The Digital Restaurant

Send us Fan Mail Restaurants have crossed a line. AI adoption is accelerating. Digital sales are growing. Tech spend is rising. But here’s the problem… very little of it is actually working. In this episode, Carl sits down with Jen Kern (CMO at Qu) to break down the 2026 State of Digital Report and what it really tells us about the industry. This is not a conversation about trends. It’s a conversa...

Send us Fan Mail Carl is joined by Rishi Nigam, CEO of Franklin Junction , to break down the most important stories shaping restaurants and consumer technology as we close out 2025. From GoPuff’s latest funding round to Cloudflare’s massive outage and the rising role of synthetic data, this episode looks at how operators should prepare for a rapidly changing year ahead.  Topics covered: • GoPuff’s...

Send us Fan Mail Special guest host Kim DeCarolis joins Carl for a lively dive into the week’s biggest restaurant and tech stories for the last episode in Season 2. They start with American Express’s growing influence in restaurant loyalty and ask whether Amex has become the new partner of choice. Then they turn to Chipotle , where CEO Scott Boatwright is refocusing the brand around digital order...

Send us Fan Mail Are delivery marketplaces like DoorDash and Uber Eats about to be disrupted by ChatGPT? Carl welcomes Atul Sood , former McDonald’s and Kitchen United executive, to explore how AI and automation are reshaping the food world — from ChatGPT’s new app integrations to robotic hospital kitchens. Together they cover: DoorDash’s new Dot delivery robot and smart scale (2m 15) https://food...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Digital Restaurant , Carl is joined by Jeremy Julian, host of the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast and CRO of CBS NorthStar, for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of restaurant technology. We dive into highlights from FSTEC, explore new benchmarks from InTouch Insight’s QSR report on voice AI & kiosks, and tackle the perennial build vs buy question th...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Carl welcomes special guest host Markus Pineyro of Oomi  Kitchen to dive into five major stories shaping restaurants and technology. Is first-party delivery really the answer? We explore the economics, customer experience, and hidden costs behind running your own fleet. Burger King’s security scare: An ethical hacker exposes vulnerabilities at RBI. What lessons should o...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Digital Restaurant , Carl is joined by Jennifer Kern, CMO of Qu, for a fast-moving conversation about the headlines shaping restaurants, technology, and consumer behavior. We kick off with a surprising stat: half of adults are ordering kids meals . ( 01:00) What does this say about QSR value wars, portion sizes, and how brands like CAVA and Starbucks are reframing...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Digital Restaurant , Carl is joined by Emmy Award–winning storyteller Mike Duffy of Yum Crunch. Together they break down five timely stories shaping restaurants and tech: McDonald’s bets on web ordering through DoorDash—does convenience outweigh control? Yum Brands’ Byte platform fuels $9B in digital sales and rewrites the restaurant tech stack. Social liste...

Send us Fan Mail Carl returns from a July break with Bernadette Heier of Food on Demand to unpack five stories that signal where restaurant tech is heading next. 01:00 – Olo acquired by Thoma Bravo • $2B all-cash deal • A chance to reset outside the public markets • Could this unlock faster innovation? 04:30 – OpenTable’s AI Concierge • Built with OpenAI and Perplexity • Answers 80% of diner quest...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Digital Restaurant , I’m joined by a new co-host — Alex, an AI avatar — as we break down five headlines showing how delivery, automation, and AI are shaping the next wave of restaurant operations: 01:10 – Olive Garden’s off-premise engine is humming Uber Direct integration, buy-one-take-one offers, and nearly 7% same-store sales growth from delivery alone 05:25 –...

Send us Fan Mail What’s Inside This Episode? 00:00 – Live from the National Restaurant Show Carl visits Chicago and joins Rich Faltot at Point B’s new Restaurant Technology Innovation Center. “We're stood in a room with 70 screens — and not one is for show.” 01:00 – Why restaurant tech stacks are broken Legacy systems, data silos, fragmented integrations, and the cost of doing nothing. POS re...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Digital Restaurant , Carl is joined by restaurant real estate expert and 10Rep founder Kyle Inserra . Together they explore the rise of kitchen automation, curbside robotics, and why DoorDash is pausing its Voice AI. Packed with insights from the National Restaurant Show, this episode covers the latest in tech, data, and operations shaping the restaurant world. Ti...

