The Digital Restaurant

Send us Fan Mail Restaurants have crossed a line. AI adoption is accelerating. Digital sales are growing. Tech spend is rising. But here’s the problem… very little of it is actually working. In this episode, Carl sits down with Jen Kern (CMO at Qu) to break down the 2026 State of Digital Report and what it really tells us about the industry. This is not a conversation about trends. It’s a conversation about execution. Key themes include: Why 73% of brands are investing in AI, but only 9% see ...

Send us Fan Mail Carl is joined by Rishi Nigam, CEO of Franklin Junction, to break down the most important stories shaping restaurants and consumer technology as we close out 2025. From GoPuff’s latest funding round to Cloudflare’s massive outage and the rising role of synthetic data, this episode looks at how operators should prepare for a rapidly changing year ahead. Topics covered: • GoPuff’s new funding and whether it signals discipline or deeper trouble • Q4 softness and why cons...

Send us Fan Mail Special guest host Kim DeCarolis joins Carl for a lively dive into the week’s biggest restaurant and tech stories for the last episode in Season 2. They start with American Express’s growing influence in restaurant loyalty and ask whether Amex has become the new partner of choice. Then they turn to Chipotle, where CEO Scott Boatwright is refocusing the brand around digital order accuracy — a move that says a lot about how consumer expectations have shifted. Next up: Yelp’s ne...

Send us Fan Mail Are delivery marketplaces like DoorDash and Uber Eats about to be disrupted by ChatGPT? Carl welcomes Atul Sood, former McDonald’s and Kitchen United executive, to explore how AI and automation are reshaping the food world — from ChatGPT’s new app integrations to robotic hospital kitchens. Together they cover: DoorDash’s new Dot delivery robot and smart scale (2m 15) https://foodondemand.com/10012025/doordash-ceo-tony-xu-unveils-delivery-robot-and-smartscale/How ChatGPT’s App...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Digital Restaurant, Carl is joined by Jeremy Julian, host of the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast and CRO of CBS NorthStar, for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of restaurant technology. We dive into highlights from FSTEC, explore new benchmarks from InTouch Insight’s QSR report on voice AI & kiosks, and tackle the perennial build vs buy question that every brand faces. We also look at ChowBus’ surprising pivot from delivery platform to full-sta...