Restaurants news and trends

Uber Eats Enters Catering Space With $2.3 Billion ezCater Deal

October 06, 2026
Toast Deploys AI Labor Management Tools for Restaurateurs
ResTech // October 06, 2026

Toast has added a new labor management solution to its global technology platform for restaurant and retail operators, the company said in a Tuesday (Oct. 6) press release. The new Toast IQ Team includes a sales forecasting tool that helps operators plan staffing around anticipated demand, a Scheduling Agent that builds...

DoorDash Opens Beta Waitlist for AI Text Ordering
Delivery // October 01, 2026

DoorDash customers can now order dinner by sending a text. The company’s new artificial intelligence (AI) agent works inside Apple’s Messages, builds the cart and handles checkout without the DoorDash app ever opening. DoorDash unveiled the text-to-order agent on Wednesday (Sept. 30) and opened a...

Toast Courts Convenience Stores With Fuel Platform
Retail // September 29, 2026

Restaurant and retail digital technology platform Toast debuted Toast Fuel, new capabilities for gas stations and convenience stores, according to a Tuesday (Sept. 29) press release. Toast Fuel gives operators a single and connected platform for in-store and at-the-pump fuel payments as well as retail...

OpenTable Reports Diners Reached Through AI Tools Spend 20% More
Artificial Intelligence // September 14, 2026

Integrations of OpenTable’s restaurant technology with artificial intelligence models drove 17 times more seated diners year over year for restaurant operators, the company said in an Aug. 26 press release. The diners brought in by those model integrations spent on average 20% more than those...

Interviews & Exclusives
Papa Johns Thinks the Next Great Pizza Topping Is Software

March 09, 2026
Quick-service restaurants operate in a tough environment. Margins are tight, labor is scarce, and customer expectations continue to rise. For large brands, technology and digital capabilities increasingly shape how they can compete and grow. “I think data is probably our greatest resource next to our people,” Kevin Vasconi, chief digital and technology officer at Papa […]

Loyalty Programs Drive Nearly Two-Thirds of Restaurant Delivery Decisions

February 24, 2026
Technology has long shaped how people order meals, but in 2026 it is beginning to govern how restaurants define value. That is the central finding of the PYMNTS Intelligence January...

Half of Retail Small Businesses Rely on Daily Sales to Stay Afloat

February 12, 2026
A growing share of retail small businesses are not planning for the next downturn so much as financing their way through the next week, and PYMNTS Intelligence data showed just...

Digital Tipping Keeps Employees Loyal as Restaurants Battle Labor Gaps

November 28, 2025
Tipping is shifting from cash jars to digital channels, transforming how workers are compensated and how employers attract and retain staff. What once required end-of-shift cash distribution is now handled...

Quick Reads
Uber Eats Enters Catering Space With $2.3 Billion ezCater Deal

October 06, 2026
Uber is paying $2.3 billion to acquire catering and workplace meal platform ezCater, according to a Tuesday (Oct. 6) news release. The all-cash deal is designed to combine ezCater’s catering and B2B expertise, Uber Eats’ global reach among consumers and restaurants, and Uber for Business’s relationships with companies of all sizes, per the release. “EzCater […]

Toast Deploys AI Labor Management Tools for Restaurateurs

October 06, 2026
Toast has added a new labor management solution to its global technology platform for restaurant and retail operators, the company said in a Tuesday (Oct. 6) press release. The new Toast IQ Team includes a sales...

Toast Courts Convenience Stores With Fuel Platform

September 29, 2026
Restaurant and retail digital technology platform Toast debuted Toast Fuel, new capabilities for gas stations and convenience stores, according to a Tuesday (Sept. 29) press release. Toast Fuel gives operators...

OpenTable Reports Diners Reached Through AI Tools Spend 20% More

September 14, 2026
Integrations of OpenTable’s restaurant technology with artificial intelligence models drove 17 times more seated diners year over year for restaurant operators, the company said in an Aug. 26 press release....