Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants

The QR code menu won the adoption war and lost the popularity contest. Roughly 75% of restaurants use them. In a blind survey of 850 diners, exactly 1% called them their favorite way to view a menu. This week, Paul puts the sticker on trial. First, an honest steel-man for the code: $5K a year in printing savings, 30-second menu updates, first-party data at the moment of decision, and a 15% lift in...

The National Restaurant Association just asked Congress for a two-year delay on a federal ban that could wipe out a $1.6B opportunity for restaurants. Paul Molinari breaks down the THC beverage story hiding in plain sight: a November 12, 2026 deadline, thin margins pushing operators toward low-dose THC drinks as alcohol alternatives, and a tech and insurance gap nobody's built for yet. The clock,...

McDonald's just rewrote their playbook. Here's what it really means for the restaurant tech industry. McDonald's unveiled McDonald's > NEXT — a sweeping new strategy covering menu upgrades, influencer marketing, restaurant redesigns, and a brand new AI operating system called ArchIQ. CEO Chris Kempczinski's message was blunt: "In a world where every restaurant is a swipe away, there is no such...

Restaurant operators are sitting on more data than ever — and more confused about what to do with it than ever. In this episode of Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants, Paul Molinari sits down with Eric Lehto, CEO of OpSage by CONVX , to cut through the noise around AI in restaurants and get honest about what it actually takes to make it work. Eric has spent years inside the data strategy conve...

Restaurant labor is an unparalleled growth engine for skill development and leadership. Whether you've worked a shift in a dining room or managed a busy kitchen, these transferable skills are invaluable in any industry. This episode challenges the misconceptions about restaurant jobs and highlights their role in fostering unmatched personal and professional growth. From teamwork to technology flue...

In this episode of Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants, Paul Molinari of Popcorn GTM talks with Coca-Cola’s Angela Diffly and Freestyle’s Anthony Bonitatibus about Coca-Cola Freestyle as a connected restaurant technology platform, not just a touchscreen beverage dispenser. They explain how Freestyle functions as an insights engine that turns every pour into data operators can use, and how it c...

It's another Thirsty Thursday! Paul and Matt interview Sterling Douglass, co-founder and CEO of Chowly , about building the company over a decade from POS integrations into an off-premise platform serving 17,000+ restaurants and the shift from “tablet hell” to today’s dashboard overload. Sterling argues restaurants are embracing the AI wave and that open data access and APIs will beat walled garde...

Paul Molinari breaks down why April 15 Tax Day restaurant promotions (free items, BOGOs, and 10.40-themed discounts from brands like Burger King, Krispy Kreme, Shake Shack, Potbelly, BJ’s Brewhouse, Hooters, and Grubhub) are really loyalty and data-capture strategies built on sophisticated tech stacks. He explains the behind-the-scenes requirements—CRM, segmentation, promo validation, POS integrat...

Is drone delivery the future of restaurants—or just expensive hype? From DoorDash to Amazon Prime Air, drones are already dropping off pizzas and burritos in suburban America. But the numbers tell a wild story: ground delivery costs ~$8 per package, while Amazon projects drone delivery at $63 per drop. That's a 90% cost reduction needed before this takes off for most restaurant operators. In this...

In this episode of Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants, host Paul Molinari delivers something more personal — a 40-year journey through restaurant technology through the lens of a Gen X operator. From washing dishes at a Long Island Italian restaurant in 1985 to navigating AI-driven tech stacks today, Molinari traces how his generation lived through every major disruption the industry has seen...

In this Thirsty Thursday episode, we welcome Scott Siegel of Curbit to discuss digital order orchestration and kitchen capacity management to reduce late pickups, cold food, and crowded pickup areas. Scott explains Curbit’s origins as a curbside pickup solution and how the pandemic-driven surge in digital ordering revealed a need to coordinate guest arrival with real-time kitchen production. 

In early March, McDonald’s CEO posted a LinkedIn video taking a careful bite of the new Big Arch burger, sparking widespread mockery and triggering response videos from Burger King and Wendy’s in what became the “great fast food CEO war of 2026.” Paul Molinari, founder of Popcorn GTM breaks down how the moment became a data and tech story: McDonald’s saw 47,000+ mentions and 5.8B reach, yet Burger...

