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PODCAST

Restaurant Technology Podcast

Restaurant Technology is a weekly business news series hosted by Cali BBQ Media Founder Shawn Walchef. Keep up to date on the latest stories, insights, and thought leadership in the modern restaurant technology landscape. restauranttechnology.substack.com

technology

All Episodes

11:08

Toast on Tour - San Diego

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/04/13

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit restauranttechnology.substack.com

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0:30

Built for Busy: Join the NYC Meet-Up in Times Square...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/04/09

TIMES SQUARE MEET-UPDATE: Thursday, April 16thTIME: 10:30am (Meet-Up) ; 11:15-11:20am (Toast Billboard Goes Live)WHERE: 47th St. and 7th Avenue in Times Square NYCONLINE: Watch LIVE right here on Substack as it happensNew York City, let’s make this one count.We’re taking over Times Square with Toast.At 10:30am you are invited to join us on the corner of 47th Street and 7th Avenue in the busiest intersection in the world to kick-off Toast’s new Built for Busy campaign.We will be sharing stories,

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2:21

2026 Media Global Tour: Join Me This Summer in Vegas,...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/03/21

“Stay curious, get involved, and ask for help.”These are the three lessons my grandfather taught me, and they guide every move we make at Cali BBQ Media. We just wrapped up an incredible experience at the Restaurant Franchise and Innovation Summit (RFIS) in my hometown of San Diego. It was a powerful time making content and connections. I had the honor of being a speaker, and it was great to see other heavy hitters (and friends) in our community, like Troy Hooper and Michael Ungaro, also taking the

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10:02

Survival, Scaling, and the Restaurant Tech Stack...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/03/13

In this Restaurant Tech Tour, we visited James Petrakis at his Ravenous Pig in Florida to discuss the strategic tech stack that transformed a “survival-mode” startup into a hospitality group that now includes The Polite Pig at Disney Springs and a brewery operation.When James and Julie Petrakis opened The Ravenous Pig in 2007, they were filling a void in an Orlando market dominated by chains. The husband-and-wife team, both alumni of the Culinary Institute of America, returned to their roots in

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24:51

Go Inside NYC's Famous Levain Bakery on a Restaurant...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/03/03

At a Glance: How Levain Bakery Powered Their 19-Location Expansion* Tech Vision: CTO Gustavo Cardona, a former NASA data analyst applied an “engineer’s point of view” to the cookie business.* Visibility Boost: A partnership with Marqii that streamlined Google Business Profiles, leading to a 13% increase in “noticeability” in just four months.* Core Engine: Toast serves as the exclusive POS, utilized for its robust API and Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) to sync high-volume storefronts.* Freshness

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7:35

Feeding People, Not Landfills with Food Donation...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/02/18

The US food system has a staggering logistical failure: while 60+ million tons of food are tossed into landfills each year, millions of Americans still face food insecurity. I wanted to introduce you to Copia, a technology platform that automates food redistribution to solve the logistics of hunger.To see how technology can finally bridge the gap between fine dining and frontline need, we took a journey to New York City so we could document the “full circle” of food rescue. As Copia CEO Kimberly

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5:50

Community Technology For Your Restaurant | TECH STACK...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/02/06

TECH MENTIONED:* Toast Marketing — Retargeting and Loyalty* Marqii — One-Stop Listing Management* Google Business Profile — Local Search Visibility* Palona.ai — AI Voice Automation* Ovation — Real-Time Guest FeedbackYou can also join the conversation on our Rising Tides Live series every Wednesday and Friday at 10am (PST)What’s on your Community Tech Stack? Building a restaurant is about the people who gather around the table as much as it’s about the meal. At my restaurant Cali BBQ in San Diego,

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12:46

4 Menu Engineering Hacks to Boost Profits

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/01/30

If you run a restaurant, you are in the business of storytelling. And your menu is one of the most important stories you tell. Most owners treat their menu as a simple list of food and prices, but in reality, your menu should be a treasure map of profitability. After almost 20 years of operating Cali BBQ in San Diego, I’ve learned that growth doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design. Whether it’s a physical piece of paper or a digital interface, menu engineering is the data-driven practice

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0:57

Find Your Freedom: Lessons from The Annual Toast Kickoff

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/01/15

Restaurants don’t fail because of the food. They fail because of broken systems.For years, the industry accepted a hard truth: to be successful, you had to be the glue holding a fractured business together. That meant working IN your business instead of ON your business. The rhythm of a restaurant is a double-edged sword. When it’s working, it’s a symphony. When it’s not, it’s a slow-motion car crash that demands every ounce of your focus, your energy, and your time. The manual heartbeat of a

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7:25

Before You Hang “We’re Open”: 8 Digital Steps Every...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/01/06

Opening day is more than a moment — it’s a story you’ll be telling for a lifetime. And in today’s restaurant landscape, your restaurant’s story begins long before guests walk through your doors.Whether you’re launching your first location or your twentieth, one thing is constant: if you’re not showing up online early, you’re already behind.That’s why we partnered with Marqii to spotlight the 8 essential digital steps every operator should take before opening a new restaurant. These insights come

