Organica and Pincho rolled out tableside digital ordering from Thanx, allowing diners to view menus and order food through their phones. The system also logs reward points through a restaurant’s loyalty program.

Uber Eats launched first ever advertising listing for restaurants

Moshi Moshi

A Miami-based full-service Japanese restaurant said the brand’s delivery orders on Uber Eats tripled after a trial test of the listing.

Uber Eats and OpenTable expanded digital tools and relief for restaurants

Uber Eats

OpenTable waived fees through March 2021; Uber Eats added contactless ordering and payment for dine-in customers.

Rick Bayless turned to ghost kitchens; Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Little Caesars made delivery moves

Plus, there was big supplier news from Ziosk.

Papa John’s tested AI-powered voice assistants for phone orders

Mendocino Farms

And Red Lobster and Mendocino Farms became the newest tenants of Travis Kalanick’s Cloud Kitchens.

Aloha Poke’s CEO Chris Birkinshaw explained why he chose Reef Kitchens over other ghost-kitchen operators

Aloha Poke

“I really see it as more of a real estate play in that they [Reef] are operators,” he said.