Restaurant Technology Assessment by Department

Restaurant departments

• Host stand / reservations
• Kitchen
• Front of house
• Bar
• Back of house

Are all the departments up to date?

From a hardware & software perspective, the systems in each department are up to date. It seems that departments got an update in the past two years, and that is an acceptable amount of time for systems to be relevant. Most systems need to be replaced or updated every three to five years. This chain of restaurants seems to know they need the tech and have invested in it.

However, each department has various levels of success in using the relevant technology. Reservations and check-ins are not using the system to its fullest (or at all), relying instead on those methods they've used before. The Kitchen and Back of House seem to be using the technology at some level of implementation. Kitchen staff are using their part of the system for assigning tasks and tracking prep times but seem to be ignoring the use it provides them in getting the orders from the servers. The servers seem to not find much use in the tech, so they are probably using it not to its fullest possibilities.

How can the various departments improve their technology or usage?

Starting with the idea that restaurants are here to serve and delight the guests, to provide unique experiences, each department should review its use of the technology and how much their lack of use is hindering their ability to serve the guests. Hosts should entirely rely on the electronic reservation system as it can accept online bookings, last minute call-ins, and cancellations without human interaction. When a guest comes to the stand to check in, the hostess can easily identify the guest and their needs and get them seated. Let the computer do what it is good at doing: assigning a table based on party needs and presenting relevant data about the guest.

The kitchen staff should use the system to its full: let the technology show the orders in the queue, hand assignments to the various stations, and track the timing of the food to be ready. They need to ensure their quality stays high, so they focus on the food and less on the management of items.

Front of House should really examine what they're doing at the POS system and examine why it is not more efficient for them. The updated system really should be giving them more time with their guests by handling the order-input much quicker. They should ask for devices that let them be at the table more and away from the dark, out-of-the-way POS station.

We don't have much information on the Bar; they have a printer and the POS. Again, however, the technology's effectiveness and implementation should be measured by looking at how much more time the bartender can interact with guests.

Back of House seems to be doing okay. They understand the potential of digital data and reports.

What Web 2.0 endeavors should be considered?

This restaurant should embrace all that the web can do now so that it can meet its main focus of serving guests as well as a new emphasis on getting new guests in the door. The web is a staple of our lives; we get tutorials and content, we order things, and we interact with others. Restaurants could embrace this and be part of how users get content (in this case, food).

An online ordering system is probably the first thing to implement that allows users to get their food to go. Maybe a whole area of the kitchen is designated for this as well as a part of the front of house. They can implement some system that allows the online ordering and turns those orders into customers with accounts, loyalty rewards, and targeted emails.

Those businesses wishing to gain new audiences should look to be part of the content-creation and social interactions. Establishments should establish a presence online, forming a brand and a personality. They should engage with their customers in reviews, in videos about the restaurant and even produce their own generated content.