QSR March 2023

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Ajinomoto Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 909-477-4700 | Ajinomotofoodservice.com

take orders rapidly, and expedite the pace, as Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out have long displayed. Krupp adds handhelds “shouldn’t affect the pacing of the meal,” either, in the event somebody isn’t trying to expedite their dinner. “Guests can still time out their own experience,” he says. Most of these devices are designed to be understood quickly by servers and require minimal training. It poten tially leads to higher wages, too, because guests are often prompted to leave between 18–20 percent tips. Krupp acknowledges handhelds won’t fit in at most fine-dining eater ies “because asking the guest to be part of paying the check is counter-intuitive to the experience.” “The check average is high enough where the server doesn’t have to rush the table,” he adds. Krupp notes handhelds appeal to people of all ages—GenXers, millen nials, and even Baby Boomers who are used to check-out terminals at Walmart, Target, and most supermarkets these days. Addit ional ly, the payment exchange reduces fraud since a server isn’t walking away with a guest’s card. But Krupp conceded effectiveness still depends on the restaurant’s imple mentation. “Don’t force the handheld device into someone’s face,” he say. Paul Macaluso, CEO of 80-plus-unit Another Broken Egg Cafe, introduced a trial of its handhelds in several loca tions in fall 2020. It then adopted it across all its full-service eateries in January 2022. “We needed to upgrade our point of-sale system holistically because it was 20 years old,” he says. Fur ther, post-pandemic, the NextGen Casual chain struck relationships with several third-party deliverers includ ing DoorDash, GrubHub, and Uber Eats. “We needed a POS system that would allow integration of all third parties,” Macaluso says. Previously, Another Broken Egg used iPad tablets throughout the restaurant, which were cumbersome and ineff icient.

During its trial, the cloud-based sys temworked and made each server’s life easier, Macaluso says. Instead of hav ing to write orders down in a notebook, and then deliver them to the kitchen, orders were injected instantaneously. During busy brunch, when guests are often waiting, service sped up. In fact, Another Broken Egg con ducted a time study and discovered it reduced ordering time by 3.6 minutes per group and servers could handle 12 percent more tables. In a restau rant with 40 tables, it amounted to serving an additional two tables per hour. Handhelds also made kitchen staff more efficient since orders came in directly, faster, without having to navigate four or five tablets. Since customers also didn’t have to wait around for payment, they kept their credit card on the table, the pace quickened, and diners were happy, as was the server, Macaluso says. The only i ssue that sur faced, Macaluso adds, was WiFi, because the handhelds run on them, and some restaurant locations had to have their WiFi systems upgraded to accommo date their signal. Most guests, he says, “tend to be sup portive and excited. It empowers the guest to make the transaction faster.” To train staff, Another Broken Egg asked them to review a 10-minute video produced by its POS manufacturer, Revel Systems, and then each manager had a staff meeting of about 10 minutes to discuss how it would be implemented at every location. “For most servers, it was intuitive,” Macaluso says. He sees additional benef its since guests are more inclined toward self service. “They could create a kiosk and allow guests to order by them selves,” he says. “It’s been time-saving for the guests, there’s more efficiency for our staff and that leads to higher sales and profits,” Macaluso adds. 

American Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 877-569-5497 creditcard.americanexpress.com

Barilla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Insert barillaFS.com/frozen

Bel Foodservice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39, 41, 43 312-462-1500 | belbrandsfoodservice.com

BelGioioso Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 920-863-2123 | belgioioso.com/foodservice

Berner

115

844-708-2500 | berneraircurtains.com

Blount Fine Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 blountfinefoods.com/food-service

Brakebush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, Insert brakebushchicken.com/crispy

Cargill TNT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 800-373-6515 | tntburgers.com

Dallas Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 800-367-4188 | magnesol.com

ERC BottomLine Concepts . . . . . . . . . 65 212-668-1111 | tryerc.com

FatzFoodz Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 202-840-8958 | fatzfoodzrunners.com

Frank’s Red Hot . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover 800-322-7742 McCormickForChefs.com/Franks-Means-Buffalo

Handy Seafood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 800-426-3977 | handyseafood.com

Jayshree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 352-429-1000 | www.Jayshree.com

Johnsonville Foodservice . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 800-837-5391 Foodservice.Johnsonville.com

Lamb Weston 22, 23 800-766-7783 | go.lambweston.com/simplifry

GARY STERN IS A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR TO QSR AND FSR. HE IS BASED IN NEW YORK CITY.

Land O’Lakes

30, 31

Landolakesfoodservice.com

118 INDUSTRY-WIDE ISSUE

MARCH 2023