Breaking down Olo’s new customer-facing ordering app and asking who really benefits—guests, restaurant brands, or Olo. It frames the app as a “remote control” for ordering across many Olo-powered restaurants, potentially reducing app clutter, avoiding marketplace-style price inflation, and enabling “second-party ordering” where brands retain guest relationships while benefiting from network reach...

Paul and Matt are joined by Kerry Leo, Vice President of Technology at Shipley Donuts, to discuss Shipley’s modernization journey since he joined in 2021. Leo explains how Shipley moved from fragmented franchise technology to a cloud-based, franchise-ready ecosystem by standardizing POS and networking across 340 locations, standing up Oracle NetSuite for ERP and back office, and launching online o...

It's another Thirsty Thursday episode! This time Paul and Matt welcome Laurens Pitts, VP of Technology at Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill, a Charlotte, North Carolina–based fast-casual Tex-Mex chain founded in 2000 with 80+ locations. Drawing on Laurens' experience on both the vendor and operator sides, they discuss how vendor–operator relationships have become less healthy over the past 5–15 year...

Guest Joanna Fantozzi, Senior Editor at Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, joins Paul and Matt to discuss where restaurant loyalty is headed. Fantozzi argues “is loyalty dead?” is the wrong question and explains that loyalty programs mainly attract already-loyal guests, that consumers have limited appetite for downloading multiple apps, and that loyalty is evolving beyond points....

Hosts Paul and Matt chat with Abby Lorden, the publisher of Hospitality Technology, about her industry insights and the upcoming MURTEC 2026 conference. Abby shares her expertise on technology trends in the hospitality sector, particularly the increasing influence of AI and data maturity among brands. The discussion covers diverse topics such as the unique features of MURTEC, including Startup All...

In this episode of ' Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants, ' host Paul Molinari from Popcorn GTM explores the implications of the flipped food pyramid. Highlighting the USDA's updated nutritional guidelines, Paul discusses how protein has become foundational in modern diets and how guests are more nutrition-aware than ever. He examines how restaurant brands like Fogo de Chão, Chipotle, Sweet Gr...

In this episode of 'Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants', host Paul Molinari of Popcorn, GTM, addresses the pressing challenges restaurant owners face due to immigration enforcement and labor issues. Through real-world examples from Minnesota, Maine, and Texas, Paul explores how these factors disrupt operations, impact staffing, and alter customer behavior. To help restaurant operators succeed...

In this episode of 'Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants', hosted by Paul Molinari from Popcorn GTM, we dive into the significant impact GLP-1 medications are having on consumer dining habits. Originally developed for diabetes, these drugs are now revolutionizing weight loss and, consequently, how people engage with restaurants. We discuss how these medications are driving a shift toward smalle...

Join me, Paul Molinari from Popcorn GTM, as I dive into the tech-fueled rise of Popup Bagels and why they're revolutionizing breakfast culture. From scaling with data to mastering customer engagement, learn how a simple bagel is leading a business revolution! Listen now to find out how Popup Bagels is making waves across the country. 

In this episode of Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants, host Paul Molinari from Popcorn GTM discusses revolutionary advancements in restaurant data management with Manan Mehta, Co-Founder and CEO of Livelytics. They dive into how Livelytics' AI-powered dashboards transforms restaurant data into real-time intelligence, enabling operators to take actionable insights rather than just analyzing st...

In this episode of Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants, Paul Molinari engages in an enlightening conversation with Audre Bogoni, a restaurant systems strategist and former operator, about optimizing restaurant tech stacks. They discuss into the complexities of platform consolidation, the role of AI in unifying systems, and the importance of operational alignment. Audre shares insights from his...

Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants, host Paul Molinari from Popcorn talks with Skip Kimpel, CEO of Magicgate. The discussion dives into the transformative potential of extended reality (XR) technologies in the hospitality industry, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). Skip explains how XR can revolutionize training, guest experiences, and restaurant...

Join MSMR as we dive into predictive operations in the restaurant industry with ClearCOGS CEO, Matt Wampler. In this episode, Matt discusses how AI and data forecasting is used to help restaurant operators improve prep, labor management, and reduce food waste. Learn about the practical applications of AI in everyday restaurant operations, the development of predictive tools, and the significant im...