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1:00

I learned these 5 lessons by building a media company...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2026/01/01

I learned a lot in 2025. I’ll learn even more in 2026.As we move into the New Year, the biggest lesson I’ve taken from the past groundbreaking year at Cali BBQ Media is that technology moves fast, but the soul of what we do—storytelling—is what actually lasts. Here are 5 major lessons we learned while building in public over the last twelve months.1. Be Willing to Try New ToolsIf you aren’t willing to outgrow your tools, you’re choosing to stay behind. And because we’re a new media company that also

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29:17

From Michelin Stars to Instant Payouts: How Tech...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2025/12/27

* Why instant payouts are actually a hospitality tool. Chef Bert reveals that removing the friction of waiting for tips doesn’t just improve morale, it eliminates the “head worries” and payout disputes that distract staff from taking care of the guest.* The “90/10 Rule” for scaling a brand. To expand from San Diego to Sedona without losing quality, Wild Thyme locks in 90% of the menu for operational consistency but explicitly reserves 10% for local chefs to innovate with fresh, market-specific

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1:18

I got an inside look at Google's newest restaurant tools

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2025/12/19

Your 2026 Google Playbook* Own Your Google Business Profile: Maximize every relevant field and respond to every review. Consistency across platforms is what prevents AI confusion.* Geo-Tag Everything: Ensure creators and your own team are geolocation tagging your restaurant in every video.* Video is Data: High-quality video isn’t just “content.” It’s the primary way multimodal search understands your “vibe.” Having a variety of short and long videos will help you show up better.* Hyper-Local

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0:51

The Future of Restaurants Looks Like This

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2025/12/08

When I found out I was named one of the recipients of the 2025 Restaurant Innovators Awards by 7shifts, I felt something deeper than just pride.I felt responsibility.Responsibility to not let the spotlight stop with me. To turn it outward, toward the people and teams who are doing real, meaningful work to make hospitality stronger.This list of 60 honorees isn’t just an awards list. It’s a glimpse of where our industry is going, and who’s leading the way.Some of the names you’ll know. Most you won’t

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7:04

How to Win AI Search: the New Rules of Restaurant...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2025/12/02

For a long time, restaurants have optimized for one thing: traditional search.“Best pizza near me.” “BBQ in Austin.” “Happy hour downtown.”The rules were clear, the rankings predictable, and the strategy—local SEO, review management, mobile-friendly websites—was largely settled.That era is over.Avi Goren, co-founder and CEO of Marqii, says a fundamental shift is underway, one that will reorganize how guests discover restaurants and how restaurants are expected to show up online.“AI search isn’t

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2:06

Good Morning San Diego on Thanksgiving 📺

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2025/11/27

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit restauranttechnology.substack.com

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6:33

From Walk-In Freezer to Front Door: Ring Is Rewriting...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2025/11/26

For years I’ve used Ring to keep my family safe at home.But I never seriously asked myself the obvious question: What if I brought Ring into my restaurant?This year, we finally did it at Cali BBQ. We didn’t just hang a single doorbell and call it a day. We unboxed a full Ring setup, installed it in under two hours, and now I can pull up my home feed and my restaurant feed from the same app—whether I’m in San Diego or standing on the trade show floor in Chicago.Ring is here for restaurants. This is

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5:43

How Food On Demand Became the Hub for Off-Premise...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2025/11/12

Quick Lessons from Food On Demand* Technology isn’t the future — it’s the foundation.* AI isn’t hype — it’s a tool.* Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation — it happens when the right people gather in the same room.This year, I finally got to see it firsthand at the Food on Demand Conference in Las Vegas — a gathering that’s quickly become the Super Bowl for anyone building the future of restaurant delivery, digital ordering, and off-premises dining.At the event, I also talked with Jared Pfeifer,

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3:34

The 4 Stages of Restaurant Tech (and Where You Fit)

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2025/11/10

When we opened Cali BBQ back in 2008, I’ll be honest — our systems were a hot mess.Schedules on paper, notes on whiteboards, updates yelled across the kitchen. It worked sometimes… until it didn’t.I’ll never forget walking into our break room one morning and realizing the printed schedule we’d posted the day before was gone. Not moved — just gone. Torn down, misplaced, whatever. And with it? Half our line cooks, who had no idea they were supposed to be working that day.That was chaos: Stage

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2:20

Sushi by Bou Moves Fast. This Is How They Keep Their...

Restaurant Technology Podcast ·

2025/10/26

At Sushi by Bou, the music is loud. The lights are low. The vibe? Immaculate. Guests walk through unmarked doors, down hotel corridors, or into back rooms and find themselves inside a tightly choreographed omakase experience.But behind the scenes, the brand’s digital presence needs to be just as precise as its platings.Every hour, every menu item, every phone number—those details need to be right. Instantly. Across more than 20 locations in multiple states and Puerto Rico."That number has to show on

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40 results

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