5 Ways a SF Restaurant Owner Evaluates New Restaurant Tech

I got my first job in the restaurant industry so that I could save money for my senior trip. I used the money I made to procure a friend’s passport and I traveled to Mexico under an assumed name.

But that’s a different story.

The point is, it was so long ago that a sixteen-year-old dork from the suburbs could actually flash a fake passport through customs and no one would bat a lash.

Since that first job I have washed dishes, flipped burgers, and waited tables in polyester tuxedos. Then, seventeen years ago, a friend and I opened our own restaurant in San Francisco and, (knock on wood), it’s still going strong. I have been lucky to grow up in one of the best restaurant markets in the world and I have learned a little bit about what it is like to work under different restaurant models and what it is like to develop our own.

Last year there was an explosion of interest in technology geared toward solving the problems of restaurant owners, which highlights just how much the industry is changing. Up until now, we still expected to do a lot of stuff offline, with clipboards and spreadsheets and nubby little pencils behind ears.

But that’s what you gotta love about the restaurant business, there’s always something new to learn. I have vendors to vet, staff to train and educate, guest preferences to remember, design principles to understand, repair technicians to guide, regulators to comply with, taxes to meet, marketing strategies to learn, business financials to analyze, and I haven’t even gotten to all the stuff about making the food yet. Now I’ve added something else to my list: how to chose the right tech solution to make the restaurant more efficient, profitable, and fun.

It’s clear to me that there are great opportunities for the right technologies in the restaurant. And last year the number of test drives I took on new platforms made my head spin.

The problem is that many of the products being offered are not fully fleshed out, are over complicated and clunky, or just won’t get used in a restaurant environment. Every once in a while, someone comes along with something that shows promise but I’m still waiting for the next thing that makes me go, Finally!

I know the finally product is rare and may even be short-lived. Not everyone in the business still loves Groupon, for example. Groupon earned it’s reputation delivering customers many restaurateurs learned they didn’t really want.

So how does one sift through the barrage of new tech products and platforms claiming to provide restaurant industry solutions? Here are five questions I use to evaluate a new restaurant tech product:

What Problem does the Technology Address?

Some tech products address cost drivers, other products claim to help grow revenue, and still others focus on productivity. Knowing the product’s main focus helps to quickly evaluate whether it is worth my time and money.

The two main cost drivers in a restaurant are Cost of Goods and Labor. Any product that claims to reduce these costs should actually cost less to implement and use than I am already spending. This is usually easy to measure so if the cost savings makes sense, I’m interested.

Products that claim to grow revenue can be more difficult to quantify. This new revenue comes at a cost and I need to know that it is not revenue I would be getting anyway, say from a regular customer who decides to use a promotion.

Also, pigeonholing guests into buying specific things at certain times doesn’t always jive with our brand of hospitality. So I need to ask myself if a guest comes in wanting to bend the rules of the promotion, can I say “Yes,” ninety-nine percent of the time?

Products geared toward increasing productivity can be appealing, but only if I believe I can get the team to adopt the system. Every new tech solution needs an on-boarding program. People have to be trained how to use the system. Then they have to be reminded to keep using it and not fall back into old habits. That takes time and attention. So a new productivity tool must be clear and easy to use. And hopefully it doesn’t need it’s own special tablet or device that I have to find in the middle of a busy service.

Can the Product be Used by Everyone that Needs to Use It?

The new story goes, restaurant rosters were once peopled with transients, ne’er do wells, and drug addicts. But eventually the Celebrity Chef and Food Network culture came along. This helped broaden the attractiveness of restaurant work and it brought new light upon the industry. Now there is a new generation of tech-savvy youth working the floor and cooking the line, and everyone prefers to work with apps.

But this isn’t true.

The truth is a new tech-savvy workforce segment shares the space with the old guard and immigrant laborers. Work in a restaurant, particularly the kitchen, will always be physical and can’t get done just swiping fingers on screens. So a new product must be simple and intuitive enough for all prospective users. If it can toggle between languages, even better.

A smart tech product will address the needs where an industry is headed, true. But it will accommodate everyone in that journey.

Does the Tech Company Understand the Restaurant Business?

This is not rocket science. It comes down to hospitality and a good restaurant tech company will have it at a few critical points. Is the sales person familiar with our business or are they just trying to make their quota before they jet back to LA for the launch party? Do they provide a reasonable trial period? If the company has no support after 5 p.m. or on weekends, chances are I’m not interested.

Can I Do What Needs to Get Done to Successfully Adopt the New Technology?

Sometimes products I have hoped to introduce didn’t work because I didn’t follow all the necessary steps to ensure their success. Maybe I didn’t fully train my staff, or I didn’t understand how to use all of the features myself. It’s as if I just paid the subscription fee or dropped a device on the counter and said, Voila! Problem solved. The result can be a waste of time, a waste of money, a tainted perception of the technology, and a sort of tech-fatigue from the staff who get tired of monkey wrenches thrown into their routine.

There is always a lot of plates spinning for a restaurant owner. But if I decide I want to adopt a technology in the hope it makes our business better, I have to be willing to put some time and attention into making sure it is done right. If I am too busy with other projects then I’ll have to come back to the tech product later.

Does the Technology Help The Restaurant Thrive and Grow Responsibly?

I’m going to get a little hippy here, so bear with me. For many of us that live in cities, what we eat and drink is the most intimate moment we share with that big clod of earth buried beneath all this concrete. The decisions we make over how to feed ourselves has a direct effect on the abundance and diversity of our open spaces, which in turn effects the opportunity and quality of life for our children. Both the restaurant industry and the technology industry have responsibilities of stewardship in this regard.

But it is not just about bringing good products to the table. It’s about the table itself. Dinner is where we commune about our day. It is where we nourish our relationships and reconnect with our friends and family after a day of work, a day of struggle, a day of journey to wherever our independent fates are taking us. Restaurants are good for communities, they are good for people, and if they are done right, they are good for the future of the planet. This holistic view should be a shared compass with any technology I want to join forces with.

So that’s a start. I look forward to expanding on these ideas in future posts. And perhaps getting at the kinds of specific technology solutions I hope to see soon.