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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

The Cheesecake Factory

Week in Restaurants: Domino’s Might Win Its Fight Against Third-party Delivery

Greetings from the far reaches of Newark Liberty International Airport. I’m off to Madrid to check out the the Hospitality 4.0 Congress for a few days. You should be finalizing your travel plans as well — to NYC, specifically, where you can join us next week for The Spoon’s daylong Customize event. We’ll be discussing food personalization and what that trend means for your diet, your kitchen, and your restaurant orders. Don’t sleep on this one. Grab one of the few remaining tickets here.

In the meantime, here are a few more restaurant-related stories from around the web this week.

Domino’s Stance Against Third-Party Delivery Is Paying Off

Who can possibly stand up to third-party delivery’s mission to dominate the restaurant industry? Domino’s apparently.

The pizza chain is at this point as famous for its in-house delivery policy as it is for its pies, and on its Q4 2019 earnings call this week, the Ann Arbor-based company announced same-store sales growth of $3.4 percent, while its stock jumped 25 percent. In other words, its anti-third-party-delivery stance isn’t killing its business, at least not yet. On the call, Domino’s CEO Ritch Allison did note that the company is still seeing a lot of pressure from third-party services. “As we look back on the quarter, it does appear to us that while we see continued headwinds in delivery that are difficult to forecast, aggregator pressure appeared to level off on our delivery orders in Q4, while carryout traffic was outstanding during the quarter, as our strategy to grow that business continues to pay off.“

Waitr to Lay Off 2,300 Drivers

Troubled food delivery service Waitr will lay off 2,300 delivery drivers in its home state of Louisiana, according to a notice filed with the state’s labor department. This announcement comes just a couple weeks after the service announced it would reclassify drivers as contract workers and pay them per delivery rather than per hour, as the old model dictated. The layoffs are effective April 6. A Waitr spokesperson said impacted drivers will be able to keep working as contracted drivers.

The Cheesecake Factory Is Finally Taking Yelp Reservations

Ever visit a Cheesecake Factory on a Friday at 7 p.m.? You’re lucky if you wait only an hour to get a table. Until now, that is. On a call with investors this week, the company announced it has partnered with Yelp to start offering limited seating reservations, meaning a certain number of tables will be set aside for reservations throughout the week.

This isn’t the most earth-shattering news out there today, but it does point to the work restaurants are currently doing to make the front-of-house experience more efficient and hopefully increase dine-in visits from customers. “One of the biggest hurdles for our guests can be our long wait times,” he said. “So we’re hoping this additional convenience will encourage guests who are more pressed for time to dine with us,” president David Gordon said on the call.

IHOP Plans to Launch Flip’d, a Fast-Casual Concept Focused on To-Go, Delivery Orders

Casual dining chain IHOP will venture into fast-casual territory in 2020 with a new concept called Flip’d. The new standalone chain will focus heavily on to-go, delivery, and technology, according to a press release from IHOP.   

Like IHOP locations, Flip’d will serve three meals a day but keep a particular emphasis on breakfast. “The Flip’d by IHOP menu will borrow inspiration from iconic IHOP favorites – including the brand’s world-famous Buttermilk pancakes – but put a unique twist on flavors and portability in a way that only IHOP can,” the press release said. What that shakes out to in real life remains to be seen, but it will include a build-your-own pancake bar, made-to-order breakfast burritos and bowls, and grab-and-go salads and baked goods, among other items. 

Even more important than what’s on the menu is how you can order and retrieve those items. Customers will have the option to order either from a cashier at the counter or at a self-service kiosk. They can also order and pay online, then either pick the food up in a designated to-go area of the restaurant or have it delivered. It’s unclear yet if Flip’d will share IHOP’s exact same delivery strategy. Currently, IHOP customers can order delivery through the IHOP mobile app or website. The restaurant also works with DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates, Uber Eats, and Uber Eats. Catering via ezCater is also available. 

The first Flip’d location is planned for Spring 2020 in Atlanta, with stores in NYC, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Denver in the works.  

IHOP is just the latest restaurant brand to launch a fast-casual spinoff of its main business, following the likes of Famous Dave’s, which launched Clark Crew BBQ this year, and The Cheesecake Factory, which opened an Asian fast-casual concept earlier in 2019. In 2018, Buffalo Wild Wings started testing B-Dubs Express, which includes a sauce wall and self-service beer stations.

All of which to say, restaurants diversifying into concepts that emphasize speed, self-service, and off-premises orders is becoming an ever-more popular strategy. No one would call it off-premises-focused concepts table stakes yet, but with the continued demand for delivery and to-go orders, and the foregone conclusion that ghost kitchens will rule 2020, fast-casual concept brands from old-school restaurant chains is something we’ll see more of next year.