Recalibrating for the new restaurant landscape

​It may seem like the world has moved beyond Covid-19, but the virus continues to make the restaurant landscape feel different than it once did. Where, when and how people consume food from restaurants has changed. The numbers prove it: As a recent Washington Post report indicates, restaurants are serving 16 percent fewer people in their dining rooms as compared to before the pandemic. Meanwhile, off-premises dining has picked up the slack. While carry-out business is down 3 percent, delivery is up more than 5 percent and drive-through business is up 13 percent. The National Restaurant Association’s Hudson Riehle says a commanding 39 percent of all restaurant traffic is coming through the drive-through lane. This has divided restaurants into a couple of categories – those that provide fast, convenient, quality service for people on the go, and others that focus more on providing a memorable dining experience that’s worth lingering over. If you’re among the large and growing number of restaurants in the first category, consider how you might iron out any kinks in your mobile ordering, pickup and delivery processes. If you don’t provide drive-through service, how can you incentivize people to collect carry-out from you? Could your technology empower your staff to track orders with greater precision and bring them out promptly to waiting guests? Consider how you might infuse your service model with some flexibility and show guests that dining with you – whether off-premises or on – is a convenient and worthwhile option for them in this new environment.

---