Warm cafe counter at dusk with a gleaming espresso machine and stacked ceramic cups

The restaurant industry is currently undergoing a significant amount of change in how it functions. Due to changes in labor shortages, technological innovations, and other consumer-based changes, there are many emerging trends in the restaurant industry. Staying on top of these trends can help your restaurant become more efficient, reach new audiences, and flourish. In this article, we will cover the top 10 restaurant industry technologies and trends, which include the following:

  • People Eating Restaurant Food at Home

    An increasing number of people will be eating restaurant food but from home. Takeout and use of delivery services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats encompass a growing percentage of restaurants' business. There has been a surge in this aspect of the restaurant industry, but technology, customer patterns, the gig economy, and the economy as a whole all factor into this growing trend that is likely to continue. By emphasizing online ordering, restaurants can reduce pressure on the wait staff while still fulfilling large volumes of orders, making them more efficient and profitable.

  • Virtual Restaurants or Ghost Kitchens

    A virtual restaurant or ghost kitchen is a food business that only does pick-up and delivery orders. It does not have its own physical locality and contracts with other restaurants to prepare its food. The virtual restaurant comes up with a menu and then gives it to the kitchen they will be partnering with. The menu is then promoted online, orders are taken via phone and the internet, and then the restaurant will prepare the food orders for delivery or pick up. This means you may be ordering Italian food from an Indian restaurant or Mexican food from an Olive Garden.

  • Stripped Down Approach to Running Restaurants

    Another trend we will likely see in the restaurant industry is more stripped-down and bare-bones approaches to running a restaurant. Due to rising costs, and shifts in the labor force, many restaurants are figuring out ways to do more with less. Virtual Restaurants and Ghost Kitchens are an example of this, but sit-down restaurants are also implementing different strategies to simplify their process. This includes making adjustments for labor shortages and having fewer workers on hand. For example, reduced menu sizes can help streamline kitchen operations, and an increased emphasis on online ordering can help lighten the load on restaurant staff. Restaurants are also responding to trends in the labor force by hiring workers for "micro shifts," a shift lasting only a few hours during the restaurant's busy time. This accommodates workers' increasing desire for flexibility in their work schedules.

  • Mobile QR Codes

    More restaurants are starting to use auto-scanning barcodes, known as QR codes. QR codes can be located on doors, tables, coasters, and on websites. Customers scan QR codes with their smartphone cameras to access online menus, place orders and pay. This prevents contact with wait staff and also helps speed up the customer experience, freeing workers to attend to other tasks.

  • Self Service Kiosks

    Self-service kiosks in the restaurant industry allow customers to place their orders digitally through the kiosk. Customers will use a touchscreen to view the menu, choose the items they wish to order, make any customizations, and finally, order and pay. Most kiosks will allow customers to pay at the kiosk using debit or credit cards or other electronic payment methods such as Apple Pay. These kiosks allow customers to order at a restaurant without needing a worker to take their order, process their payment, etc. This can enable your operation to run much more smoothly and quickly while doing more with fewer employees.

  • Hand-Held Tablets for Servers

    As opposed to handwriting orders and walking to another area of the restaurant to give them to the kitchen, servers are increasingly beginning to use hand-held tablets to take customers' orders. From the tablet, they can quickly send orders from the table to the kitchen and then move on to another task. This saves time which speeds up service, making your restaurant more efficient. These wait-staff tablets are another example of technology that allows restaurants to serve more customers in a given period of time with fewer staff members, making them more profitable.

  • Vegan Restaurants and Menu Items

    The number of people adopting vegan lifestyles has been rising for several years as people are increasingly turning towards plant-based diets due to environmental, health, and ethical concerns. This means that more people will be looking for vegan options when they go out to eat. However, as this is still an emerging market, those who follow a plant-based diet may have limited options while eating out, meaning there is a niche that restaurant owners can service.

