After many years of sharing insights, stories, and ideas from inside restaurant operations, our blog content has a new home. We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who’s read, shared, and learned alongside us here, and we hope you’ll follow along with the Crunchtime blog for even more emerging …
Revolutionizing Kitchen Operations with ConnectSmart® Kitchen
With ongoing challenges like labor shortages, rising costs, and ever-increasing customer expectations, efficiency, accuracy, and visibility are no longer optional in restaurant operations—they’re essential. That’s where ConnectSmart® Kitchen from QSR Automations comes in. Designed to transform …
Reduce Waste in Your Drive-Thru in 2025 and Beyond
Efficiency defines drive-thru success. With tighter margins, labor challenges, and rising costs, restaurants can’t afford to lose product—or time. Waste, whether it’s overproduction, order errors, or uneven workloads, directly impacts profitability. When every second counts, automation isn’t just a …
Why a Good KDS is Essential for Managing High-Volume Restaurants
Guests expect fast service, but speed means nothing if the food is wrong. That’s where a Kitchen Display System (KDS) comes in. A good KDS can mean the difference between controlled chaos and total breakdown in a busy kitchen. Keeping Orders Organized and Moving In a high-volume environment, …
Order‑Ready Screens in 2025: What They Are, Why They Matter, and What’s New
The Power of Transparent Wait Times In today’s fast‑paced dining world, wait time transparency is no longer a nice‑to‑have—it’s expected. Order‑ready screens make the wait visible, informative, and stress‑reducing. By showing order numbers, estimated pickup times, or even guest names, these displays …
May I Take Your Order: The Past, Present, and Future of Drive-Thrus
Restaurant drive-thrus are a quick and convenient place for customers to grab their favorite foods along their daily commutes. Pre-pandemic, 60-70 percent of a quick-service restaurant’s business came from the drive-thru. As restaurants innovate to create additional profit avenues, drive-thru …