Send us Fan Mail In this week’s episode of The Digital Restaurant , Carl is joined by Alayna Sullivan, Senior Director of Corporate Comms at Olo, fresh from Food on Demand. Together, they cover five big stories shaping the restaurant and off-premise landscape, including DoorDash’s mega acquisitions, Chipotle's new catering pilot with Olo, and the rising footprint of Wonder. Timestamps: 00:01:...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Digital Restaurant , Carl and guest co-host Jason Berkowitz dive into: Qu's move toward smart kitchens with integrated IoT systems (0m 50s) A sharp reflection on the restaurant "disruptors" that weren't — from Zume Pizza to Ghost Kitchens (4m 35) Why Chipotle's negative sales aren't just about the economy — and how training and tech a...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Carl is joined by Deborah Matteliano, the Global Head of Restaurants at AWS, for a wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from tariffs and avocados to AI strategy, Seamless’s surprising comeback, and the limits of restaurant robotics. Drawing from her experience at Uber Eats and now at Amazon, Deborah offers sharp insights on how data, delivery, and design are...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Digital Restaurant , Carl is joined by Yaro Tsyhanenko, founder of PickPad , to break down the headlines shaping restaurants and tech: ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Intro: Meet guest host Yaro, CEO of PickPad 01:00 – Why did Yum Brands partner with Nvidia? 05:37 – What does Qu’s State of Digital 2025 Report reveal? 13:06 – Why did Starbucks acquire Empower Delivery? 18:47...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Digital Restaurant! Carl is joined by Bernadette Heier, Managing Editor from Food on Demand , marking the first time a professional broadcaster joins the show. [00:01:07] Planes, (Trains?) & Automobiles – A New Kind of Off-Premise? Shake Shack is expanding its partnership with Delta Airlines , bringing its brand to first-class passengers. As restaurants seek new...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to this week’s episode of The Digital Restaurant Podcast ! Carl is joined by special guest Olga Lopategui, a leading expert in restaurant loyalty and digital engagement, to break down the latest innovations shaping the restaurant industry. ⏱ [01:07] – Just Salad Gets $200M Investment What makes Just Salad’s tech stack unique? How will this funding impact digital transforma...

Send us Fan Mail Carl welcomes guest host Cijoy Olickal , a restaurant tech expert, to break down key industry trends. 🔹 2025 Restaurant Industry Outlook – $1.5T in sales , shifting consumer habits, tech’s impact on profitability, and labor challenges. Articles One , Two , and Three 🔹 Yum! Brands' Tech Strategy – Is building a proprietary tech stack the right move for a global franchise? Ar...

Send us Fan Mail 🚀 The Digital Restaurant Podcast - 100th Episode Special! 🎉 Welcome to a milestone episode of The Digital Restaurant ! This is our 100th episode , and while it's a moment of celebration, it also comes with a bittersweet note—Meredith is off to Seattle to take on an exciting EVP role at Starbucks. We’ll miss her insights, but the show must go on! In this episode, Carl Orsbou...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode of The Digital Restaurant, we dive into bold predictions for the year ahead, including the rise of Indian cuisine in delivery, the growing role of automated restaurant technology, and speculation on potential acquisitions and IPOs in the year ahead. We also reflect on last year’s forecasts to see how they held up.  Support the show 🔔 Subscribe to The Digit...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of The Digital Restaurant features Tony Illes, founder of Tony Delivers, a new food delivery service disrupting the Seattle market. The conversation delves into the impact of Seattle’s “Pay Up” legislation, which has reshaped the food delivery landscape, reducing delivery volumes for platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats. Tony shares his journey from a side hustle as...

Send us Fan Mail In this festive episode, Carl and Meredith explore five transformative trends in the restaurant industry as we wrap up 2024. They kick things off by discussing how personalization is finally becoming a reality for big brands like McDonald’s and Yum! Brands, leveraging data to craft tailored offers for customers. The conversation then moves to the latest Toast Trend Report, reveali...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Digital Restaurant, Carl and Meredith dive into the hottest topics shaping the future of the restaurant industry. From Touch Bistro’s bold 2025 State of Restaurants Report to the resurgence of ghost kitchens, the conversation explores how technology and innovation are redefining dining trends. The duo breaks down why AI adoption is critical for restaurants o...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Digital Restaurant Podcast, we dive into several key industry trends and developments. We discuss Wonder's surprising acquisition of Grubhub at a steep 91% discount, exploring how this deal could bolster Wonder's vision of a "super app" for mealtime. The conversation shifts to the growing impact of Ozempic on the restaurant industry, with...