Brooks Reitz realized technology could help address "pain points" in the restaurant industry when the reservation platform Resy was introduced in 2014. The only previous options were OpenTable or pen and paper, said the restaurateur behind Leon’s Oyster Shop, Little Jack’s Tavern and Melfi’s. Resy spoke a more modern language than the now 26-year-old OpenTable, which counts more than 55,000 restaurants on its platform across the globe.
After Resy came modern day point-of-sale systems — Toast and Square, among others — plus other new reservation platforms like Tock and Seven Rooms. Industry leaders grew accustomed to using technology to book tables and close tabs. Beyond bookkeeping, the use of computers and programs mostly stopped there.
That's changed. A decade after Resy’s debut, about 75 percent of operators believe technology can give them a competitive advantage in the crowded restaurant sector, according to a new study by the National Restaurant Association. This coupled with data showing that more than 60 percent of diners prefer a traditional service to one incorporating technology has Reitz taking a cautious but enthusiastic approach to the new digital developments.
"(Like) a lot of restaurant people, we’re not tech-first," Reitz said. "It’s been exciting but a challenge to learn these systems." Reitz introduced a new platform named Blackbird at his restaurants this year.
The blockchain-powered loyalty program — adopted by more than two dozen Charleston establishments this summer — is just one example of how technology, apps and artificial intelligence are already changing how restaurants are run. Brooks Reitz of Melfi's, Leon's Oyster Shop and Little Jack's Tavern. How could this impact the diner in the future? I pick up my phone and tap the Too Good To Go icon.
Scrolling through a bevy of options, I see Mediterranean food, ice cream, soups and baked goods. Most are available for under $8. I press down on the Maman logo and order the "Baked Goods Surprise Bag" for $5.
99. I’m given a pick-up window between 5:45 and 6 p.m.
Thirty minutes later, I’m unwrapping a white bag filled with one plain croissant, two stuffed croissants and a cheddar scone. Just one of those items would normally have cost at least $5 at this Washington, D.C.
, bakery. The app that helped me purchase the mystery bag — Too Good To Go — allows businesses to reduce waste by selling food that’s left over at the end of the day. The company has saved more than 11 million meals from going to the landfill since its 2016 launch in Copenhagen, Denmark, said Too Good To Go’s North American public relations head Sarah Soteroff.
The for-profit company also helps restaurants make a few extra bucks on goods that would have otherwise been thrown away. More than 25 cities in the U.S.
have access to Too Good To Go , including ones in North Carolina, as of June. Soteroff estimates the app will be live in the Palmetto State within the next year. From reducing waste to streamlining restaurant operations, technology is infiltrating nearly every part of the sector.
As staffing remains a challenge, Lowcountry restaurateurs have started to rely on two other apps to hire employees. ShiftNow connects individuals searching for work with businesses in need of help, similar to the Gigpro tool that was launched a few years ago. Both businesses were founded in Charleston.
ShiftNow enables restaurants to post open shifts and select the best candidate from a network of qualified "shifters" who undergo a one-on-one vetting process. Individuals seeking hourly opportunities can browse for available openings in their area and get matched based on their experience. Gigpro made headlines in 2019 when Ben Ellsworth, celebrity chef Sean Brock and several others in the dining industry developed and released the app.
Now in its fourth year, Gigpro is available in 28 markets across 12 states and has helped fill about 350,000 work shifts over the past few years, according to company estimates. Story continues below The local business recently closed a $16 million funding round that includes a new lead investor and its prior backers. The financing will help the King Street startup build up its online employment marketplace, which takes direct aim at perhaps the most chronic day-to-day issue for an industry that has struggled with high turnover and attrition rates through good times and bad.
New tech is also helping local owners enhance efficiency in the kitchen. The modern diner isn’t interested in waiting for extended periods in between courses, said Geno Dew, general manager of East Bay Street newcomer Marbled & Fin . That’s one of the reasons why the Charleston restaurant's owners installed kitchen display screens ahead of its June opening.
The touch screens help their chefs and expeditors — air-traffic controllers directing orders to and from the kitchen — by eliminating the need to count items manually. Expeditors don’t have to mess around with physical paper tickets, and the restaurant’s chefs can simply tap a button when a dish is complete. "It's an invaluable system,” Dew said.
Not all technology has been well-received. QR code fatigue has fully set in at restaurants across the country, leading many to ditch the scannable menus in favor of traditional paper lists that don’t require a screen. Now, the highly scrutinized field of artificial intelligence is being introduced to brick-and-mortar businesses, including restaurants.
Companies like Slang.ai use AI to help answer the phones and help customers make bookings. A more established firm, Restaurant365, is helping restaurants manage the tasks diners don’t see: budgeting, payroll, human resources, accounting and inventory management.
Nathan Thurston has been utilizing the tool at his Charleston restaurant Millers All Day for close to a year. The breakfast-focused restaurant, with locations downtown and on James Island, sources ingredients from several small purveyors. Before implementing Restaurant365 — now valued at more than $1 billion — Thurston would have to rely on an organized chef to diligently track their supply of produce coming in and going out of Millers All Day.
The technology helps Thurston and his team organize ingredients and automate recipes based on available inventory; and when the price of a good increases, the restaurant receives a notification. It’s been essential in managing the problematic supply chain, said Thurston, who is also among the Charleston restaurateurs to implement the restaurant loyalty application Blackbird. Blackbird is currently being used by more than two dozen Charleston restaurants.
From the creator of Eater and Resy, Blackbird attempts to connect restaurants with its most loyal guests. Accessible online or through an iOS app, it tracks diners’ visits, giving restaurants the power to reward them with perks such as free appetizers or advanced access to reservations. To use Blackbird, guests are asked to download the app and find a Blackbird tag, which looks like a hockey puck and is placed near the register, door or tables at most Charleston restaurants.
Tapping "Check in" and scanning the tag records a patron's restaurant visit. Rewards are determined by each restaurant, and visits are quantified using $FLY, a fungible token that serves as Blackbird’s on-platform form of currency. The Tippling House, for example, offered free Champagne and burritos to Blackbird users last month, while Millers All Day’s rewards include a complimentary cinnamon roll or half mimosa flight.
Thurston said the app has helped the restaurant connect with customers "on a new level." Tina Schuttenberg of Kwei Fei and Beautiful South said the app has been a dream scenario for the restaurants she owns with her husband, David. Blackbird users unlock various perks at the two Chinese-inspired restaurants, from a number to text for reservations to free appetizers and visits from the kitchen staff.
In the future, Blackbird could help restaurateurs address another one of those pain points Reitz — the restaurateur from Leon’s, Little Jack’s and Melfi’s — spoke of. The main area where full-service customers would like technology to improve their dining experience is with payment, according to National Restaurant Association research. Reitz said Blackbird could eventually be capable of processing payments faster, easier and more affordably.
This could help mitigate the rise in credit card processing fees that restaurants are starting to pass along to customers in the form of an extra 3 to 4 percent charge. Speaking broadly, Reitz thinks technology could assist restaurateurs with marketing content. Right now, an employee handles his restaurants’ accounts on social media, which are relatively inactive when compared to peers.
"AI specifically is interesting to me; to put a sheen on something we might be generating or help get it us across the finish line," Reitz said. "It’s all very interesting, the tools that we’re being given in what traditionally is a very anti-tech business.".
