The Evolution of Restaurant Tech trending

Top strategies and trends from

nearly 500 restaurant operators

What’s on restaurant operators’ minds when it comes to technology for 2026 and beyond? Nation's Restaurant News and Restaurant Business surveyed nearly 500 of your peers to find out.

What are the top investment targets for the year ahead? How satisfied are they with their current tech stacks? How is technology evolving the customer and employee experience? And, of course, who's leveraging AI — and how?

Access your free copy of the 2026 Restaurant Technology Outlook to benchmark your strategy against industry peers, identify emerging opportunities and discover what's driving the next phase of restaurant tech evolution.

Top 5 investment targets trending

See which systems and capabilities operators will be adding or updating in the year ahead for maximum ROI.
View Report.

Top AI use cases trending

More operators report using AI tools — or planning to add them soon — than ever before. See their top 5 applications for AI in 2026.
View report.

Integration headaches trending

Challenges around data management, staff training, and tech stack architecture continue to burden operators.
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Boost the bottom line trending

See how tech is saving money in in the back-of-the-house through optimized inventory, kitchen prep and menu development.
View report.

Drowning in data trending

Learn how the savviest operators turn a sea of customer and operations data into actionable insights that streamline operations and drive traffic.
View report.

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