    Fully vegan restaurants can reach additional success by appealing to non-vegans as well. By stepping outside the box of being a "vegetarian" or "vegan" place, restaurants can focus on drawing customers in from all lifestyles by offering well-done and exciting food. Examples of this could be specializing in certain ethnic cuisines that tend to be naturally plant-based, such as Ethiopian, Indian, and other Asian cuisines. By appealing to people outside the "vegan" label, you can attract a loyal vegan customer base and draw in other regular customers, such as adventurous eaters and those interested in different ethnic cuisines. Even if you don't offer a fully vegan menu, placing a strong emphasis on offering several quality plant-based options can draw in many regular vegan customers as they will be searching online for places to eat. Appealing to this market through your menu and online presence by using vegan-friendly keywords will ensure that this segment of the population will find and eat at your restaurant.

  • Going With the Grain

    There is a reason why ancient civilizations across the globe were primarily based on the production of grains such as wheat, barley, rice, and corn. In alignment with the plant-based paradigm, grain-based meals can take off. As opposed to relying on exotic ingredients like Chilean Seabass, chefs can utilize low-cost, nutritious, and filling grains to base their meals around while letting their culinary artistry shine through by making something that is simple and common, more elegant and sophisticated. Grains are inexpensive and satisfying and can help restaurant entrepreneurs lower costs while also creating appealing and hearty meals.

    Oats can be paired with fresh berries and nuts to create a fresh and nutritious breakfast, while things like pasta, rice, and polenta can create the solid foundation for an amazing lunch or dinner. Meanwhile, "ancient grains" such as spelt, Kamut, einkorn, and emmer, along with pseudocereals such as quinoa, buckwheat, and amaranth, can provide interest, novelty, and meet the nutrition-related concerns of customers.

  • Farm to Table

    "Farm to Table" restaurant concepts have been gaining in popularity over the past several years, and that trend is likely to continue. As people become increasingly more interested in where their food comes from, this will be reflected within the restaurant industry, and more restaurants will feature locally-grown produce. This trend is also likely to continue due to increased business-to-business collaborations and partnerships. This is another trend where we will see an increase due to shifts in networking, in addition to enhanced communication and networking tools in technology. As we have seen supply lines become compromised and inconsistent, local businesses have become more resilient. Companies are working together in new and creative ways to meet their needs, including local food producers and restaurants.

    If you're interested in featuring locally grown food in your restaurant, you don't have to source everything that you will offer from your local farmer's market. But even a few key ingredients can really make your dishes and menu pop. Regional varieties and culturally important crops can draw interest among your local customer base.

  • Experiential Dining

    Another trend we are likely to see continue to grow is experiential or immersive dining. This is where your dining experience involves more than just eating food and having drinks. Instead, with experiential dining, a whole experience is happening along with your meal. An example is speakeasy-themed restaurants based around the secret and illegal establishments called speakeasies that sold alcohol during the prohibition era of the 1920s and 30s. These speakeasy-themed restaurants often require you to provide a password at the door, and the atmosphere and servers reflect the style and speaking patterns of the time.

    Other experiential concepts include dining in the dark, camping-themed restaurants, and cat cafes. Some experiential restaurants have even implemented virtual reality and robots into their experiences. Basing a restaurant concept around a unique and exciting experience can separate you from a large number of restaurants and provide customers with unforgettable memories. With consumers looking for more novel experiences, we are likely to see more experiential and immersive restaurants emerge and the coming years.

Final Considerations

By implementing some of these new technologies and trends into your restaurant, you can help reduce costs, maximize your available workforce, make your restaurant more efficient, and draw in the interest of new customers while ensuring their customer experience is more expedient, pleasurable, and affordable.

Starting a New Restaurant?

If you are starting a new restaurant, InCorp can assist with our business entity formation services by determining and forming the appropriate business entity type for you. In addition, we provide registered agent services in all 50 states, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. We can also help you stay on top of your new restaurant with our business entity management system and iOS app, which can help you keep track of important business reports, due dates, and more.

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